It’s hard to say, “An elk,” without hearing the Monty Python sketch where Michael Palin as the skeevy interviewer is interviewing John Cleese dressed as a woman who is named, “Ann Elk.” It just rolls through the mind in his oily tones. “Ann Elk.”
But this was a real elk. Or a wapiti, I see that word used now and then. A quick check shows me it is from the Shawnee and means a literal “white rump.” Wow, I bet that could be brought into slang usage with very little effort. Let’s all try to see if we can make that happen!
Anyhoo, I’ve listed this lovely elk in my etsy shop. The reference photo was not my own, but from an artist community board where wonderful people share photos. Because let’s face it, we can’t all experience everything and take photos. There’s an elk viewing ranch near where I live, but you view around Christmas after the elk have shed their antlers. And that just doesn’t make good photos.
18″x24″ oil on stretched canvas.
In my etsy shop now.
Absolutely love this, the elks expression, the colors, the trees in the background. You were ‘on’ for this one!