Original Oil on Canvas by Geoffrey C. Smith, 2024
60"w x 48"h
 
This is a painting of abundance. A brown bear stands in the rushing waters of the Russian River, jaws clamped around a brilliant red sockeye salmon. All around him, the river pulses with life—flashes of crimson scale and emerald head—salmon returning home, summoned upstream by instinct, to spawn, to die, and in doing so, to feed the forest itself.
 
I painted this after standing in the cold, clear water of the Russian River, camera and brush forever inspired by the rhythm of the wild. This isn’t just a painting of a bear catching a fish—it’s a portrait of an ecosystem in harmony. The salmon are the heartbeat of the river. Their bodies feed the bears, yes, but also the gulls, the ravens, the magpies, the foxes. Even the trees along the riverbanks grow taller and stronger from the nutrients the salmon bring in from the sea. Scientists have found nitrogen from salmon carcasses in the rings of Sitka spruce hundreds of feet from the river.
 
The sockeye’s journey is nothing short of mythic. Born in these waters, they swim to the ocean where they grow and fatten over years, then return—somehow—to the very gravel bed where they were hatched. Their return fuels the entire web of life. The bear in this painting knows his role. He doesn’t take more than he needs. He walks lightly. He’s part of the dance.
 
I used thick palette knife strokes to reflect the wild energy of the river and the vitality of the fish. The turquoise blues churn with motion. The salmon burn with vibrant reds and greens. The bear—majestic, primal, and present—stands as both predator and steward.
 
“A forest grows on the bones of salmon. We forget that. But the bear remembers. The river remembers. This painting is a celebration of that memory—and a reminder that our survival, too, is bound to the river.”
— Geoffrey C. Smith
 
Featured at the Kenai Art Center- World on Fire, Solo Exhibit 2025