A few different ideas went into this piece… most of the work I’ve been doing lately is a little on the grumpy side so I wanted to do something light and fun.  Also I had been thinking of my earliest art influences as a child – Brain Froud, Jim Henson and Tolkien. When I was around 7 my mother read a little bit of The Hobbit to me every night (including singing all the songs). Doing something in the vein of those artists sounded like nice variation. Lastly, the Aspen trees came from my new home, Denver. They really are as beautiful as everyone says!