Monument for a California State Park, exhibited in If We Drew On Eve, The Burren College of Art, Co. Clare, Ireland, 2006

The first time I ran into a bear it was on top of a picnic table. It was on top of the picnic table because it was eating my little debbie devil cream cakes while I was fishing (or pretending to fish) in a state park in the mountains of Southern California. The town nearest the state park was littered with wooden sculptures of bears carved with chainsaws out of massive tree trunks. This same type of bear is featured on the California state flag.