ND Landscape

[Gwendolyn]

Thanks again for all of the compliments! RPut, it would have been more accurate if I had some rigs, or well site fires burning in the distance. I purposely left them out. Sad memories associated with this painting. We were hoping to move to ND (about an hour outside of Williston). We came out for couple weeks this past October to work on our house, and ended up selling it before we left. We had a very small house, in a very small town, now completely turned upside down from all the drilling. It's amazing, and saddening, how much the oil industry has destroyed that area in such a small amount of time.

[AlaskaDan]

awesome sky Gwen..

[RPut]

Hi Gwen, Yes, it is sad the amount of change the oil industry has brought to the area. I grew up in Tioga, and it is a very dfferent place. Things have just exploded and there was no time to get organized with roads, housing, etc.... There are man camps, RV camps everywhere, dirt, mud, and the traffic is unbelievable. Trucks everywhere. It is a scarey place to drive. I was amazed at a recent visit and night drive at all the rig lights, and fire sites in the landscape. However, I am sorry to hear that you have left the area. It IS still a beautiful place to be outside of the oil industry.

And again, your work is a beautiful painting of our little place in the world. I hope you paint more of our ND scenes!

[Gwendolyn]

Thanks AlaskaDan!

Ruthie, I've been thru Tioga. Our house was in Crosby. You are correct, outside of the oil sites it is still gorgeous, though I do not believe it will stay that way. We currently live (and grew up) in NJ. Inflation here is ridiculous. The same will happen to ND, even the areas outside of the oil fields. The health issues are more than scary, and again, as you had mentioned, the infrastructure to withstand this boom has not been set. We follow the news as our hearts still long to be out west. Our goal is to live a simple life, in a small town surrounded by nature, to live well within our means, and to enjoy the things we love most (art, hunting, etc.) Because we are young, we realized it would be foolish to invest our lives in an area that won't harbor that sort of lifestyle, come another 10, even 5 years (or less) from now.

I am not sure how much Bismarck has been effected, or if there is drilling going on close to there. I am sure the oil industry has claimed some of your workforce. I hope things are well where you are located.