The Truck I Found Instead

While driving through Granby, Colorado, I spotted a bald eagle perched on a utility pole. I quickly pulled over, grabbed my camera, and rushed out of the car hoping to capture the moment. By the time I was ready, the eagle had already taken flight.

A little disappointed, I looked around and noticed this beautiful old pickup truck sitting quietly beside a red building, with the mountains rising in the distance. Sometimes the photograph you planned doesn’t happen, but another one finds you instead.

I took the reference photo that day in Granby and later painted this piece back home in my studio. What started as a missed wildlife photograph became a painting about small-town Colorado, unexpected moments, and the beauty of slowing down long enough to notice what is already there.

— Bezhan Urfonov
Colorado Oil Painter