Can you find the camouflaged images in artist Judy Larson’s paintings? Each painting has a hidden image, and the accompanying text will give you clues. Often the concealed image is of a companion―animal or Indian―and sometimes it is the spirit of someone or something that shares the same fate; for example, an Alaskan wolf might be hidden inside the painting of a wild horse, and both have been hunted to near extinction. A great bald eagle―the spirit of freedom―is hidden within a wild horse. Other paintings tell Native American legends with their hidden picture-within-a-picture.

Two themes converge in these pictures and stories: the precarious plight of endangered wildlife, and the fate of Native Americans whose harmony with the natural world children continue to study and honor.

The artist’s spectacular scratchboard painting technique is perfect for telling stories within stories and portraying the beauty of the wilderness and the wild animals who call it home.