As famous for his paintings as he is for his sense of humor and colorful shirts, artist Rod Frederick paints a world that is full of wide vistas, soaring trees, sky-scraping mountains, and that’s just the backdrop for his spectacular wildlife.

It is early fall in The Wake Up Call, the low sun bathes the mountains in alpenglow as mist rises off the water. This western scene is as familiar to Rod Frederick as his backyard, and could be almost anywhere in the Rocky or Cascade mountain ranges. As a prelude to the approaching winter, the male elk (or bulls) gather female elk (or cows) on the way to the winter range. The number in each bull’s group is limited only by his ability to defend his mating territory. Hormones are flowing freely, as evidenced by the pair of fighting elks. “Sometimes I can get so caught up in the excitement of watching elk which are fifty feet away that I might not even see the Canadian geese five feet from me,” says Frederick.