Kyle Ploehn is an artist, illustrator and writer living in Billings Montana. He likes to spend the few hours he isn't painting hiking the mountains of Montana.

As the Montana summer heat wears on my color interest tend to look forward into the coming fall and winter, but one last divulgence into the sun and heat produced this image. Elephants are fascinating creatures. Between their size, trunk and intelligence, I can watch them for hours. As they are quite the rarity up here in the mountains, that watching is typically done through video. Having Montana being my backyard, and all it’s diverse creatures my neighbors, I have never felt the draw of an African safari… but were I to go, it would be to draw elephants.

Elephants are a great example of parental compassion in the animal kingdom, that was my big inspiration for this image. I wanted to capture these beautiful, but strange creatures, with the same love in their expression that we see in that of a human mother and child.

Variable size prints are available. Contact me at [email protected], if you're interested in purchasing a print or visit me at http://kyleploehnart.blogspot.com