We are still here. This sentiment, according to Lisa Gerstner, is the primary theme behind “Walking Through Bear Patch” by Earl Biss, a proud member of the Crow Nation (Apsáalooke) who painted the physical and spiritual worlds.

As biographer and someone who knew Biss well, Gerstner describes him as a technical genius with oils. “Earl never sketched. He went straight to the canvas, which he considered a vertical puddle,” she tells WorthWhile.

“Walking Through Bear Patch” features a glowing, calming sky above Beartooth Range. The palette warms in the foreground, where the riders represent the beautiful energy of the Crow culture. Leaning toward a Fauvist palette, the scene also includes spotted horses, common in many of Biss’ paintings. After all, his Crow name was Spotted Horse (Iichíile Xáxxe).

Biss called his technique “moving paint,” known as wet-on-wet. Never letting layers dry, he pulled colors from one layer to the next without sacrificing his renowned vibrancy. He often worked in manic bursts, up to seven days and nights straight, once creating approximately 40 masterpieces for a show. They would be hung wet.

While growing up on the Crow reservation in Montana, Biss started painting with watercolors when he was just 8. His formal training with oils, through the YMCA, began four years later. He went on to study at the San Francisco Art Institute and traveled through Europe absorbing the work of the Old Masters, Impressionists and Fauvists. His path, however, was as offbeat and tumultuous as it was educational.

Biss had a colorful past, which included at least eight marriages and several run-ins with the law. According to art historian John Goekler, it was common for Biss to have $100,000 in his pocket one day and ask friends for lunch money the next. Despite personal struggles, however, his mastery of oil painting made a profound and lasting impact on Native American art. His shows sold out in Europe and North America, and collectors ranged from a United States president to the president of the Hells Angels.

Biss’ work is on display at American Design galleries in Aspen, Beaver Creek, Vail, Denver and Santa Fe. To learn more, visit earlbiss.com.