This buffalo represents the seasonal changes and how they affect life.
Spring: A cow gives birth to her calf, weighing 40 pounds and cinnamon colored. The calf stays with its mother for up to 3 years. Buffalo shed their winter coat, looking shaggy. Mother and calf enjoy new grass next to a stream.
Summer: Cone flowers are in the fields, grass is plentiful and life is lazy. In August, male buffalo go into a rutting frenzy and become very aggressive until September.
Fall: Birch trees and burr oaks, and grasses change colors. A buffalo’s life consists of eating, roaming, and fattening up for the long winter. Flocks of ducks and geese fill the sky.
Winter: Snow starts and lasts until spring. Buffalo fur gets thick in anticipation of the cold. When strong winds blow, the herd faces into the wind to protect reproductive organs, the only animal to do so. Their hooves dig through the snow and uncover grass to eat.
A native of Key West, FL, Marlize loves the ocean; the smells bring back wonderful childhood memories. Her family moved from Florida to South Dakota in the 60s. Shortly after, Marlize moved to Omaha, NE where she married and raised her two children. She studied at a commercial art school while working in a custom photo lab specializing in photo restoration and negative retouching.
Marlize moved back to Florida and was able to rekindle her love of art, enjoying the wonders of the Keys. Years of working with fine details gave her the ability to work with ink and scratch board, still her first love.
Marlize and her family moved to Custer in 2006, a beautiful place no matter what season. Her children and grandchildren enjoy coming to visit. Marlize continues to display and sell her art in Key West as well as the Discovery Shop in Custer.
