Paintings from my November 4th 2025 - December 7th 2025 show at Helena College (below). For the November exhibit, 25% of proceeds from any sales will go to the Prickly Pear Land Trust, and 15% to Helena College. Yep, it’s a fund-raiser in part… so dig deep into your pockets! The opening reception is November 13th, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at Helena College Donaldson Campus; prices are ‘negotiable’ that day only. Paintings must remain on display through December 7th; I can ship paintings after that date or, within reason, I can deliver to the local area.

Tenmile Creek Park is a gem on the west side of our town of Helena, MT. Bounded by Ten Mile Creek to the east, Williams Street to the west, and Country Club Road to the north, the park has 180 acres and a bit over three miles of fully accessible trails. It’s popular with hikers, bikers, dog walkers and wildlife… I live fairly nearby, so I’ve explored the park since it was created in 2017. I always thought parts of the park could inspire some great paintings. Finally, in the fall of 2025, I got around to it… all of these paintings are from photos I took when visiting the park over the last several years.

Park history excerpts from the Prickly Pear Land Trust’s (PPLT) website: “In 2016, Prickly Pear Land Trust partnered with the National Guard to purchase two critical properties near Fort Harrison – Tenmile Creek and Sevenmile Creek – through the Peaks to Creeks Initiative…. When Tenmile Creek Park opened in 2017, it expanded bike commuting options for employees at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Fort Harrison….[it] was made possible by support from the Army, the Lewis & Clark County Open Space Bond, The Conservation Fund, the Recreational Trails Program, Growing Friends, the Thoresen Foundation, Spring Meadow Resources, and many anonymous donors and foundations.”

In this first painting, the pedestrian bridge over Ten Mile Creek connects an access trail from ‘Montana Wild’ and Springmeadow Lake State Park to Tenmile Creek park.

‘Bridging the trails’ (Pedestrian Bridge over Ten Mile Creek); watercolor on Arches 300# hot press paper; 18x29”, Galen ‘Mac’ McAllister, 2025; framed and matted, $850

‘The Survivor’, an old willow tree, now growing half-in and half out of Ten Mile Creek (below). I could not resist painting the amazing root system of this old willow against fresh winter snow. The Prickly Pear Land Trust is working towards reintroduction of native plants and grasses in the park, but that won’t make it wild… The dog tracks in the snow (bottom right) bear witness that the influence of its two-and-four legged visitors is nearly everywhere.

‘The Survivor’, (above) watercolor on Arches 300# hot press paper, 18x29”; Galen “Mac” McAllister, 2025. Framed and matted, $1450.

‘Rain Dance, or Ride Home?” (below): I pedal through Tenmile Park regularly for exercise… on this particular day, I stopped to take still more photos of the tree I’ve nicknamed ‘the Survivor’, and when I walked back up the bank of the creek to these picnic tables, I could clearly see that it was time to ride back home. The rain dance proved unnecessary…

‘Rain Dance, or Ride Home?’ (above): watercolor on arches 300# hot press paper, 18x29”, Galen “Mac” McAllister, 2025. Matted and framed, $750.

‘Prickly Pear Cacti in Bloom’ (below): Yes, the Prickly Pear Land Trust’s park has a few prickly pears on it… when I first discovered this patch, I was riding on a rough trail and my tires missed it by perhaps a couple of inches. Needless to say, I was glad that I didn’t have to lug my bicycle home to fetch innertubes for two flat tires… On a later ride, I noticed that they were in bloom. This is probably plains pricklypear - opuntia polyacantha. The blooms start as red buds and mature into delicate yellow flowers. The fruits are edible, but you MUST remove the spines.

‘Prickly Pear Cacti in Bloom’ (above): watercolor on Arches 300# hot press paper, 18x29”, Galen “Mac” McAllister 2025. Framed and matted, $700

‘Tenmile Creek Light Show’ (below): When the suspended sediments in spring runoff have cleared, and before late-summer algae coats much of the creek bottom, the play of light on the rocks causes the bottom of Tenmile Creek to seem to dance in the sunlight. In optics-world, these bands of light are called rippling caustics (who knew?). The day I took the photo on which this painting is based, I saw that someone had stacked several rocks in the middle of the stream. I’m not sure that PPLT really wants us all doing that, but… it’s yet more evidence of two-legged visitors enjoying the park. This painting was one of the most difficult watercolors I’ve ever done… If I ever tackle this kind of subject again, I’m going to do it in oils!

‘Ten Mile Creek Light Show’: watercolor on 300# Arches hot press paper; 18x29”; Galen “Mac” McAllister, 2025. Framed and matted, $1000

‘Fallen Tree in Fall’: Looking north from the pedestrian bridge, there are a couple of trees that have fallen across the creek, but which refuse to die. Just a couple of weeks ago, I had to stop on the bridge and admire the fall colors… an all-too-brief moment in the park’s annual rhythm.

‘Fallen Tree in Fall’ (above): Acrylic on Masonite (also known as hardboard or pressboard); 24x30”; Galen “Mac” McAllister, 2025. Framed, un-matted; $1100.

‘Tumbling Mustard Superbloom’: A few years ago, riding the trails with my wife, we enjoyed marveling at this ‘superbloom’ of tumbling mustard plants - spectacular yellow all across the park. Back when Tenmile Creek Park was a working ranch, this was regarded as good feed. Bees love the stuff. I heard from a PPLT employee that later that summer, the plants reached some six feet in height and hikers feared they would ‘lose’ their kids if they wandered too far off the trails. Since then, PPLT has prioritized mowing along the trails...

‘Tumbling Mustard Superbloom’’ (above): Acrylic on Masonite (also known as hardboard or pressboard); 24x30”; Galen “Mac” McAllister, 2025. Framed, un-matted, $1100.

Untitled (below): I was fascinated by the trunks of these trees alongside the creek. Aspens, I think…. I haven’t thought of a good title, yet, so for now, it’s titled ‘untitled’… suggestions?

Untitled (above); acrylic on canvasboard, 12x16”, Galen “Mac” McAllister, 2025. Framed un-matted. $400.

‘The Lost Ball’: Tenmile Creek Park is very popular with our four-legged friends… Sometimes, they get so distracted by all the goings-on that they forget the stick or ball that they were carrying. Will “Fido” come back for this one?

‘The Lost Ball’: acrylic on canvasboard, 12x16”. Galen ‘Mac’ McAllister, 2025. Framed, un-matted, $400