The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

She has trained dolphins.

She's sat by the side of a jaguar and pet it.

She's had her photo taken while sitting astride a Texas Longhorn steer named Weeds.

And she's sculpted a rearing horse entirely out of baling wire.

Western and wildlife artist Jan Fontecchio fell in love with the wild life of the Wild West while growing up on a horse ranch in the low deserts of California. She focuses on and paints the unpredictable and beautiful moments and stories of life in the wild.

"Horses were my first subject," the Moscow, ID, painter says.

"I grew up around them, and when I was around ten, a Di...