“As I camped by this lake years ago, I awoke in the morning to watch the crest of the ridge catch fire with the golden light of sunrise,” Stephen said once in describing the inspiration for the painting. Steve submitted "Sunrise in the Wallowas" to The Greenwich Workshop in 1982 following not one, but two rejections of his work. Not only did this landscape convince Greenwich Workshop founder Dave Usher to finally publish Steve’s art, but he also bought the original painting to hang in the company’s offices.