One of Cranbrook's best known artists is aiming high in his latest art project.

Joseph Cross has taken on the task of painting Mount Assiniboine, the highest peak in the southern Rocky Mountains and with its steep, precipitous slopes and pyramid-shaped profile is often compared to the famed Matterhorn in Switzerland.

In fact, the remote 11,820 ft. (3,618 metres) peak about 150 km northeast of Cranbrook is often called the "Matterhorn of the Rockies" and its name was used for the creation of Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park in 1922, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a beacon for mountaineers, hikers and back-packers ever since.

Cross, well-known for his large mural-size paintings scattered around Cranbrook and a series of paintings he's doing for the David Thompson Bi-Centennial, was invited by B.C. Parks to do the Assiniboine project which is meant to enhance the reputation of one of the province's most spectacular wilderness parks.

"It was quite honestly left up to me. They just wanted to get me in there with the idea of doing some paintings of what I saw and what impressed me," says Cross who was twice flown into the park in 2007 with his wife and business manager Sharon.

It was almost like a dream vacation for the couple, who are avid hikers and nature lovers of the first order. Sharon kept a journal while Joe painted and some of what she wrote indicates the awe the couple felt to be in such a beautiful, spectacular and pristine location.

"A glorious day, not a cloud in the sky for a hike to Wonder Pass, then back via the meadows. Mother Nature has totally outdone herself. Over 300 species of wildflowers. Every step trying to be careful where we place our feet. Truly an awesomely colourful place. Large splashes of bright, pink fireweed here and there for us to ooh and aah over."

Cross, a self-taught artist who often uses computer software for his initial planning and sketching before applying paint to canvass, says Assiniboine did more to stimulate his artistic imagination than most places he's visited.

"It's probably one of the most beautiful parks we've ever been it. You just couldn't ask for anymore. The mountain has so many beautiful aspects and then there's the vast meadows, the flowers, the big sky and never-ending vistas. I'm still tossing around ideas for more paintings. There's so many views."

Cross also packs a big Cannon DSLR camera with him on painting exhibitions and he uses the large-format images it provides to plan his paintings which are usually done in a highly realistic style reminiscent of Alex Colville and even Robert Bateman to some degree.

Cross started painting in 1978, four years after he moved to Cranbrook and even though he never studied at any art school he analyzes other artists works and is influenced by them accordingly. "I look at techniques from other artists and I think how can I incorporate those techniques into my work. From my perspective, it's just choosing what's right for me and realism just happens to be what I enjoy the most. It's not a case of what's right and wrong. Realism is just what I'm attracted to."

The two paintings Cross has produced for the Assiniboine project so far are "Sunburst Morning: Sunburst Mountain and Cerulean Lake" and "Mount Assiniboine Reflected." The first shows Mt. Assiniboine well in the background catching the first rays of the sun with the main subject being the azure blue lake and craggy mountains just to the north of Assiniboine.

"Assiniboine Reflected" is the classic, post card view of the Matterhorn-like peak rising almost 5,000 straight above Sunburst Lake and reflected in the lake's placid waters. Both oil paintings are large format, being close to three ft. by four ft. in size, but thanks to the wonders of modern computer technology, they can also be reproduced in smaller sizes called "giclees," which today are the fastest-growing segment of the art business.

A giclee is a digital reproduction of an original artwork something like a print which bear the same quality as the original painting and can be enhanced by hand by the artist to make a truly unique piece. Because giclees are a reproduction and not the original painting and are produced in a limited number, they can be sold at a lower price point as a fine art reproduction.

Cross is going to do at least four major paintings of Mt. Assiniboine for B.C. Parks, while keeping the originals for re-sale. How many paintings of the rugged park he will eventually do, he doesn't know. "This is just in the beginning stages." Assiniboine Reflected has already been purchased by BC Parks and been displayed in the the part at Mount Assiniboine Lodge overlooking Lake Magog.

As each of the paintings are completed, reproductions will be made on canvass in limited giclee editions and sold to the public with the profits going to Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park and other Kootenay provincial parks through the Park Enhancement Fund.

The first public unveiling of Sunburst Morning will be at the Fisher Peak Gallery in Cranbrook March 16 from 4:30 p.m. To 7 p.m. Joe and Sharon will be in attendance and the actual unveiling will take place at 5:30 p.m. and other Fisher Peak Gallery artists will be present as well.

Later this year, Cross will resume work on his David Thompson series and hopes to revisit Athabasca Pass for the painting of a night time scene showing Thompson camping in the pass with his native guides. But the Saskatchewan-born artist, who has already completed more than half-a-dozen paintings of his David Thompson series, also hopes to return to the "Matterhorn of the Rockies" in the future.

"Its the kind of place you could paint forever," he says.