landscapes
« Previous Entries Next Entries »Petrified Forest
Sunday, January 24th, 2021
Crystal Forest Trail, Petrified Forest National Park, AZ – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper.
Silent reverence for geologic history, Petrified Forest National Park, Crystal Forest Trail AZ USA. Not a whole lot more to draw here! The land is barren except for desert grass and the odd tumbleweed. This was once a lush forest, and dinosaurs roamed here. It was February, but I bet this place looks the same in July. The silence was layered with dry grasses in the breeze, ravens’ calls, and my imagination.
I had never seen a tumbleweed up close before, so since I hadn’t seen any traffic or other people for about an hour, I hopped out of the car to take photos of one in the middle of the road before it blew away. Satisfied with the takes, I got up off the road and a bus was right there 25 ft. away, waiting for me to finish. I don’t know how long the bus was there, but was thankful the driver didn’t honk… and more thankful that he saw me.
Red Rock State Park, Denver CO
Friday, January 22nd, 2021
Red Rock State Park, Denver CO – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on 90 lb watercolor paper.
Kananaskis Valley, AB Canada
Sunday, January 10th, 2021
Kananaskis Valley near Banff, Alberta Canada – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Framed size 27H x 33W inches, white wood frame, crackle finish.
Prairie Dogs, Drumheller, AB
Wednesday, January 6th, 2021
Prairie Dogs, the Badlands Hoodoos near Drumheller, Alberta Canada. 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Framed size 27H x 33W inches.
The Canadian Badlands in Alberta and Saskatchewan are recognized for having unusual mudstone and sandstone landscape formations, and also for having the largest deposits of dinosaur bones in the world. The geography in Horseshoe Canyon, Alberta is ancient and incredible, and the prairie dogs – Albertans call them “gophers” – are an influential part of prairie ecology, having extensive impact on vegetation and animal life. They live in colonies of up to several thousand, burrowing in networks of tunnels where other ground-dwelling creatures move in, and rain water is reserved and redirected.
They are cute to be sure, but they are sometimes a nuisance to farmers whose horses and cattle can trip in the holes. Pest control programs during the 1900’s meant their numbers have declined, which had an impact on the grasslands they helped sustain. As their own highways became populated with humans and cars, particularly during Springtime they are a road hazard.
In Torrington, Alberta, one lady has found a creative way to utilize the unfortunate casualties. You must visit The World-Famous Gopher Hole Museum located in the middle of nowhere, in a small hamlet where there is not even a gas station, along a seemingly endless dusty gravel road about an hour Northwest of Drumheller. Gophers are stuffed, sporting handmade costumes and placed in small cubicles displaying historic scenes. Completely bizarre, but actually very well done and absolutely worth the conversation-provoking side-trip if you are planning to visit Drumheller and the Tyrell Dinosaur Museum.
Ouimet Canyon, ON Canada
Saturday, January 2nd, 2021
Ouimet Canyon Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper
According to written information about this amazing place, the 100 metre deep (330 ft), 150 M (490 ft) wide gorge formed a billion years ago, when earth split due to advancing glaciers, then most likely the tremendous amounts of water released during their retreat, and erosion of the slabs by wind and rain.
It was a rainy day, so the park was tourist-free, and I was able to experience the park alone. In a meditative state of mind, foggy atmosphere enhanced the sense of mystery. I imagined the violent forces that created this wonder, and within the scale of a few small moments, tried to comprehend how much time a billion years is.
Campfire Smoke
Sunday, December 20th, 2020
Campfire Smoke, Yosemite National Park CA, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper.
Framed size 27H x 33W inches, white wood frame, crackle finish.
Wyoming Rockscape
Wednesday, December 16th, 2020
Wyoming Rockscape, Bighorn National Forest, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on watercolor paper
Shepperd’s Dell Falls
Tuesday, December 8th, 2020
Shepperd’s Dell Falls, East Historic Columbia River, Corbett, Oregon – 24H x 18W inches soft pastels on paper. Interesting that a change as trivial as flipping the format to portrait threw me off my game for a bit, and it took a while to adapt.
Landscapes of the Mind
Sunday, December 6th, 2020
Two pieces will be showing at the Landscapes of the Mind exhibition at the First Floor Gallery, Santa Clarita city hall December 2020 through March 19, 2021. Here is the link to the virtual exhibition (work shown is not to scale). My two pieces, The Campsite and Winter Forest: Dogwood, both watercolors, are located just to the right as you enter, behind the central walls.
Abstracts online exhibition
Friday, December 4th, 2020
The Sound of Silence – 2009, 36H x 24W x 2D acrylics on canvas, trim frame
Five pieces were accepted into the J. Mane Gallery online exhibition Abstracts 2020 showing through December. All are available for sale, listed on the left sidebar.
Birch – 2012, 12H x 16W inches watercolors and Multnomah Falls – 2017, 18 x 24 inches watercolors
Queen Anne’s Lace – 2018, 14H x 20W watercolors and Spring Garden Mix – 2013, 18H x 24 oil pastels