Organic – Wildorado Wind Ranch, 25 miles from Amarillo, Texas – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Framed size 27H x 33W” white mat and white wood frame with crackle finish.

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 – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on 90 lb watercolor paper.

Fruit Bats, Adelaide Botanic Gardens, South Australia – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper.

One of my most memorable and favorite experiences of all time was seeing what we initially thought were pinecones until they started moving – the thousands of fruit bats in the pine trees at Adelaide Botanic Gardens, located within the city limits. On a very hot summer day at sunset we sat and watched them fly low across the river, while skimming their bodies into the water, then fly back to a tree, settle on a branch and lick the water off their fur.

Cedar Waxwings in the Red-Hot Poker flowers, seed heads forming… Hillsboro, OR. 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper.

I’ve seen this only twice, for just one or two mornings during Spring when the Red-Hot Poker flowers are at their peak. This is why I have my camera handy at all times. Wings fluttering, the birds would lose their balance and change positions as the tall stocks bent from their weight, hovering briefly to sip the nectar of the fresh flower buds. Last summer I watched Cedar Waxwings hovering beside branches to eat tree berries, and on another occasion, flying out to catch bugs in mid-air. Some things you only see once, and it feels so special to be in the right place at the right time.

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, 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.

Feeding Cockatoos, Apollo Bay, along the Great Ocean Road, Australia – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on 90 lb watercolor paper.

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, Yosemite National Park CA, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper.

Framed size 27H x 33W inches, white wood frame, crackle finish.