travel
« 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.
Fruit Bats, Adelaide Australia
Monday, January 18th, 2021
Fruit Bats, Adelaide Botanic Gardens, South Australia – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. One of my most memorable experiences of all time was seeing the thousands of fruit bats in Adelaide. On a hot day at sunset we sat and watched them skim across the river, fly back to a tree, settle on a branch and lick the water off their fur.
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, also called gophers, the Badlands Hoodoos near Drumheller, Alberta Canada. 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Framed size 27H x 33W inches.
The geography in this area of Alberta is incredible, and the gophers are so very much a part of prairie ecology. They are cute to be sure, but they dig their homes in fields and are a nuisance to farmers whose horses and cattle can trip and break their ankles and legs.
You know Spring has finally arrived when the roads and highways are littered with gopher roadkill. In Torrington, Alberta, one lady has found a creative way to manage that. You must visit The World-Famous Gopher Hole Museum located in the middle of nowhere, in a small prairie hamlet where there is not even a gas station, barely noticeable along a seemingly endless dusty gravel road. 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 trip.
Feeding Cockatoos, Apollo Bay, Australia
Sunday, January 3rd, 2021
Feeding Cockatoos, Apollo Bay, along the Great Ocean Road, Australia – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on 90 lb watercolor paper.
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
Matthiessen State Park, IL
Saturday, November 21st, 2020
Matthiessen State Park, Illinois US – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Framed size 27H x 33W inches, white wood frame, crackle finish.
This park located near Oglesby epitomizes the word “anomaly”. The surrounding landscape is flat for miles and miles, with a lot of farm fields and no hint at all that such pockets of vastly different ecosystems occur side by side, merging so abruptly. In fact, we know a guy who grew up an hour from there and he didn’t even know it existed! There are a few other hiking trails and hidden canyons with waterfalls in the area too.
« Previous Entries Next Entries »