Flowers in Snowmass, Colorado

I spent last week making art at Anderson Ranch Art Center in Snowmass, Colorado. Late June is the perfect time to spend some time high up in the Rocky Mountains. The weather is spectacular and the flowers are unbeatable.

These poppies were planted near the spot I chose for my daily meditations. Their scarlet color caught my eye every time I walked by . . . breathtaking!

I saw numerous varieties of Columbines, like this peachy-yellow one above, and this rich violet one below.

 

This is the traditional Colorado Columbine, the state flower. These flowers are so delicate and short-lived. They are truly a testament to the beauty and fragility of life!

And finally, I had never seen lupine in this shade of pink before. I have typically seen the silver, purple, and yellow ones in the wild. I’m amazed by the color variants found within one species.

Next week, we’ll begin exploring all new flora and fauna in our new home-state of Washington, see you then!

Anderson Ranch + Critique Workshop / Part 1

Self-portrait on a blank sheet of paper

Digital photograph

This week I’m at Anderson Ranch Art Center in Snowmass, Colorado taking the Contemporary Studio Critique workshop with Gary Simmons. It has been interesting so far: Monday was spent going through a preliminary overview and general critique of the ten students’ work up to the present moment. Today, we’ve been working on our own and have had individual discussions with Gary.

Self-portrait on a painted sheet of paper

Digital photograph

I usually work on several different artworks at once, and it’s no different at Anderson Ranch this week! I have 6 pieces going already, and it’s only the second day of the workshop, and that’s not including the process photos  above and the video you’ll see below.

The painting with quivering aspen leaves

Digital video

I’m always interested in conveying some sense of spiritual energy in my art, whatever the media. Today was the first time I took my inks outside to work (I didn’t want to smoke everyone out of the studio with my rubbing alcohol), and now I wonder why I never did it before! I set up shop on a wooden balcony that sits on the edge of a rushing creek. The first thing I noticed were the shadows cast by the aspen leaves overhead, and how they moved over my empty sheet of paper. Then, again, as I worked on my painting, the little quivering shadows surely must’ve influenced my composition. I decided to shoot a quick video of the shadows dancing on top of the painting.

I’ll show you some of the other stuff I’m working on tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Colorado Love

Colorado makes
me feel
                        
grounded.


The earth

                  up
reaches
to meet me.

New York to Colorado: Road Trip Detour(s)

 A covered bridge in Greenup, Illinois

After my art show in New York City, Matt and I decided to take the scenic route back home to Colorado. The first couple days were dreary and rainy, so we waited to take our detours until the weather was more pleasant.

We found an old road in Illinois called the Old National Road (US Hwy 40). It was America’s first transcontinental highway, before the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System was implemented. It once ran all the way from Atlantic City to San Francisco.

 

Gateway Arch at dusk in St. Louis, Missouri

As we traveled, Matt and I listened to the audio book of On The Road by Jack Kerouac. He mentions many of the places we passed through on our journey cross-country. I suspect the characters spent a lot of time hitchhiking along the Old National Road. Of course, now I'm obsessed with this book. I don’t know how I never read it before. Apparently, they’re making a movie to be released sometime soon.

A silver lining somewhere in central Kansas

Kansas is comprised of flat, rolling plains. Many of the small towns we passed through seemed to be half-deserted, their better days behind them. Mojo wore himself out barking at cows as we passed by. At dusk, our spirits were lifted by this beautiful glowing cloud with a silver lining.

Mojo, exhausted after confronting all those cows

Autumn in the San Juan Mountains

West Fork, Delores River, San Juan National Forest
Photo by Matt McGrath

Matt and I decided to make one last trip to the San Juan Mountains south of Telluride, Colorado before the cold weather sets in for winter. We had a great weekend camping camping and hiking in the San Juan National Forest.

Colorado Hwy 145 from the Calico National Recreation Trail

On Saturday, we day-hiked Priest Gulch cutoff of the Calico National Recreation Trail. The weather was perfect, and we were lucky enough to catch the tail end of the fall color. After the hike, we drove along the West Fork of the Delores River towards Dunton, Colorado.

Aspen Trees Changing Color on the Road to Dunton, Colorado
Photo by Matt McGrath

On Sunday, we hiked up to Lake Hope in the Uncompahgre National Forest. The views of Trout Lake from above were incredible. 

The View Down-valley to Trout Lake from the Lake Hope Trail.

View from the Lake Hope Trail.

Mojo Bouncing Around Seiber Canyon

We went for a hike in Seiber Canyon in McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area last weekend and had a great time. Mojo had fun playing in the grass — in some places it was taller than he is! This canyon is rarely visited and, as expected, we didn’t see anyone else nearby.


We did find evidence of a black bear nearby, though! His paw track was about six inches wide. I bet someone with more experience than me could take an educated guess about how big this bear was; I have no idea. It did look like his visit to the area had been recent though!

Lower Delores River Camping

This weekend we went camping with a group from Colorado Environmental Coalition. The river is beautiful, as is the entire area around Gateway, Colorado. At first it seemed like it might rain all evening, but once we got our tent set up the clouds parted and a beautiful rainbow emerged over the cliffs.



The river is beautiful and the wildflowers were abundant!



Matt and I enjoyed riding our bikes down a dirt road that parallels the river. Mojo ran alongside our bikes for a couple miles, but once he got tired we let him navigate from a basket on the handlebars. What a cutie!

Storms Over the San Juan Mountains Near Telluride, Colorado

Trout Lake with Common Fireweed in the Foreground

Matt and I spent the weekend camping along Barlow Creek in the San Juan Mountains near Rico, Colorado. On Sunday, we had hoped to hike to Lake Hope from Trout Lake, but the sky was ominous as we made our way to the trail head. By the time we got there, it was raining buckets. From the safety of our truck, we experienced the occasional bolt of lightning and rumbles of thunder.

South Fork of the San Miguel River, just south of Telluride

Galloping Goose Trail along the South Fork of the San Miguel River

Colorado Hwy 145 between Rico and Telluride, near Lizard Head Pass

Exploring Bolam Pass — San Juan Mountains

Wildflowers near Bolam Pass

Exactly six years ago, Matt and I spent 10 days roaming around in the mountains of Colorado on our wedding trip. Back then we were driving a rental Toyota Corolla, so we couldn’t explore the 4x4 roads. We came back to the San Juan Mountains for the weekend to explore the area more thoroughly in our new truck... We stayed in a campsite along Barlow Creek in Cayton Campground, about a mile from a dispersed site where we camped in 2003.

We drove up to Bolam Pass to catch the late afternoon sun. Looking out toward Sheep Mountain, San Miguel Peak, and Grizzly Peak.

Aspen Daisies (aster) near Bolam Pass

Whipple Penstemon at the Greysill Mine site near Bolam Pass

Cow Parsnip is one of my favorite wildflowers. It stands about 5 feet tall and often grows in meadows with the equally-tall Subalpine Larkspur (delphinium).

Weekend at Lincoln Creek Surrounded by the Collegiate Peaks Near Aspen

Petroleum Lake with Red Mountain in background.

To escape the 100° heat in Grand Junction, Matt and I spent the weekend camping along Lincoln Creek, near Aspen, Colorado. We took a nice walk up to Anderson and Petroleum Lakes, and saw a ton of beautiful wildflowers in alpine and sub-alpine meadows.

Colorado Columbine

Matt hiking the old two-track toward Petroleum Lake

Wildflowers in a gulley

Anderson Lake

Parry Primrose

King’s Crown

More Evidence of my Wildflower Obsession

Cliffrose below the Rattlesnake Arches.

Matt took me up to hike the Rattlesnake Arches within McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area in the late afternoon yesterday. The temperature was perfect, and since it was so late in the day there was hardly anyone else around. Matt and I agree, May is the best month of the year in canyon country.

Stemless Woolybase

Cushion Buckwheat

I love this one! It looks like a little mound of fluffy pom poms low to the ground. If you bend down and get a close-up look, you can see the little red stripe on each tiny petal. It makes me think of peppermint!

Penstemon

Sego Lily

Backpacking in Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness

Matt planned an awesome backpacking trip into the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness this weekend to check out some rarely-visited natural arches above Mee Canyon, within McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area. We invited our friends Whit and Sarah, and we set out about noon on Saturday for a nine mile hike into the arches. We didn’t see another soul during the whole trip, and we were lucky enough to spot five different arches. We also found a patch of huge boulders on the ground that had obviously recently fallen from up high.

We camped out on a rim above Mee Canyon. It’s amazing the way everything tastes so good after hiking 9 miles with a 35-pound pack on your back!

Even though none of these arches have formal names, I decided to call this one “Teardrop.”

Dinosaur Bones

Yesterday I spent the morning on a tour of the Trail Through Time, an area within McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area that is riddled with 150 million year old dinosaur fossils. I had been out to this trail before, and despite the interpretive signs, I still had difficulty identifying the fossils. With the help of Zeb Miracle, our tour guide, seeing the bones was much easier.

We saw vertebrae from the neck of a Camarasaurus dinosaur. Just a section of the neck bones was about 20 feet long! The bones embedded in the rock have a slightly grayer color and are smoother than the rest of the rock. The best part was that, unlike in a museum, we were allowed to touch the fossils to get a sense of the size of these creatures.

We learned that this area of the Colorado desert, now known as Rabbit Valley, was once a lush wetland where dinosaurs and other animals came to drink. It’s hard to imagine that this dry desert was a jungle millions of years ago!

Speechless at Ice Lake

We were climbing the last steep pitch toward Ice Lake, after already being completely amazed by a meadow below, when we crossed paths with a family who was coming down from having already visited the lake. We stopped to chat with the father, who simply said, “It’s totally worth all the effort... mmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” He was right.

This is the bluest water I’ve ever seen in my entire life.

This is a difficult, if short, 6-mile (round trip) hike with almost 3,000 feet of elevation gain from bottom to top. When we got to the top, Matt and I spent an hour and a half enjoying our lunch of granola bars and dried mango, exploring the lake, the meadows, and the wildflowers. We even got screamed at by a couple of marmots who thought we were too close to their homes.