Intrigue and Glory - the U. S. National Parks

 

Canyon Changing Light ©MM Sikes

Over the years, my husband and I have visited numerous national parks. When we were first married, we took a crazy bus trip across country to California. It was a real adventure, and it featured our first visit to the Grand Canyon.

We spent a night at the famous El Tovar, and I recall standing near the canyon edge outside the lodge and marveling at the colors far away on the other side. I marveled even more at the light changes as sunset approached. At the time, I didn't know that the El Tovar was a famous National Parks Lodge. I was disappointed because we had to share a bathroom with others staying there. However, I later discovered you have to book a year or two in advance to get a room in the El Tovar.

Often, when we travel to Sedona AZ, we take a side trip to the Grand Canyon and to El Tovar. We have driven around the canyon, north to south. When our two oldest children were young, we took them there on a cross-country trip. The venturous little girls frightened me when the got too close to the edge of the canyon.

©MM Sikes

The photo on the right was taken from an airplane window during a more recent visit to Arizona. The Colorado River winds through the canyon walls.

The Rocky Mountains and the National Parks associated with them fascinate me. When I attended art graduate school, my graduate thesis show was of Rocky Mountain paintings. Over the years, I have drawn and painted many scenes from those glorious rugged mountains.

Grand Canyon Wall  ©MM Sikes

 

 

 

This pastel painting is a study for a large 7-foot long acrylic painting I created of the Grand Canyon.

Painting the canyon is an addiction. I will paint it again and again.

And write about it, as well.

 

 

 

"Canyon" pastel ©MM Sikes

 

"A" is for Antelope Canyon on Navaho Nation Land

"Antelope Canyon" pastel and watercolor ©Mary Montague Sikes

Although my theme for the A to Z Blog Challenge is mostly National Parks, my choice for "A" is Antelope Canyon which is on Navaho Nation Land and is not a National Park.

In 2012, we were visiting Sedona, Arizona and having breakfast in a little restaurant there. The couple seated next to us was talking with the waitress about Antelope Canyon, their destination for the day. We had never heard of the slot canyons, located near Page, Arizona, but they sounded fascinating. Although it was a 3-hour trip, we decided to go there the next day.

The drive from Sedona to Page was beautiful. We stopped along the way for lunch at a restaurant operated by the Navaho. At the entrance to Lower Antelope Canyon, we paid the fee and waited for the next guide to take us down. Although information says the tour is easy, it actually requires climbing up and down ladders at several points. Also, it might be difficult for someone heavy to pass through several very narrow passages in the canyon. As an artist, I loved it. The colors are glorious and surreal.

The canyon gained its name because long ago pronghorn goats roamed there. Now it can be dangerous when flash flooding sends water rushing through the tight passageways. A few years ago, a group of tourists died in the Lower Canyon during an unexpected flash flood.

We did not have time to go to the Upper Antelope Canyon two years ago. Hopefully, we can return someday and discover what we missed there.

Visiting the National Parks--Where We've Been and Where I Long to Go "A to Z"

"Rocks at Tahoe" ©Mary Montague Sikes

After last year when I did a painting a day to create an animal alphabet, I was undecided about participating in the A to Z Blog Challenge 2014. Although I loved the 2013 work I produced which has already been in several art exhibitions, painting a new piece of art each day was time-consuming and difficult to keep up during a week-long art workshop I decided to take.

What to do this year?

Since I don't have enough small canvases stockpiled, I am unprepared to undertake another painting a day challenge. However, I may do a painting here and there throughout A to Z. For this year's theme, I've decided to go with National Parks, focusing on those we've visited and places where I long to go.

Many of the most beautiful parks that have attracted me seem to be located in the West. I love those places that offer photo opportunities in every direction like Tahoe in California which is a National Forest, not a Park. I started to wonder about the difference between National Parks and National Forests and found there is a big difference. National Parks are developed to protect the "natural and historic resources." They are operated under the Department of the Interior. The National Forests focus on preservation of many resources including a variety of commodities and services. They are under the Department of Agriculture. Hunting is allowed in the National Forests but not in the Parks.

I'm looking forward to the A to Z 2014 Blogging Challenge. Please stop by and take a look each day, starting on Tuesday.

Painting the National Parks

"Yellowstone Lake" pastel painting ©Mary Montague Sikes

These are the first of my paintings this year that are focusing on scenes from our beautiful National Parks. For these art works, I used as reference materials photographs I took during a trip to Yellowstone National Park in 2006. Both of these works were created using vine charcoal for the basic drawing, then I added color, working mostly with Rembrandt soft pastels. For both these paintings, I used half-sheets of Canson Mi-Teintes pastel paper in the Moonstone color. The half-sheets are 19" x 12 1/2" unframed.

"Yellowstone Lower Falls" pastel painting ©Mary Montague Sikes

Yellowstone National Park - One Visit is Not Enough

"Yellowstone Lake" ©Mary Montague Sikes

One visit is never enough when traveling to and in Yellowstone National Park. It is amazing to realize that when Yellowstone was established in 1872, the United States was not yet 100 years old and the park was the first national one in the world. Located mostly in Wyoming, it extends into Montana and Idaho as well. When we spent almost two weeks there in 2006, we flew into Bozeman, MT which is an interesting town to visit and a good place to begin a visit to Yellowstone.

The park was everything I hoped it might be. I loved the rugged landscape, the wild animals, especially the buffalo, that lumbered across the roadway, halting the passage of all traffic. The mudpots were astonishing, like paintings on the surface of the land.

Can you believe the Yellowstone Lake is over the center of the super volcano that has been in the news a lot in recent weeks? How dramatic it must have been for early settlers to stumble across the fantastic scenery of Yellowstone.

"Yellowstone Falls"©Mary Montague Sikes

For Week Two of my journey through some of the National Parks, I will add more about Yellowstone. I haven't begun my paintings
 and will post them here when I do.