Yellowstone Revisited

 In September I was walking at daybreak above the Gardner River near the Rescue Creek Trail.  I took some photos but in no way did they communicate the feeling of being alone in a special place, privileged with an apparition that might only last a moment.  I am not sure if I have been able to express it in this painting, but I think there is some sense of the alien, other-worldly landscape that one sees in the Northern more arid zones in Yellowstone National Park.  You walk along, subdued by the grays and low light of dawn, still sleepy from waking up so early, and suddenly you find yourself transported to a world of intense color, glowing with autumn and sunrise. It's a moment that occurs so often in nature--you gasp involuntarily at the sheer beauty of something. In art it happens infrequently, but once in a while. I remember going years ago to the Cloisters Museum in New York, just after opening before anyone else arrived. I walked into the Campin Room, and saw the Annunciation Triptych --and I gasped at the sheer amazing beauty of it.  Later on before leaving the museum I peered into the room from the landing above and saw a man looking at it for the first time, and he gasped too!  And I realized at that point that my goal as an artist and teacher was to work all my life so that some day I might acquire the knowledge and craftsmanship to share some portion of that awe with other people.

Comments

[Melbourne Hotels]

Amazing.I can't believe there is a yellow stone. Awesome.

[Sheila]

So Beautiful and surreal. Love your work!

[Molly Hashimoto]

Many thanks, Sheila, for your kind comments!