Painting of Arches National Park

This is my latest painting -- finished just a few days ago! The size is a mere 11" x 14"/28cm x 36cm.

I mentioned on Wednesday's (28 Jan 2009) post about a trip we took to Lake Powell. One day of that trip, we (actually, I) hightailed it over to Arches National Park. This was the third visit I've made there and each time had only one day to look around! (Someday, we really need to spend a week there to see it all!)

This time around, I hiked up to see Delicate Arch up close (if you've ever seen a Utah license plate, you've seen this formation pictured on the plate). That hike wiped me out, it was getting late and the Park was surrounded by stormy weather, although at the Park itself, we had only alternating periods of sun and cloud cover.

On the way out in late afternoon, I saw this view which changed constantly as the wind drove the clouds across the sky, illuminating some distant formations, then casting them into shadow moments later. The foreground stayed mostly in shadow.

These are the kinds of scenes I live for. The lighting was magical, one could see forever, and the spires on the sides framed the view perfectly. Well, OK, I have one confession to make: the spires were separated by about 100 yards/100m and are not seen in the same view as I depicted them. Other than that, the painting, "Desert Moods" shows what I saw that afternoon. No apologizes necessary.

Again, as my tagline says: "The Vast Spaces of the Southwest" lives on.