Mount of the Holy Cross

I've heard some people express disbelief at paintings they had seen that featured a mountain with a cross etched in the rock. I'd hear comments like "No way...how cornball...that would never happen in nature."

Y'know what? They're wrong! There IS such a mountain!

The mountain is the Mount of the Holy Cross. It's in Colorado, east and slightly south of Vail right off of the Interstate 70. There's even a turnoff for it. I've never been there myself (one of those things I always meant to do when we lived in Colorado), but others have told me there's a parking lot for it, and one has to hike in a little on a trail before it comes into view.

The Mount of the Holy Cross has been known to white explorers and artists since the 19th century. Since I don't have photos of my own, I'd like to share some historical photos so I won't violate any living photographers' copyrights.

 Here are two images by 19th century photographer William Henry Jackson. When there's just the right amount of snow, the cross stands in sharp contrast to the rock around it.










To the left is a stereoscopic (3D) photo of the Mount. If you know how to look at stereo pictures without a viewer (your eyes must be looking straight ahead as though staring into the distance, not crossed as when you look at things up close), you'll see the rock outcroppings at the bottom seem to push the Mount itself back away from you.









Now we're looking at some paintings by my favorite 19th century artist, Thomas Moran. I never read how many times he painted the Mount of the Holy Cross, but here are four examples of his work -- all different, but equally impressive!

 

So, yes, there ARE mountains with crosses on them!

Maroon Bells

Ahhh... it's finally autumn.

Autumn in the desert is much more subtle than the painting you see here. This scene is in Colorado. The distant mountains are the Maroon Bells near the town of Aspen.

Fall must be the most popular time to visit the area. The road leading to the parking lot is closed to all but a few people, and one must go to a park in Aspen to catch a shuttle bus that hauls tourists to the parking lot, where they can see the mountains and Maroon Lake which often appears in photos.

That day, I arrived there in the early afternoon. I didn't know where the park was and didn't have enough money for the shuttle. So I walked. I was told at the gate that the Maroon Bells come into view after the first six miles, and the parking lot and lake were two miles beyond that.

Well, I managed to trudge the first six miles uphill, and that was all I could handle that day after picking up unsold artwork from an exhibit in Glenwood Springs. Plus, although the day was partly cloudy when I arrived, in typical Colorado fashion, it completely clouded over by the time I saw the peaks. I even got drizzled on. It figures.

So I took pictures of the Bells and the surrounding area, saw some deer and eventually turned around and walked back to my truck.

This painting, then, is one of the works I made from that little walk. Instead of the usual Maroon Lake, I included Maroon Creek in the scene which -- except for the distant mountains -- is not exactly how things looked. (I pulled out my artists' license for this painting). I wanted to paint a different version of Maroon Bells, not the same view that millions of other folks photograph or paint.

One of the problems with painting the creek instead of the lake is how it brings out the "everyone's a critic" tendency in people. One man at an art show who saw the piece rolled his eyes in -- disgust? -- and pointed out there should be a lake there. I told him the lake was two miles up from where I was at that time. I'm not sure he believed me or not, but that does happen in the world of art.

Well, anyway, I love fall -- it seems like a feeling similar to the migratory instinct comes alive in me. Autumn makes me feel both excited and anxious at the same time.

Maybe I'm part duck. =)

Mount Sneffels in Colorado

Ah! I FINALLY finished updating my Website. I hope everything is working OK. Do me a favor: go there and buy about five paintings so I can make sure everything's working OK. =)

In the meantime, I posted some new paintings on the site besides revamping its look. One of the paintings appears here -- it's a scene of the Sneffels Range near Telluride, Colorado. Mount Sneffels is the tall peak right of center and is one of Colorado's "14'ers," meaning it's over 14,000 feet high (that's about 4.3km for you metric folks).

(That reminds me -- I meant to show both English and metric units for the sizes of the paintings on my Website. I'll have to fix that soon!)

The link in the first paragraph should work, but just in case, the site URLs are:

http://www.southwestspaces.com/ and http://www.desert-paintings.com/.

MORE Autumn!!

Except this time, it's the Colorado mountains, not the desert; and it's a painting, not a photograph.

As with the last painting I posted ("Cliffs of the Green River"), the painting is not entirely a literal rendition -- I put several different views togehter into one image (guess you could say I "Photoshop'ed it").

The mountains are the Sneffels Range, somewhat north of Telluride, CO; and the peak to the left of center is Mount Sneffels. Mt. Sneffels is one of Colorado's "14ers," meaning it's 14,000 or more feet high. (That's 4.3km to you metric folks). The area depicted is the Dallas Divide, a place that's filled with aspen, spruce and red oak. Catch it at the right time of year (usually mid-late September), and you'll see it in spectacular fall glory.

More Colorado Art

Did I mention I paint desert landscapes? Yes? Well, OK, you've got me. (I didn't really think I could fool you!)

Although I specialize in desert art, I paint other types of scenery as well -- most of it non-desert western scenes.

The piece on the right is an example of what you might find if you roam the mountains of Colorado in autumn and happen upon a small herd of elk.

Colorado and Art

We used to live in Colorado Springs during the 1990's. Colorado is a beautiful state--lots of mountains, including many peaks that rise higher than 14,000 feet/4.3 km.

One of these "14ers" (as everyone there calls 'em) is Pikes Peak, which lies due west of Colorado Springs. Pikes Peak lacks the jagged, rugged look of the mountains of the San Juan Range in southwestern Colorado, BUT it does have the advantage of having a road that runs all the way to the top. (The more physically fit in the area hiked or jogged to the top and back, but we were not among that group!) The "peak" is not peaked, but is slightly rounded.

If you're used to that elevation (or if you're not physically fit), it's difficult to want to stay there for long. We felt constantly that we were going to faint at any moment. A "black cloud" obscured our vision. Still, we enjoyed a fantastic view of the area; in fact, people there know the song, "American the Beautiful" by Katherine Lee Bates was inspired after she made a trip to the top.

I've made a few paintings that shows Pikes Peak and another local attraction, the Garden of the Gods (a painting of the Garden appears on my Website, http://www.southwestspaces.com). I've included one of the paintings here, in early autumn with the Garden of the Gods in the middle distance and after snow fell on the mountain.

BTW--we HATED the snow with a passion! I guess you can't take a couple of southern California kids away from the beach and transplant them into snow country!