CAIRN

noun  \'kern\

- a mound of stones piled up as a memorial or to mark a boundary or path

The Hike:

In pursuit of a slot canyon on the backside of Checkerboard Mesa in Zion National Park, we hiked the valley along side and the desert behind the Mesa.  There are no signs or heavily worn foot trails to guide you on this remote hike.  Which keeps you wondering, am I'm going the right way and will I ever reach the canyon?   Don't fear, there are cairns left behind by those who have gone before you to guide the way on this rock and sand terrain....  and if you are passing a fallen cairn, just know it is trail etiquette to fix it for those to come!

The Painting:
I really like the concept of cairns.  Not only do they reflect a sense of unity among the hiking breed, but they are symbolic of the signs that we look for in our lives on a daily basis.  When we think we are lost we search for our cairns for direction, these type of cairns take many forms from our religious beliefs to mentors to family and friends.  We are all searching for validation.


I really enjoyed painting each stone as part of a whole.  I started by blocking out the highlights and the shadows first.  As I built the layers of paint, each stone began to take on its own personality and sometimes face.

My palette: 
yellow ochre, burnt sienna, burnt umber, cerulean blue, prussian blue, zinc white
Oil on canvas (12 x 24 inches)


p.s. This painting will always remind me of painting in warm weather with bronchitis.


p.s.s. I really liked my friend Marty's response to the piece, 

"I didn't truly bond with any of those inukshuk things until I traveled solo in the wilderness. Then they became my intimates whenever I found them, or they found me. They have at times brought me to tearful floods of recognition, starved as we both were for companionship. Solitude can sneak up on you like that."

The Narrows Trio

 As part of my 20 paintings in 20 days painting challenge, I completed a trio of paintings inspired by a hike I did last October in southern Utah.  

The Hike:  

I fell in love with backpacking on this two-day hike of the Narrows.  Starting at Chamberlain's Ranch, you hike 18 miles and watch the landscape change from a cattle field with a stream to soaring walls of rock with you in the Virgin river.  The hike ends in the heart of Zion National Park at the Temple of Sinawava.  Yes, most of the hike is in the river with slippery rocks...and in my case, a few deep areas where I swam.  Your boots will be wet the entire hike, but it is worth it!  

(Please check with the park for the weather forecast and water flow before beginning this  awesome adventure.)  

The Paintings: 

Being from the fairly flat midwest, I am in awe of the slot canyon landscape.  Every bend in the river presents a new vista. (Just ask my trail-mate how often I had to stop to take pictures:)  When I look at the walls of the canyon I am struck by the contrast of two things.  The first contrast is that of the warm and cool colors created by the make-up of the rocks and the dramatic lighting created by the position of the sun.  Secondly, I am fascinated by the contrast in the texture of the canyon walls.  At some points the walls are worn smooth and exhibit these more feminine cured coves, while other areas are rough and sheer verticals.  When I look at these paintings, I begin to see not just a canyon-scape, but a landscape of figures and faces.

The canvases are intentionally 2 by 4 feet in size.  I want the viewer to feel the pull of the vertical lines and the grandeur of the height of the canyon walls.  I limited my palette to burnt umber, burnt sienna, persian blue, yellow ochre and mixable white.

(See the page on Zion Works for closer views of the paintings.)

The Narrows #3- The trio is complete!

 I officially finished the last of the three oil paintings of The Narrows.  When I started the 2 by 4 feet canvases, I had underestimated the time it would take me to cover the surface area.  

The evolution of a slot canyon on canvas: