Tabs

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

North to Show Low & Beyond ... Ponderosas Aplenty..

Monday, February 19, 2018 to Monday, March 12th; Tonto National Forest, Arizona.


C1665
“Evening Gold over Monument Valley”
(from Valley of the Gods, Utah)
Oil Study on Centurion Oil Primed Panel
5” x 7”



I've wanted to get this evening sky study completed and posted, ever since I saw it from the Valley of the Gods, back in January.  Monument Valley is about twenty miles distant.

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)


This part of the Tonto National Forest (I’m unfamiliar with the forest elsewhere), 25 miles north of Globe, Arizona, has a certain charm about it; I suspect part of that is because it is quite new to me.  The forest cover is primarily Junipers and Pinions, but there are occasional deciduous trees that seem not to have lost their leaves, and some that have … I never did identify those retaining their leaves, but those without were mostly Cottonwoods.  The Pinion Pines seemed different from those further north, enough so that I was unsure for quite awhile that's what they were, but their identity was confirmed for me by a couple from Globe, whom I met near the end of my stay.  That stay turned out to be just short of three weeks.  I did not plan on staying that long, but since I had an intermittent internet connection, I was able to periodically check the weather, which indicated snow events back up on the Mogollon Rim, every few days, so I stayed where there was only a slight chance of rain, and there was almost none.


Apache Peaks …

… in the Tonto …

… National Forest …

… & with Big Skies.

In this forest, interspersed amongst the Junipers and Pinions, I would come across interesting cacti, other than the Prickly Pears, that I have gotten used to all the way from Nebraska, last June, throughout my travels. Of course down here those Prickly Pears can be magnificent specimens.


Magnificent, eh? [Prickly Pear].

Some sort of Barrel Cactus, I expect.




The first few days of my stay, I shared the forest with Javelina (also known as Peccaries), hunters.  I never heard a shot, and I never saw any sign, so it appears those pesky Peccaries were keeping a low profile.  They resemble a small wild pig, but I understand they are of the rodent family … I never would have suspected.  They can be dangerous when cornered, but otherwise inadvertently so, as since they have poor eyesight, and panic easily, as a herd, what may look like an assault is more likely to be them panicking and not seeing you, and thus are accidently running your way.  Still, that doesn't help you if you are on the receiving end of one of their tusks, and I'm sure that there are those that will say that an attack was intentional.  Personally, I always had my bear spray to hand when out for a stroll.  I remember learning about them at about six or seven years of age from the book “The Living Desert,” I got from the Weekly Reader Book Club.  That was the book from the Walt Disney documentary of the same name.  After the hunters left I pretty much had the forest to myself, other than the odd local rancher, about his business.


Is a one-horn steer similar to a one-eyed Jack?

Southern Pacific 4-6-0 in Globe, Arizona.



Because the forest is rather sparse and the trees are not tall, the night sky is much in evidence, and since I was further south than I have ever been, thus there were stars identified that I have never seen before.  The jewel in the crown of these is Canopus, the second brightest star in the heavens, after Sirius.  Serendipitously, Canopus is almost directly below, Sirius, but only a few degrees above the southern horizon at its highest.  Because of its very low altitude, as seen from my camp, it does not look to be the second brightest star in the heavens, although it is very noticeable. 

On the 1st of March I spotted Venus low in the West, quite unexpectedly.  Although I knew its evening apparition had begun, I thought it would still be too low for my horizon.  But there it was, and on that night Mercury was also seen below it and to the right.  I watched Mercury, passing Venus over the next few evenings as it moved above Venus; Mercury is a rapid planet, thus it’s name.  And the first of March was a noteworthy evening all around, as I watched the Moon rising seemingly out from the peak of a mountain to the east, Venus setting in the west, and Canopus glowing a few degrees above the southern horizon, with Sirius blazing high above it!  I watched until Venus dropped behind the slope of the nearby mountain … poof, and it was gone!  Nice to have Venus back in the evening sky, as the last I saw it there was a year ago on my brother's birthday on March 4th, in St, Paul, Minnesota.  Of course I had watched Venus in the dawn skies in November/December, while breakfasting at my campsite outside Arches National Park.


End of a fine day in the Forest.

Venus above …

… with Mercury below.

Two days ago I left my Tonto National Forest campsite, and headed north through the Apache reservations of San Carlos and White Mountains.  The two are separated by the Canyon of the Salt River.  This astounding canyon took me completely by surprise, when I dropped down off the Mogollon Rim three weeks ago today.  I did not expect the vistas that opened up as I encountered it for the first time!  It is a long way down to the river and a long way back up on the other side.


Salt River Canyon …

… on the way down to the Tonto N. F., …

… when the lighting was better
than on the way back.

The last two nights have been in the Ponderosas southeast of Show Low, and today I am posting this from the Show Low library.  Immediately after I “get ‘er done,” I will be heading for the Grand Canyon, via Sedona and Flagstaff, arriving there before the expected snow event later this week (hopefully).  I’d like to see the Grand Canyon in the snow.  Of course the Show Low library Wi-Fi acted up, so this is being posted from Payson, a day later.

The Pigments used in the painting:

Imprimatura: none;

Drawing: none;

Pigments: W&N Cobalt and Ultramarine Deep Blues, Cadmiums Orange & Yellow Pale;

Rublev: Ercolano Red, Purple Ochre, Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Italian Burnt Sienna, Orange Molybdate & Lead White #2.

Friday, March 9, 2018

Canyon de Chelly, Part 2 … Spider Rock.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018_Saturday, 17th February; Canyon de Chelly, Arizona.


C1664
“A Shaft of Light”
(Spider Rock, Canyon de Chelly, Arizona)
Oil Sketch on Pannelli Telati fine Cotton Panel
6” x 8”

SOLD

The Drawing and Block-in of the Painting.


(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

This is one of those paintings that took over and dictated what needed to be done.  For example, I needed to give a real sense of scale to this 800 foot high monolith of stone, and so a certain amount of detail was needed.  The miniscule trees on the canyon floor and lower slopes were essential in doing this.  I couldn’t have done this in a looser painting, thus it took considerably longer than planned and this is reflected in the price.  Still, I would point out that this is not a detailed painting when set against my Watercolours; you will need to go to my Website to see examples of those (www.StevenThorJohanneson.com).


The approach to Spider Rock …

… and first glimpse.


Takes your breath away, doesn't it.

Pondie in the Canyon.

I think Spider Rock is the signature piece de resistance of Canyon de Chelly.  It is at the far end of the south rim drive, and when doing that rim, I had driven the north rim first, I went straight there and then worked my way back along the viewpoints, so that I was heading for the campground all afternoon.  When I arrived at Spider Rock trailhead, I did not know what I was to be looking for, but when it comes into view, you know what you have come to see … a free-standing twin spire of rock, 800 feet high, at the junction of a couple of branches of the canyon.  I arrived just as a shaft of sunlight was hitting the upper reaches of it and casting its shadow on the canyon floor, while the surrounding landscape was still in cloud-shadow!  “Oh,” I said, “that’s what I’ve come to see!”


Low Winter light in the Canyon.

The White House
from the Canyon Rim.





The only trail down into the canyon the public is allowed to take, without the necessity of a Navajo guide, is that to the White House, so named for its almost complete white plaster still in existence.  I took this trail on Friday, my second day at the Canyon.  It was supposed to be a clear day, but there was high hazy cloud, which made for low contrast lighting, but it was still worth the hike down and back in spite of the eight switchbacks on the trail.  There were two Navajo boys who, climbed up the sharp sandstone inclines, thus cutting off the switchbacks.  From below it looked almost impossible, but when I later made my ascent I could see that the angles of ascent were not as imposing as they had appeared from below.  Still, it would be an ascent for a much younger self, and with ‘grippy’ footwear.  I had lunch halfway back up, and watched a couple of crazy chipmunks running up and down the canyon walls.  Here I met a Navajo Park Ranger, who, like me, had been a cross country runner in his youth, but he had trained by running up and down this very trail!  I would have feared running against him back in the day.


The top of the cliffs
above the trail to the White House.

On the trail …

… down to …

… the White House.






The Pigments used in the painting:

Imprimatura: W&N Rublev Ercolano Red;

Drawing & Block-in: W&N Ultramarine Deep & Rublev Ercolano Red & Purple Ocher;

Pigments: W&N Cobalt and Ultramarine Deep Blues, Cadmiums Orange & Yellow Pale;

Rublev: Ercolano Red, Purple Ochre, Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Orange Molybdate & Lead White #2.

Sunday, March 4, 2018

South through the Petrified Forest to Show Low & Beyond.

Saturday, February 17, 2018_Monday, 19th February; Show Low, Arizona.


C1663
“New Moon amongst the Ponderosas”
Oil Sketch on Pannelli Telati fine Cotton Panel
5” x 7”



I wanted to call this painting “New Moon amongst the Pondies,” but I figured only people in the west might realize I was referring to Ponderosa Pines, and even many of them might not get it, so … Ponderosas.


(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)


From Canyon de Chelly my road led south.  I first stopped at the Hubbell Trading Post outside Ganado, Arizona.  This has been in continuous operation since 1878, and is now part of the National Park system.  It was established to aid in the recovery of the Navajo from the effects of ‘the Long March.’  In 1864 the Navajo were forced off their land to walk 300 miles in midwinter to a reservation near Fort Sumner in eastern New Mexico.  Four years later they were allowed to return to their former homeland straddling the Arizona/New Mexico border, where they found that their dwellings had in the meantime been burned, their peach orchards cut down and their sheep gone.  This trading post established in 1878 was crucial in their recovery from this catastrophe.  The sheep raised by the Navajo are a variety called Churro; originally from Spain, where they are now extinct.


Layout of the Hubbell Trading Post.

The Trading Post is still in operation.

The old bunkhouse … seen better days.

Churro Sheep.

Wee ones.

Thanksgiving anyone?

The Post interior.

The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest were passed through next, about 50 miles from the trading post.  I had heard of these natural wonders, as a lad, but was not aware of the details.  This landscape dates from Triassic times of the early dinosaurs, and although many important fossil finds have been made here, for the average visitor it is the colorful strata of the Painted Desert, and the many fossilized remains of ancient Triassic trees, that are the draw, myself included.  It being a hazy to overcast day, the colours of the landscape were not at their best, by any means, but it was still a very worthwhile 3-1/2 hour dalliance, stopping off at overlooks, and walking trails amongst the fallen petrified remains of the large Triassic trees.  Many looked as though they were modern Redwoods that had fallen but yesterday.


Painted Desert.


The Desert Inn …
once a featured stop on Route 66.

You can just make out San Francisco Peaks
near Flagstaff, Arizona from 108 miles away.


Teepee Hills … I wonder why?

My first glimpse of petrified wood.

Looks like it fell just a little while ago.

I spent too long here, even though it was too brief to take it all in, and I was hard pressed to find a campsite before nightfall.  I had thought I might find a place to tuck in for the night just a few miles down the road, but it was all mostly private land, and the square miles of State land, dotted here and there, were mostly inaccessible.  So I had to push the fifty or so miles to the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in the Show Low area.  I found a campsite in amongst the Ponderosas, just before it was too dark to make it impossible.  The wind rose and I worried about falling trees, but none fell in my area.


In the Jasper Forest.

Hard to believe it wasn’t sawn.


Close-up of exterior bark …
hard to believe this is now stone.


In the Crystal Forest.


The next day I scouted out Show Low, and surprisingly found it to be quite a comprehensive town for its size … population about eleven and a half thousand.  It lies within the National Forest, and so it is a Ponderosa Pine, intermixed with Junipers and Pinions, landscape; not what I imagined in Arizona.  And then there is the snow that was coming along with high winds, so I decided to drop off the Mogollon Rim to lower altitude and about 70 miles south into the Tonto National Forest; there the winds were still strong, but it was rain and not snow, and the road, even though gravel, would not prevent me from getting out of the forest when I wished.



My pocket knife is roughly 6”.

The Big Log of the Monument …
about 10 feet across at the base.





The Pigments used in the painting:

Imprimatura: Rublev Ercolano Red;

Drawing: W&N Cobalt & Ultramarine Deep Blues;

Pigments: W&N: Cobalt and Ultramarine Deep Blues, Cadmiums Orange & Yellow Pale, Permanent Rose;

Rublev: Ercolano Red, Purple Ochre, Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Orange Molybdate & Lead White #2.