Miniature Watercolour “Late Afternoon Light at Delicate Arch” receives Award.

 

C1673

“Late Afternoon Light at Delicate Arch”

(Arches National Park, Utah)

 

Watercolour on 140-lb., Hot-pressed,

Saunders Waterford Watercolour Paper

2-1/8” x 3-5/16”

My Miniature Watercolour “Late Afternoon Light at Delicate Arch” (Arches National Park, Utah), has received a second place award in the Landscape category, at this year's Show of the Miniature Painters Sculptors and Gravers Society of Washington DC. The exhibition begins on November 22, 2020, and will be online, with all works for sale; currently only the award winners are on their website, which is: www.mpsgs.org. This is an international exhibition.

 

Delicate Arch is one of the finer arches in the National Park, if not the finest and is very popular, in spite of the strenuous, uphill and lengthy hike to get there. I went up there twice, a month apart, and both around the full Moon. The first time was in November and was cold and windy, while the following month, in December, the weather was warm and calm. That second time I strolled all the way down the hill in the Moonlight, never turning my headlamp on once; it was magical. A distant view of Delicate Arch can also be seen from the end of an access road, and a short walk to the viewpoint. It is not a spectacular view, but at least you can say you've seen it, if you're not up to the other hike. From up by the Devil's Garden, I have spotted it way down below across the Salt Valley ... binoculars were needed to confirm it.

 

Those of you with long memories, will no doubt recall that it was the MPSGS Exhibition, back in 2008, to which I submitted my very first Miniature Watercolour and received the first place in the Landscape category. So remember to go visit the Miniature Exhibition on the 22nd of November. Of course all you historians out there will have no trouble remembering this date as it was also the completion of the encirclement of the German Wehrmacht's 6th Army at Stalingrad, by Soviet forces in 1942, during the Second World War ... spooky;)

 

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My last posting on September 17th, which featured my Watercolour of Sandymouth in Cornwall, was posted, while I was in Bend, Oregon for supplies ... a horrendously smokey day. The funny thing was that as I made my way back to camp, in the dusk, it was still very smokey within a few miles of camp. After that I couldn't tell how bad it might be as it was getting quite dark by then. In the morning it had been about a third what it was in Bend ... still bad. Anyway, by the time I had rearranged the truck for bed, and had a cup of hot chocolate, the stars were shining brightly, and for the first time in a long while, quite low down towards the horizon. Since then, over two weeks ago now, there has been very little smoke at my campsite ... more clear days than those with a little smoke.

 

I moved camp back to where I was in April ... the one with the rough-hewn picnic table ... and last night (October 1st), was absolutely magical! T'was a full Moon, and, after some chill nights, the temperature was warm enough to sit with the car door open, and with my sleeves rolled up above my elbow, until I turned in at 10:30 pm. Crazily enough, no moths came to bother me ... will wonders never cease?

 

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During the Summer at this picnic table campsite, some campers have had a go at beginning to civilize the resident Chipmunks. I was at the table sorting out some Miniature Oils with their frames, for a Miniature & Small Works show up in the Seattle area, when a Chipmunk came bouncing up onto the table, bold as you please, and without a ‘by your leave,’ I might add. I saw him off in short order, but he and a couple others kept coming back ... no doubt they've been given handouts. So far they've not tried to i lnvade the truck, as I've been leaving the doors open during these warm days of Indian Summer. There is also a Nuthatch flitting about, taking an inordinate interest in the truck as well ... can't quite figure that one out.

 

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I heard coyotes yipping, two nights back for the first time all Summer.

 

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This morning I have been filtering my melted ice water, in preparation for going to town for supplies, and to post this to my blog. There is always a bit of spillage in setting up the filtering process. While having breakfast I noticed 3 chipmunks clustering around the nud formed by the small spillage, and realized they were extracting moisture from that mud. I wonder if they do that after a brief rain shower, too small to leave any puddles?

 

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Once I reached La Pine today I noticed Aspen leaves changing to gold. Eight days ago, when in Bend, I noticed none. Autumn is showing herself more obviously than back in August. Nice to see the Aspens, as where I'm camped are only Ponderosas; of course there's Bitterbrush,  but they are not very showy.