Hi everyone! Happy Thanksgiving! Now that the craziness of that is over, I'm here to deliver the final pictures from the residency. This isn't the end of the blog, so remember to keep coming back for art updates and such!

(Full moon over the sunset landscape)

(Hiking through the wilderness, here's a BIG tree trunk)

(Swirly trees)

(Looks like wood chips, but when you walk over them it sounds like walking on glass!)

(Petrogylph)

This residency yielded alot of inspiration. The landscape was amazing, the people I met were wonderful. It's great seeing a completely different side of the country, how everyone lifestyle differs but we have so many similarities.

Many of the visitors to the park only stayed for a few hours, but I recommend devoting at least 2 full days to get the real experience. Go on ranger talks, explore, ask questions. There's so much to learn. And of course be sure to visit the surrounding towns, mingle with the locals.

More to come, perhaps more local travels here in NY. Thanks for reading!

Big update

Hey everyone! I know it's been awhile since my last post, but I've been pretty busy!

Wednesday was my little painting demonstration at the Painted Desert Inn. It went well, a few people stopped by to take a peak. It's really funny, everyone visitor I encountered says 3 things: "That's great! I tried painting but I'm just no good!" or "My mother took up painting later in life!" or "What medium is that?".

To those of you who might say you're no good, I would say it takes alot of practice! Watercolor didn't come to me overnight, I did a little bit when I was younger, then I took a class to understand different techniques, but it was only when I started to use everything I knew and made it my own technique that it started to work. I'm still not an expert, when I was studying Georgia O'Keefes' watercolors I thought "Ok, I get it! This will be easy", but it wasn't! And of course, the quality of materials makes all the difference. Paper, paint, brushes, it's a commitment.

For this demonstration I did an acrylic painting of petrified wood. While painting, I realized that I really need to get back into oil paints. The way it flows, the way it looks, it would look really great. The catch? I'll need to do some practice pieces first, I'm so out of practice in oil. Such is my inability to stick with one medium permanently.

Ok, picture time!

(Petroglyphs!)

Another volunteer and I went Geocaching! This is a worldwide treasure hunt of sorts, someone hides a container in a specific location. Inside is a notepad, a pencil and some trinkets. They then place the GPS coordinates online. You take the coordinates and your GPS to find where the location is. Then, you have to find the well hidden container wherever you are.

(This was under a pile of rocks, under a bigger rock!)

(You then write down your name and date in the notepad. You take a trinket, and leave one of your own inside. We took the rubber duck)

(HUGE petrified tree in Crystal Forest)

(My setup at the Painted Desert Inn. Watercolors and finished pieces to the left, in the works to the right)

I'm pretty satisfied with the finished piece actually, you can't tell from the picture but there's some icy blues and gold pigment thrown in there. I feel like Iridescence and metallic pigments could take over my paintings sometimes, so I have to be careful with them!

Anyways, I'm not sure when I'll be posting again. Tomorrow I'm going to a Christmas/Cultural parade in Winslow with some friends. There's going to be vendors and traditional dancing. By the time I get back the cafe will be closed, and I'll be packing for my early departure on Sunday :(. I'll probably post later on Sunday, since internet will be abundant once again.

Thanks for reading, talk to you guys soon!

Standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona...

I think I'm finally becoming used to being out here. I'm not stressing out about time, I'm waking up at normal hours (Not the ungodly hour of 5 am). People are generally very friendly out here, there's space to breathe, the air is clean, there's natural wonders all around. And then I realize come Sunday I'll be back in New York. I am just not excited about the fast paced lifestyle. Traffic, cranky people, congestion. But, I do get to see the people nearest and dearest to me, I can have regular access to society (movies, stores, TV), a wide variety of produce at the grocery store. Silly little things that you don't think too much about until you don't have it.

Here's a sample of pictures from Saturday in Winslow:

(The original jail in Holbrook, used up until the 1970s. Super creepy)

(Saddles from the chuck wagon at the museum in Holbrook)

(I still don't know which Eagle this is)

Tomorrow I'll be doing a painting demonstration for visitors, so I have to do some preliminary sketches and start the underpainting. I think I'll paint some "happy little petrified trees".

Appalachian Trail Project: Georgia: Day 1

Hey everyone! My friend Julia is also making an awesome travel blog, this one through the Appalachian Trail. Go ahead and take a look!

Appalachian Trail Project: Georgia: Day 1: "I'm in Georgia! So far, my encounters with local people have been friendly and positive. Which is such a relief because I had myself worked ..."

Busy weekend

Hey all! This was a very interesting, improvised weekend. Our group wasn't able to go to Gallup on Saturday due to a HUGE accident involving semi trucks on the highway. Instead, we visited the Holbrook historical site, which was the original courthouse/jail from 1898. What a great museum! There were jail record books, tally books for debts, an old chuck wagon, pottery, just so much stuff. After looking around there we went to Winslow where we ate at the "Turquoise Room" at La Posada Inn. This historical building was originally designed by Mary Colter, and later restored in 1997 by Allan Affeldt and Tina Mion. Tina is an artist who displays her painting all around the hotel, her current exhibit being about the wives of the the US presidents. They're just as interesting as the hotel is too!

At the Turquoise room, I had some homemade cornbread with syrup, and pork carnitas. It came with with handmade corn tortillas, beans, and the best corn tamale I've EVER had. As we ate lunch, we got to watch the trains go by, carrying what seemed like an endless supply of goods. As we walked around the hotel after lunch, we walked down the corridors and saw that there were pictures of the famous people who stayed in those rooms in the past. The roster included Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Amelia Earheart, and Jackie Gleason.

On the way home, we stood at "The Corner in Winslow, Arizona" which was made famous by The Eagles song "Take it Easy". There's a statue and a mural there, and a cool Route 66 store across the street.

Yesterday, I had to go to Flagstaff to get a specific yellow from Michaels (Naples Yellow BTW), and once I got there I realized I was so close to the Grand Canyon, so, I went. Theodore Roosevelt has said something along the lines of "It is the single greatest site every American should have a chance to see", he couldn't of been more right. I never realized how expansive the Grand Canyon actually was! 10 miles across, a mile down, looking over the edge it was was just mind-blowing.

(Do you see the buildings down there?!)

(Snarly tree)

Needless to say, if you get the chance you need to go. Or just make it happen, it's worth it.

I will now finish this post with a quote that has been incredibly relevant for this whole trip:

"Do nothing to mar its grandeur for the ages have been at work on it and man cannot improve it. Keep it for your children, your children's children and all who come after you"

-Theodore Roosevelt

Beautiful day

Hey everyone! Yesterday started off horrible, I tried to visit the Hopi reservation to do some research for a painting. The GPS took me on quite a tour down an unpaved highway, then completely out of the way of where the reservation actually was. There was snow where I ended up, somewhere south of Keams Canyon, so I decided just to head back home. Once home, I took some supplies over to the Painted Desert Inn to paint. Things got much better from there off. I set myself up at the entrance, got to paint and chat it up with a few people.

(Watercolor of petrified wood and the blue mesas)

(Watercolor of a raven overlooking the Puerco Pueblo)

Today, I had an idea. I have these solar print papers I bought up in Boston and they're FINALLY becoming relevant. The flowers and plants here are very interesting, their shadows even more so. I put this paper behind the plant and leave it exposed to the sun for a few minutes. When I pull it away, the shadow of the plant is left behind. After doing this with a few plants, I headed home and ran them under water to make the image permanent. I don't know too much about traditional photography, but I think it's sort of the same as making a photo from a negative in a dark room.

(This process takes time and practice, some images are blurrier than I hoped they'd be)

When the prints dried, I glued them to some small canvases (Which just happen to be the same size!) and painted over them. It's really interesting looking! I'm not sure if I'm going to paint in where the plant is, I haven't decided if I like the way they look now or not. What do you guys think?

Tommorow, I'm headed off to Gallup (Great western town name by the way) with some new friends. We're going to go to a Native American flea market. There's going to be lots of traditional foods, jewelry, rugs, etc etc. Apparently the town is one big trading post, so I'm really excited to take pictures and see what they have to offer. Also, Sunday I may be going over to Flagstaff to get a specific paint color that will help me achieve the true color of the plants here! And, there's an actual mountain there. I don't think I've ever seen a REAL mountain, with sharp snow peaks and all.

In conclusion, I may not update until Monday. I promise it will be a very interesting, photo filled post. Thanks for reading and leave comments! :)

Informative day...

Hey everyone! So today started off very slow, got out of bed around 10 and headed over to the Puerco Pueblo. It's a series of ruins located right off the Puerco river (Which isn't much of a river, more liked a washed up river bed!) where at one point about 18 families lived. The interesting thing about this place is that there are also petroglyphs! On the boulders off the cliffs are drawings in which the inhabitants drew pictures of masks, the sun, designs, a bird eating a frog (which is evidence that there was more water there at the time they settled there). It's pretty cool! I also saw some petrified wood over the at the Petrified Forest Museum, it's beautiful! Here's some pictures!

(Agate Bridge AKA Natural Bridge made entirely out of a petrified tree!)

(A close up of petrified wood)

Talk to you guys tommorow!

Slowly but surely...

Hey everyone! Here's more pictures from the past few days, including some of the art making that took place today. I heard that the library in the nearby town of Holbrook has WiFi, maybe there will be more success uploading pictures there.

(Fire grass)

(Blue Mesa Tipis)

(Quick ink drawing of a Raven)

(Watercolor- Ravens over the Painted Desert)

As you can see above, there's alot of vintage Route 66 stuff locally, especially in the nearby town of Holbrook. Tonight I'll be working on some study watercolors of the petrified wood I saw at the visitors center. As usual, more tomorrow so check back again!

Day 3/4

Hey everyone! Sorry there was no blog post yesterday, I wasn't sure how to get internet at the park! Luckily, I found the internet at the visitors center courtyard so I'm back on track!
A summary of yesterday: Stunning, breathtaking, unbelievable. The landscape here is beautiful, its colors change with the movement of the sun and the weather of that moment. Sometimes, the long grass on the plains looks mint green, at other times it looks like fire wisping in the wind. The painted desert, which is right next to my apartment, ranges from pastel pinks, purples, blues, yellows.



(Painted Desert)

As the sun was setting I traveled a bit further into the park, nobody was around AT ALL. Even this morning it was completely silent. This is the first time I've ever stood somewhere and been completely, entirely, totally alone. It was so quiet this morning on my hike, I could actually hear the sound of a crows wings as they sailed through the air.
Hiking through the blue mesa by the way, was so weird. The only way to describe it is like being on the moon.



(Blue Mesa and some petrified wood)

So before the sun goes down today I think I'll head back over to the Painted Desert Inn to do some watercolors. More pictures soon!

Day 2

Hey all! I'm finally in Window Rock, like I said to a friend: I saw some cows in the road, and some puppies in the parking lot, it brought back a sense of nostalgia.

(A possible Scruff pup?)

Today started out with a delicious breakfast with friends at the Santa Fe Baking Co. Walking inside there was the smell of awesome pastries fresh out of the oven, coffee, eggs and bacon. To my surprise, there was also live music. In the corner, a man played guitar. He was so good, I thought there was a Bob Dylan CD on, until of course I realized it was him.

(Huevos Rancheros w/Green Chili Sauce!)

After our meal, we headed over to the farmers market by the train station. It was very similar to ones I've seen on the east coast, but there were WAY more chilis.

(The Lavander Lady)

(Guadalupe)

After parting ways with my friends, I went over to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum. It was stunning. Her watercolors were so interesting, so bold and full of color. I was able to see that she seemed to pick apart her landscapes and turn them into shapes. It may not seem too interesting to others, but to me it was, I'm going to try picking apart the landscape when I paint tomorrow. There was also a series of portraits on exhibit, from looking at them and reading little quotes she said on the wall, I really feel like I can relate to her. Should I ever get a time traveling Delorean, I will definatly go back and meet her.

I then headed to Hobby Lobby to get supplies, and began to the long journey to Window Rock. Can I say how weird it is that the speed limit is 75 mph!? I almost felt guilty driving so fast, but in the end it was alot of fun. The landscape along the way was breathtaking, over each hill was something new. At one point I was surrounded by a field of old magma rocks! Then there were big red rock, jagged rocks, lots of rocks. I have pictures, but the hotel internet doesn't want to load pictures anymore :('

Finally, I rolled on into Window Rock. Like I said, there were cows and dogs and it was all good. Tomorrow, blue mush at the breakfast buffet and a visit to the Navajo Code Talkers Memorial.

Thanks to everyone who is reading this and supporting me, you guys are great! >