Impression Evergreen

"Urad Lake" Colored Pencil “Through art we can change the world.” ~ #twitterartexhibit It’s a warm, summer evening at Urad Lake with skies of steel blue in the low, fading light. Situated at tree-line below the Continental Divide, the high basin is enclosed by a black forest and dense willows. An aggressive creek and its lively tributaries come roaring down from the high peaks, spilling into the bottom of a narrow valley while forming a fan-shaped reservoir. Filled with this frigid snowmelt, the water is ice cold. Patches of resilient snow still cling to the red mountainside and the steep, grassy slopes are dotted with tundra wildflowers. Shapes and colors from the surrounding landscape tint the reservoir with shimmering reflections. The peaceful haven for wildlife is found off the beaten path just past the outskirts of Empire, Colorado. Flush with fresh air and bountiful fish, the tranquil setting is undeniably therapeutic. Through trial and error, I try to ex

"Upper Bear Creek" Colored Pencil Deep in the heart of Colorado's Front Range, Upper Bear Creek calmly meanders through a grassy, green meadow. It's a warm, summer day but a chilly breeze blowing off the still snowy peaks offers some invigorating relief. Dark, forested foothills descend steeply forming a narrow passageway into the Mount Evans Wilderness. The tempestuous tributary can trace its origins back up to a glacial cirque punctuated by icy Summit Lake. There's no reason for anxiety here. This is a place where tall grass has healing benefits that can't be found anywhere else. Birds are chirping with delight and the smell of fresh hay is in the air. Summer, summer, summertime. Time to sit back and unwind.

General Grievous "I am Grievous, warlord of Kaleesh and Supreme Commander of the armies of the Confederacy. And I am not a droid" ~ Grievous I've always been fascinated by science fiction stories. I'm allured by the exotic locales, strange creatures and the wondrous but sometimes unsettling human characters that are portrayed as a synthesis of organic and artificial parts. People like the Six Million Dollar Man, Robocop and the Terminator raise questions about the differences between man and machine concerning morality, free will and empathy. My favorite cyborg has to be General Grievous from the Star Wars saga. Not only because he's artistically cool but he's also a battered old warrior living precariously to fight another day. After a bomb destroyed his shuttle, Grievous suffered near fatal injuries that rendered his body useless. The Separatists reconstructed Grievous by implanting his brain, eyes and vital organs into a duranium alloy body. Grievo

The human heart is a mystery "When we understand every single secret of the universe, there will still be left the eternal mystery of the human heart." ~ Stephen Fry Ancient Greek philosophers identified the human heart as the primary spiritual feature and most important organ of the human body. It was the source of intelligence, motion and sensation. From the heart alone, emotions like anger, passion, fear, terror, sadness, shame, delight and joy were derived. Because the heart functions at the center of the blood delivery system, it's also central to life. The heart speeds up and slows down automatically in response to nerve signals from the brain. Each heartbeat fills the four chambers inside with a fresh round of blood. The upper chamber on each side is called the atrium while the larger, more powerful lower chamber is the ventricle. They keep the body freshly supplied with oxygen and nutrients, as well as clearing away harmful waste. More than just a mec