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

"Grazing Horses, Nebraska" Colored Pencil “Through art we can change the world.” ~ #twitterartexhibit It’s a warm summer day in Bridgeport, Nebraska and a pair of horses is grazing peacefully in a prairie paradise. The grasses carpeting this Garden of Eden are a patchwork quilt of verdant colors. A few cottonwood trees are topped with a full canopy of dense foliage, casting blue shadows that offer some cool relief from the oppressive heat. Hopefully the gathering of bulbous clouds will result in an afternoon rain shower. Colored pencil is applied over a stipple-textured paper, portraying a fleeting impression of this pastoral scene. Flecks of white paper show through even the darkest passages, creating a pointillistic effect that sparkles with light. The optimism expressed by this picture is derived from the beauty of the two animals on display. An Appaloosa and a Red Dunn Quarterhorse, they reveal a perfect harmony that can only be found when immersed in nature.

"Goliath Peak" Colored Pencil Indiscriminate with its wrath, Goliath Peak is a ferocious summit controlling entry into the Mount Evans Massive. Expressed in the composition above, a casual climb is transfigured into a crippling circumstance of chaos and confusion. And so it begins just below tree line where sinister, black pine are guardians of the gateway to Gehenna. Jumbled across the foreground, patches of muted color are arranged in strange, interlocking shapes. At the far end of the earth, blue mountains are an impenetrable barrier compressing the space into a suffocating picture plane. Silvery green in the summer, the hulking behemoth looms above but it’s not quite as close as it appears. Gnarled, gray snags are twisted in front of the darkest darks as their pale presence is a painful reminder of our certain mortality. Hopefully, the most recent storm has passed as promised by broken clouds that disperse across the steel-blue sky. Reaching the top is a back