Palo Duro Canyon
Harvest 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Pala Duro Canyon Harvest 2010
Georgia O’Keefe taught school and painted in Palo Duro Canyon at the turn of the century. It is still a spell binding place for an artist! Just in case you don’t believe the colors are real as I painted them, I’ve inset a small photo. Such blues! Vibrant rainbow earth!
The atmosphere is never the same in Palo Duro Canyon. The distances are so great the the smallest variation of the moisture or the dust carried by the wind filters the colors of the distant mesas from pearly grays to vibrant violet blues.
Wind and water are the sculptors of this landscape.
The medium of layers of
soft and hard sediment
range from brilliant red to yellow, white and purple.
I accidentally lost my Cadmium Red Light while painting this gypsum stream at the left. I could hardly make it through the next painting because of the absence of this all to necessary color ingredient.
I have some favorite places to go to paint. Two studio Canyon paintings hang in our bedroom and I always like to check out what has taken place in the months since I was last there. The paintings at right and below were painted 90 degrees apart. I have many times painted by just turning around. The tree below was mesquite backlighted by the sun.
My first introduction to Palo Duro Canyon was when I was when I was art directing the fur fashion shots for a Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog. VP Tom Alexander arranged for us to meet the descendants of the pioneer Texas settler Charles Goodnight. We shot furs on the rim of the canyon and among the Hoo Doos and rock formations in August with models from New York in heat that was above 100 degrees.
Hot was a complete understatement! Photographer Greg Booth and the crew kept an eye out for signs of serious heat stress. We usually shot at dawn for complicated shots as it was just too hot for the models to stand more than a few minutes in a fur coat in the hot Texas sun. We also shot at the Plains Museum in Canyon where there are replicas of medical, law, retail and typical ranch homes on display. Their collection of windmills and early Texas petroleum
related machinery is found no
where else.
Another treat for the art lover is the collection of Frank Reaugh pastel paintings. By far the most of any collection that I have seen. If you are interested in Plein aire or early Texas painting you must get to know this incredible artist. He gathered small groups of students - mostly young women - and brought them to Palo Duro to learn to paint. The paintings done by Reaugh and his students are primarily done in pastels crafted by Reaugh. The pastels were thin, 8 sided and were used to paint tiny paintings often no bigger than a postcard. They are exquisite. A large painting by Reaugh hung in the White House while George W, was president.
I have met a couple of these women who are still living and listened to their stories of his excursions into this difficult area. During the time of Frank Reaugh the Longhorns were still free to roam and many of his paintings feature herds of them in the Canyon area. All of this can be enjoyed in Palo Duro Canyon where little differs from its pristine state 100 years ago.
Another treat for the art lover is the collection of Frank Reaugh pastel paintings. By far the most of any collection that I have seen. If you are interested in Plein aire or early Texas painting you must get to know this incredible artist. He gathered small groups of students - mostly young women - and brought them to Palo Duro to learn to paint. The paintings done by Reaugh and his students are primarily done in pastels crafted by Reaugh. The pastels were thin, 8 sided and were used to paint tiny paintings often no bigger than a postcard. They are exquisite. A large painting by Reaugh hung in the White House while George W, was president.
I have met a couple of these women who are still living and listened to their stories of his excursions into this difficult area. During the time of Frank Reaugh the Longhorns were still free to roam and many of his paintings feature herds of them in the Canyon area. All of this can be enjoyed in Palo Duro Canyon where little differs from its pristine state 100 years ago.