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Author: Nancy_Rynes, Contributing Editor
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| Jake, our dog, napping on the rocks while I'm painting. |
| The light in the fall, winter, and spring is the best for painting in Moab, in my opinion. The angle of the sun is low so shadows are dramatic and the color of the light is warm on the cliffs. Summer light is beautiful and dramatic in the early morning and late afternoon/evening, but the midday light is flat and washed out. From late fall through early spring though, there really isn’t a bad time of day to paint. And if you’re lucky, in the winter you may catch one of the most beautiful of sights – fresh snowfall on the red rocks and canyons.
Thursday afternoon, Tom’s mother, Cathy, and I explored the area to the east of the rental on our mountain bikes. We rode to Arches National Park and found countless spots for painting along the way. I knew I’d have to come back on another trip to explore this area more from a painter’s perspective as there are miles upon miles of trails out here. We rode through canyon after canyon, saw one beautiful “miniature” landscape after another, each deserving of its own painting. It amazed me how simple collections of rocks and trees could be so beautiful. |
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| Tom came back from his ride a little banged up. He had taken a fall on his bum and given himself a nice bruise! Otherwise he was fine…tired but OK. Thursday evening we had our traditional Thanksgiving dinner; turkey and all of the trimmings. Everyone else planned their mountain biking adventures for Friday…I planned my painting outings.
Friday was sunny but colder, a few degrees below freezing. Tom’s parents and I decided to head off mountain biking for the morning in a spot about 10 miles to the north (Tom had gone off with his brother-in-law on an epic ride to the southeast). This northern area was supposed to have some great dinosaur footprints to view, as well as a beautiful overlook of the Book Cliffs to the north. Once at the trailhead, we set off on our ride. The weather was so cold and windy that we practically froze to the handlebars! We did see the dinosaur footprints…a set of Apatosaurus footprints and 2 different set of Allosaurus/therapod prints, one displaying a marked limp. It was pretty cool to see the tracks of animals wandering this area 100 million years ago. Unfortunately, I was so cold that I forgot to take pictures! Shortly after seeing the footprints, we decided that we were too cold and abandoned the biking to head back to the rental for some heat. |
| That afternoon, Jake and I headed a few miles north of the house to Willow Springs and Dalton Wells. Jake and I explored the dry washes around Willow Springs, then headed off to Dalton Wells for some painting. Dalton Wells was the site of a Japanese Internment Camp. A sad day in American history where we imprisoned our own citizens based solely on ethnic origins. The camp itself had burned down, but the area around the former camp was beautiful…the edge of the Morrison Cliffs. |
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