| "Red Rock Canyon Park" 17" x 23" = Pastel on Paper Copyright 2006 Dan Stephanian Collection of Nancy Ard Colorado Springs, CO Raffled FBO Sierra Club ("thank you everyone who bought a ticket") |
I could be wrong, but. The story goes that a Cowboy who loved to Rodeo, set about taking his winnings and buying a
revenue producing piece of land, because everybody knows Cowboyin' and Rodeoin' don't pay much. So in 1905 he
bought 1760 acres on the western edge of Colorado Springs, in a small southern extension of The Garden of The
Gods, and began fencing and developing his resources. Recently the property came under scrutiny, perhaps
dangerous leakage off the property, the state got the property in a settlement and now we have the rarely seen,
spectacular Garden of the Gods type protrusions and valleys, and old trees,(they're cleaning the water now) of
Red Rocks Canyon Park, for the duration.
To us artists, this was an opportunity to be the first generation to paint the Canyon Park, at least since 1905..... we
think, anyhow. So off we went in the July heat, dragging our tools, and water, and finally, the others bailed and I was
by myself, trying to do pastels in baking dry heat, with horse flies, mini-twisters of dust, gusts of wind from nowhere,
sweat drops, threatening clouds that never produced more than twenty drops, and I can only thank the Baseball
Gods for the Rockie's games being on. Distracting me from my immediate discomfort.
But the View stole my heart, the lone tree on top of the rock breast, the hump back of sandstone, the distant
meadows, with pristine tree lines, the clouds moving so fast I could barely catch a handful. The rocks protrude as you
draw, like the earth is pushing them up, but no, its the wind moving the bush, the brush and the branch.
This was a study for a pastel on panel, that never made it to panel, but was mounted, framed and given to the local
branch of the Sierra Club, to help them with the work they do for our beautiful Nation.
We'll be going again soon to the Red Rocks Canyon Park.
revenue producing piece of land, because everybody knows Cowboyin' and Rodeoin' don't pay much. So in 1905 he
bought 1760 acres on the western edge of Colorado Springs, in a small southern extension of The Garden of The
Gods, and began fencing and developing his resources. Recently the property came under scrutiny, perhaps
dangerous leakage off the property, the state got the property in a settlement and now we have the rarely seen,
spectacular Garden of the Gods type protrusions and valleys, and old trees,(they're cleaning the water now) of
Red Rocks Canyon Park, for the duration.
To us artists, this was an opportunity to be the first generation to paint the Canyon Park, at least since 1905..... we
think, anyhow. So off we went in the July heat, dragging our tools, and water, and finally, the others bailed and I was
by myself, trying to do pastels in baking dry heat, with horse flies, mini-twisters of dust, gusts of wind from nowhere,
sweat drops, threatening clouds that never produced more than twenty drops, and I can only thank the Baseball
Gods for the Rockie's games being on. Distracting me from my immediate discomfort.
But the View stole my heart, the lone tree on top of the rock breast, the hump back of sandstone, the distant
meadows, with pristine tree lines, the clouds moving so fast I could barely catch a handful. The rocks protrude as you
draw, like the earth is pushing them up, but no, its the wind moving the bush, the brush and the branch.
This was a study for a pastel on panel, that never made it to panel, but was mounted, framed and given to the local
branch of the Sierra Club, to help them with the work they do for our beautiful Nation.
We'll be going again soon to the Red Rocks Canyon Park.