This is my third in the painted desert series and it is quite a challenge to depict this complex landscape and remain true to the multitude of color present in this ancient place. Chroma is of particular importance in the painted desert, and I found it necessary to pull out the Cadmiums in order to achieve the rich reds so often present in the dunes. 

We took a great deal of photos during our visit, and I took particular interest in these Petroglyph's. The makers of these primitive paintings, lived during a time that I can not possibly imagine or understand, and long ago their way of life ceased to exist--but their art remains, frozen in time. What will remain of us?

This painting is up for auction with a starting bid at $300. For more information, email shirleybales@msn.com. Auction is set to close mid November.

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This work was created from a Plein Air trip to the Painted Desert over a year ago. I have spent a great deal of time contemplating these images, and how to do them justice. I wanted to express the strange contrast of silence and vibrancy that I felt overlooking one of the most unique landscapes that the southwest has to offer. I plan to do a series of paintings from this trip, and this painting represents one of the first of many.

A little history of the Desert, compliments of Wikipedia:

Painted Desert is the name for a broad area of badlands located in Northern Arizona in the United States. The desert stretches from the Grand Canyon National Park into the Petrified Forest National Park. The Navajo and the Hopi people have lived in the region for at least five hundred, and one thousand years, respectively. However, the modern name for the desert comes from the Spaniards who named it "el Desierto Pintado" due to its brightly colored landscape.

The desert comprises stratified layers of mineral and decayed organic matter. Many hardened dunes can be found. These hardened dunes are visually distinct due to the bands of grays, reds, oranges and yellows which are then shaped by natural wind and rain patterns. The area is noted to be especially beautiful at sunset and sunrise when the land appears to glow in hues of violet, blue, red and gold. Other key features include the many mesas and buttes that rise sharply from the desert floor. Sparse desert flora and fauna can also be found, especially in wet years.

In the southern portions of the desert the remains of a Triassic Era coniferous forest have fossilized over millions of years. Wind, water and soil erosion continue to change the face of the landscape by shifting sediment and exposing layers of the Chinle Formation. An assortment of fossilized prehistoric plants and animals are found in the region, as well as dinosaur tracks and the evidence of early human habitation.