9/23/11
9/22/11
Purple Sage
Riders of the Range...
Out West in America means Big Sky and Wide Open Spaces.
This is true from the northern reaches of Montana to the southern ends of Arizona and New Mexico and relates to perception. Many of us see the vista as an expansive range of opportunities whereas some people feel small and engulfed. How someone perceives the landscape is an indication of individual perspective as well as point of view and to me provides an insight into the essential nature of someone's soul. Do they sense fearlessness or fearsome, awed or overwhelmed? How they ride through the range and react to it hints at their comfort with themselves, the geography they're surrounded by and ultimately their interaction with people and perception of reality in the world.
In this photograph in the highlands of southwestern New Mexico I am experimenting with impression through grain and color. In the foreground is purple sage muted rather than bright and the grasslands are a sandy color rather than a richer green amber hue due to the dry conditions at end of hot summer. Distant mountain ranges are characteristically pewter beryl dividing the picture by the toned down big blue sky with white clouds caused by a light storm of rain mixed with dust that had passed through a few hours prior.
Out West in America means Big Sky and Wide Open Spaces.
This is true from the northern reaches of Montana to the southern ends of Arizona and New Mexico and relates to perception. Many of us see the vista as an expansive range of opportunities whereas some people feel small and engulfed. How someone perceives the landscape is an indication of individual perspective as well as point of view and to me provides an insight into the essential nature of someone's soul. Do they sense fearlessness or fearsome, awed or overwhelmed? How they ride through the range and react to it hints at their comfort with themselves, the geography they're surrounded by and ultimately their interaction with people and perception of reality in the world.
In this photograph in the highlands of southwestern New Mexico I am experimenting with impression through grain and color. In the foreground is purple sage muted rather than bright and the grasslands are a sandy color rather than a richer green amber hue due to the dry conditions at end of hot summer. Distant mountain ranges are characteristically pewter beryl dividing the picture by the toned down big blue sky with white clouds caused by a light storm of rain mixed with dust that had passed through a few hours prior.
9/21/11
9/20/11
Desert Gold
A wash carved by runoff water from a mesa...
Channels of water run through it to sustain an ecosystem.
The grasslands of golden green tinged with orange flowers are shallow fed by water disbursed from the wash in the foreground. The wash itself was created from the runoff of water from the distant mesa. Runoff from high ground in the desert channels into multiple washes that diverge and spread throughout lower ground providing water for vegetation and wildlife in an ecosystem of survival on the barest essentials and the minimum required.
The desert serves as a metaphor for living a life with beauty nourished by the least required elements and allowing them to flourish unfettered without too much intervention. The lesson for us is to allow life to take it's own course, letting go what we cannot control, allowing what is meant to be to happen.
Channels of water run through it to sustain an ecosystem.
The grasslands of golden green tinged with orange flowers are shallow fed by water disbursed from the wash in the foreground. The wash itself was created from the runoff of water from the distant mesa. Runoff from high ground in the desert channels into multiple washes that diverge and spread throughout lower ground providing water for vegetation and wildlife in an ecosystem of survival on the barest essentials and the minimum required.
The desert serves as a metaphor for living a life with beauty nourished by the least required elements and allowing them to flourish unfettered without too much intervention. The lesson for us is to allow life to take it's own course, letting go what we cannot control, allowing what is meant to be to happen.
9/19/11
City of Rocks
Boulders crafted by nature 35 million years ago...
There are only six places in the world with rock formations like these boulders and one is in New Mexico. Created by a huge explosion named after what it formed, the Kneeling Nun monolith, the volcanic ash was roughcast by wind, water and time leaving these stone monuments to sit in a grassland plain. They rise up in chimera as if ancient secrets are hidden in recesses with passages that wind around to wander and wonder if they hold some answer to an unknown question.
Over centuries people have sought shelter and protection among these geologic pinnacles from weather and animals of prey. Among them were the Mimbres Indians who left behind arrowheads, pottery shards and
mortars ground into the stone formations by pestling seeds into flour. The mortars are called "Indian Wells" since water collects in them after it rains. Apaches later came to the area. During the 1500s Spanish conquistadors passing by left carved crosses in the lava and soon after Spaniard settlers arrived. In the early 19th century mining began in nearby Santa Rita.
The area is rich in flora and fauna occupied by eagles and hawks, horned owls, roadrunners and cactus wrens. Squirrels, jackrabbits, packrats, mule deer, javelinas and coyotes call the area home where many types of snakes are also found alongside a wide variety of lizards. Yucca and ocotillo, barrel and hedgehog cacti, century plants and desert willow surround the rocks among the grama grass. Within the passageways of the rocks emory and gray oaks grow. A trail goes to a desert botanical garden.
The City of Rocks has been a New Mexico State Park since 1952. Located in the Mimbres Valley near Bayard. It is in the far reaches of the Chihuahuan desert at an elevation of 5200 feet with mild winters and warm
summers. The unique geography makes for imaginative exploration of the volcanic ash formations thrusting up into the air and trailing the surrounding area. Clear night sky star gazing chances an "ah ha!" moment on ancient pathways.
There are only six places in the world with rock formations like these boulders and one is in New Mexico. Created by a huge explosion named after what it formed, the Kneeling Nun monolith, the volcanic ash was roughcast by wind, water and time leaving these stone monuments to sit in a grassland plain. They rise up in chimera as if ancient secrets are hidden in recesses with passages that wind around to wander and wonder if they hold some answer to an unknown question.
Over centuries people have sought shelter and protection among these geologic pinnacles from weather and animals of prey. Among them were the Mimbres Indians who left behind arrowheads, pottery shards and
The City of Rocks has been a New Mexico State Park since 1952. Located in the Mimbres Valley near Bayard. It is in the far reaches of the Chihuahuan desert at an elevation of 5200 feet with mild winters and warm
9/18/11
9/16/11
9/15/11
9/10/11
Road Trip
I am on a road trip through Arizona and New Mexico through next week. Follow me on Google+ as I post pictures along the way.
In the mean time consider following this blog in one of two ways. On the left center on my blog under Follow either choose to click the RSS button for your RSS Reader of choice or right below enter your email for email updates. Look forward to posts of Arizona and New Mexico in the Great Southwest of the United States on my return! See you then.
9/9/11
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