My friend and taekwondo master, Samery asked me if I’d recreate this photo of her with her husky, Leo in watercolor and I was more than thrilled to do it for her. Corona Arch is one of my favorite hikes in Moab, UT.
Samy and Leo Painting
Traveling Gingerbread Man 2
Our friend Jaxon had an assignment in his class where he asked friends and family to send postcards and notes claiming they met the Gingerbread Man on their road trips and travels. I leveled up on our adventures and had a TON of fun in Photoshop adding the Gingerbread Man to some photos and sending fun messages to Jaxon’s kindergarten class.
Kula Cloth Design Contest - 2021
I entered a new painting into the Kula Cloth Design Contest this week. They are running their second annual contest and the grand prize winner gets $1250 and their artwork on a Kula Cloth to be sold for the whole world to purchase. The 15 designs with the most votes will get 2 Kulas with their artwork on them. I would honestly be stoked to make the top 15. Click HERE to vote!
What is a Kula Cloth? It’s one of the best inventions for people who squat or use a funnel to pee. It’s a washable, reusable, antimicrobial pee cloth for when nature calls when you’re camping, on a the trail, or out where there isn’t a toilet. Heck, even if there IS a toilet, there isn’t always toilet paper, is there? Use your Kula as a pee cloth and you don’t have to worry about packing toilet paper in and out. Clip it to your pack to dry and it’s good to be used again or washed. The fabric dries quickly too.
Image by Zion Adventure Photo - Me hiking with my Kula Cloth
I have had Colonnade Arch, aka Five Hole Arch, on my radar and I just hadn’t painted it yet. It lies close to the Green River kinda near Moab, UT on BLM land. I thought the layout and composition would work great for a diamond shape, so off I went.
Such a beautiful spot to watch a sunrise; which is the vibe I was going for here. I call this one “Windows.”
This is an approximation on what my Kula might look like. I think the corners will be more rounded.
Everyone can only vote one time, but you can vote for as many designs as you’d like. There is some really beautiful artwork on there, Click HERE to vote!
Corona Arch Time Lapse
I had a scrap piece of watercolor paper staring at me yesterday and my fingers were itching to paint a starry sky. I have been to Arches National park twice and neither time was I able to explore Corona Arch, which is just outside the park. Maybe next spring??
I was really happy with how it turned out and I realized I was totally channeling another artist I follow; Nikki Frumkin. She paints beautiful landscapes in the PNW. Go check her out: Drawn to High Places. Nikki, you really need to come and explore southern Utah. The contrast of the red and orange rocks is so amazing against a starry sky with blues and purples.
I’m hoping to have a handful of stickers available of my paintings of beautiful spots in Utah’s public lands, so say tuned!!
For anyone interested, here are the materials I used (most of these are affiliate links):
Daniel Smith Watercolor Paints
Pocket Palette from Expeditionary Art
Trekell Watercolor Brushes
daVinci Travel Watercolor Brushes
Grumbacher Masking Fluid
Fluid Cold Press Watercolor Paper
Faber-Castell Pitt Brush Pens
Watercolor, Public Lands, and a YouTube Channel
We’re spending a LOT of time at home these days, so of course my desire to be out hiking in our canyons and in the desert is strong! We are on Spring Break this week and our schools have been closed for three weeks already. With our Spring Break travel plans to California canceled because of the Covid-19 virus, I had this inkling of hope that maybe we could escape to the desert instead. Nope! I read a plea from the director of the hospital in Moab and his explanation of how small his hospital is and how it’s not prepared to handle a pandemic AND the number of annual tourists who flock to the area every spring. I understood completely and was not willing to put the small communities in southern Utah at risk of the virus coming with me. Our annual trip to Arches was canceled and spending Spring Break on BLM land outside of Hurricane was done.
Instead, I’m living vicariously through painting. A few months ago I created a painting of Babylon Arch for Shanti and her Hiking My Way Retreats. I loved how it turned out so I decided to think about all of the beautiful landmarks that reside on BLM/public lands and do a series of paintings of them. Maybe I’ll turn them all into stickers one day, I haven’t gone that far yet. Maybe I can donate proceeds to a nonprofit that fights to protect our glorious public lands?
I will eventually do another painting of Babylon Arch (because it’s awesome and so is the surrounding area), but for now I have Fisher Towers, which is outside of Moab, UT:
A little waterfall on the Red Reef Trail in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area in southwestern Utah:
Both areas are absolutely beautiful to explore. I plan to do another painting from the Red Reef Trail too.
One of my impulse purchases amid this Covid-19 business was a phone holder and light that lets me record time lapse videos of my painting. I learned the very basics of iMovie and, after some coaxing from my 10yo, I started a YouTube channel. Give my channel a visit and maybe a Like here and there.
So far I only have a few videos up there, including a video on how I make Bolognese Lasagne, but I plan to add more in the following weeks.
I’m hoping to get more paintings going, especially since Utah is acting like its normal self in the spring and going back and forth between glorious sunshine and gusting wind and rain; maybe even a little snow.
What are some landmarks on public lands that you think I should do next??
Traveling Gingerbread Man
My friend Jen has a kindergartener and his teacher was working on a project with the class; teaching them a bit about geography. The teacher sent out a paper to parents asking them to ask friends and family who don’t live in their town to send messages claiming they sighted the Gingerbread Man in their city or sometime during their travels. If they could include a photo, then fantastic. She even went on to say that email messages are fine, and even fictional messages are okay so long as they help the kids learn about different places on the map. They were mapping each sighting on a big map in the classroom.
I kicked it up a notch and had WAY too much fun in Photoshop. Here are the messages I sent:
“Hi Mrs. B's Class!
We are the Wong Family: Alex, Bill, Tommy and Matthew. We're friends of Jaxon's. We were exploring Arches National Park in Moab, Utah earlier this year and you wouldn't believe who we ran into: The Gingerbread Man! He must have been on vacation, exploring the desert. He was so nice by sharing some gumdrops with us and we shared granola bars with him on the trail. He totally photobombed us too! What a stinker!
Love, Tommy and Matthew Wong (ages 10 and 5)”
“Hi Mrs. B's Class,
It's Tommy and Matthew again, say hi to Jaxon for us, we miss him! We were on a road trip with our parents and we stopped at the Bonneville Salt Flats in western Utah to see if we could watch some race cars break land speed records. Lo and behold, we saw The Gingerbread Man too! He was scoping out some rocket cars and enjoying the weather. Thankfully it wasn't too hot, but wow, it gets bright when the sun reflects off of the salt! Sunglasses are a must! Wonder where he was headed next?
Best, Tommy and Matthew Wong”
“Hello, Mrs. B's Class,
Tommy and Matthew saying hi and sharing yet another Gingerbread Man sighting. He must have had the same road trip plans as us this year. We ran into him in the north shore of Lake Tahoe, California and he joined us for a swim in the crystal-clear water. We bid farewell when we got wrinkly fingers and advised him to do the same. Since he's made of gingerbread, we didn't want him to get soggy!
I hope he had a great time on the rest of his road trip!
Adios, Tommy and Matthew”
“Hello Mrs B's Class,
It's the Wong Family again, Tommy and Matthew. We were hiking with some friends in Big Cottonwood Canyon in the snowy Wasatch Mountains of Utah this week and we ran into our old friend, The Gingerbread Man. He said he was hoping to get in some skiing before another snow storm came through, and we hope he found some slopes, because it's supposed to snow again tonight!
We hope you're staying warm this winter.
Cheers, Tommy and Matthew Wong”
A big part of me hopes my youngest son’s kindergarten class does a similar activity… so I could make more photos. Hahaha!