Tag Archives: The Great Outdoors

Rifle Falls State Park

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Don West
Rifle Falls State Park

 

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Stuck on Coffee Pot Road

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Don West
Stuck On Coffee Pot Rd.

Sketch Text:
Ben and I took a scenic drive up to 10,000 ft. above sea level today, where I rather expertly got the car perched upon a patch of snow. Both drive wheels ever so slightly off the ground. It was masterful if I do say so myself.

It is now 10:52pm, we are in the White River National Forest, it is remote, about eleven miles above the valley floor (by dirt road). I saw two vehicles on the road as we drove today. Hopefully, S•O•M•E•body will come along in the morning and push us off this twelve foot long patch of snow.

Have I learned a V•A•L•U•E•A•B•L•E lesson? Yes, I think so. When one is stuck…anywhere…it is a wonderful time to clip an alpine pine cone from a tree and sketch it.

The tank is full of gas, temp. Is 46°F. Sweet Dreams…

It’s quiet up here. Really, really, Q•U•I•E•T.

My ears ring. I never knew that…

UPDATE: Sure enough, a single soul in a pickup truck came by the following morning about 9:30am and in a few short minutes I was free to hightail it home. Ben slept like a log in the car during this ordeal, as all dogs do. I hardly slept. Around 8:00am next morning I had given up hope and called a wrecker…for $500! Then this guy came along about an hour later. So I was able to cancel the wrecker and only pay for the time and travel up to that point…$125. All this by trusty cell phone of course…albeit with one bar for the signal!

By all accounts, I got off cheap and lucky. This time of year, few people travel into the highlands. I could have waited ten hours or even stayed another night…not something I was willing to risk. A Ford Focus is a nice car, but not a vehicle for sleeping in :-)

All in all, I wasn’t very wise on this little adventure to gather material for sketching, painting, and the like. So lessons were learned indeed.

No more challenging those remote, rascally, innocent looking, highlands snow patches for me…at least not in a regular sedan :-)

Posted in Plants, Sketches and Words, Stuff I find myself doing, The Great Outdoors | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

I-70 Abandoned Silo

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Don West

I-70 Abandoned Silo

I-70 Abandoned Silo

Sketch Text:

Rural America is fascinating. You come across scenes and objects that can only be described as “unusual”. In a city, structures that are no longer of use are either torn down and replaced, or repurposed for a new use. But in rural America, things are just abandoned. Usually, Mother Nature finds a way to “use” them.

I can only surmise that this grain silo was abandoned while 3/4 full of grain…or some other organic material suitable for growing cottonwood trees. It’s masonry, so in another hundred years, it may collapse and the trees will again call Terra Firma home.

For now though, it is a testament to the ever changing lives of humans and the need for structures to suit the need of the moment. Big ideas gone some other direction.

I wonder if the builder is aware it is now a very large vase?

 

Posted in Architecture, Old Things, Sketches and Words, The Great Outdoors, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Study, Chattahoochee River Birches

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Don West

Chattahoochee River Birches Study

Chattahoochee River Birches Study

I found this while looking through a box of old sketches. I remember the day I did this. I was slowly floating down the Chattahoochee, north of Atlanta, in a little fishing kayak. I didn’t catch anything but I did get a couple of sketches done. Of those, this one was my favorite. It captures a slow rolling Southern river bank pretty much anywhere in the Southland.

 

Posted in Just Sketches, Plants, Stuff I find myself doing, The Great Outdoors | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Wilderness Advice

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Don West
Wilderness Advice

Wilderness Advice

Sketch Text:
—Or—
How to Inflict The Fear of God on a Mountain Lion.
*Disclaimer: Not with a little pocket knife about the size of your pinky, like the one depicted here! The artist only drew it because…well…he’s an artist and can draw whatever he wants. It’s his journal. However, being an artist, he also conjured up what seems like a good and admirable way to alleviate being eaten by a Mountain Lion when out drawing, sketching, or painting in the wilderness.

Imagine you are out there, sitting on a big boulder, wondrous scene before you, sketching or painting, perhaps humming a tune or whistling (actions which, by the way, attract hungry Mountain Lions). Then you hear a twig crack and there before you is a large, chop-licking, Mountain Lion. Remain calm, keep humming (just change the tune to Amazing Grace). Then slowly remove from your pocket the package of “Black Cat” firecrackers and the Bic lighter you brought along just for such predicaments.

Light ‘em up, toss ‘em at the beast, grab your sketchbook and run for the nearest tree. Don’t forget to climb it and begin screaming HELP!

 

Posted in Animals, Sketches and Words, The Great Outdoors | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Two-Tone Stone

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Don West
Two-Tone Stone

Two-Tone Stone

Sketch Text:
I saw this two-toned stone lying in a field of gravel covering the narrow strip of dirt officially cordoned off as the place where one can take their dog for his or her morning or evening constitution. The strip being behind the building where I am temporarily living.

Amongst all of this mix of gray aggregates was this one odd stone with three layers. Nice and rounded by…who knows what forces?

I got to thinkin’…

“What are the chances that out of all the stones lying around on the surface of the Earth, this one little two-toe stone would end up being spotted, sketched, and given far more thought than most any other stone lying in an area where no doubt hundreds of dogs have found relief?”

“And not only that, after no telling how many thousand years it has been a little two-tone stone, it becomes famous on the Internet!”

I think it’s all just “Happenstance”. “Luck”. “Good fortune”.

What do you think?

Posted in Introspection, Objects, Old Things, Sketches and Words with Questions, The Great Outdoors | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Definition of Poop

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Don West
Definition Of Poop

Definition Of Poop...click for a larger image.

Sketch Text:
Personally, this one’s kinda ugly and lifeless. But I’m sketchin’ for the sake of sketchin’ today because I hear Brother Drawing Funk pecking at my door. I figure if I put something on the page, perhaps he’ll pass me by.

And since this IS a journal, I feel compelled to put the poop down as well. BTW, “poop” is a sort of unsatisfying attempt at creativity. (my definition.)

Further Comments:
“Poop” may seem like a strong word in this context.
Think “shucks”, “darn”, “dang-it” or “dad-burn”. An expression of self-dissatisfaction or the enduring of a mild but unpleasant experience.
And since sketching is supposed to be a good and fulfilling experience for us…when it isn’t, I usually think “poop”.

I hope that clarifies it a bit.

Posted in Sketches and Words, The Great Outdoors | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Sheep Creek Geological Loop, Utah

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Don West
Sheep Creek Geological Loop, Utah

Sheep Creek Geological Loop, Utah

Sketch Text:
I took a little road trip to see a part of Utah I’d never visited. It turned out to be a 700 mile loop by the time I got back home.

Hint: If you don’t like to drive, don’t go to Utah.
Hint 2: If you like rocks & Dinosaurs, go to Utah. There’s plenty of both.

The scenery was both beautiful and monotonous. I thought the rocks in this little loop [Sheep Creek Geological Loop] were amazing. A billion years exposed.

Additional Comments:
Mother Earth is truly amazing and unfathomably old. Utah provides many areas where Earth’s geology is exposed, showing literally billions of years of rock layers visible in one scene. I find it fascinating, but also hard to grasp…out of reach. I’ll say this: spending a few days around these truly ancient rocks made me feel very, very fortunate to be here for my own little speck of time.

Posted in Old Things, Sketches and Words, The Great Outdoors, Travel | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Roadside Tubs

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Don West
Roadside Tubs

Roadside Tubs...click for a larger image.

Sketch Text:
I was driving home from the grocery store and these plastic tubs were sitting by the road near a driveway. I thought the colors were unusual for plastic tubs and they just looked kinda cool…like somebody arranged them to look kinda cool.

But that would be silly wouldn’t it?…

Posted in Objects, Sketches and Words with Questions, The Great Outdoors | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

I’m Being Watched…

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Don West
I'm Being Watched

I'm Being Watched...click for a larger image.

Sketch Text:
Outside my front door there lies a field of sagebrush and grass. Here and there one can see small mounds of dirt piled around holes in the ground. In the early morning these little sentries will stand at their post atop the mounds.

When I open the door to leave for work, all the little black eyes turn their attention to me…and stare. They watch me walk to the Jeep.

These are the neighbors. The ones I’ve never met. The quiet ones…that are always up before me…always watching me. Sometimes I wonder if they know something I don’t…like the location of the coyote poop I’m walking directly toward as I stride to the car.

I am entertainment for Prairie Dogs.

Posted in Animals, Sketches and Words, The Great Outdoors | Tagged , , | 8 Comments