Desert Solitaire

It seems that over the recent weeks I have been pre-occupied with photography, but nonetheless I also was creative in some other ways. I created a few journals for my shop, am working on a canvas which I mainly hate (I put it aside for the time being) and also did a combination of photography and painting by creating this:

The photo was taken at White Sands National Monument in New Mexico two winters ago. It is a fascinating place (I wrote about it here) with endless white sand dunes, many soaptree yuccas and other desert plants that survive in these conditions and an unlimited sky. It was a photographer's paradise.

 

 

I was especially fascinated by the soaptree yuccas with their dried seed pods. They made a beautiful foreground to the sunset sky and just offered another dimension in the ever white sandy landscape. It wasn't enough for me to just look at the pictures on my computer. So I went through the photos and picked this one for my first canvas board - I hope there will be more to follow. The title came naturally - it's a book by Edward Abbey who worked as a seasonal park ranger in Arches when it was still a National Monument (nowadays it's a National Park as you probably all know). Very soon this mixed media painting will be available in my Etsy shop.

After I don't know how many weeks I'm finally able to link up to Paint Party Friday again. I also link this to Mandarin Orange Monday.