River of Golden Aspen
See this watercolor painting at my Art Show, Oct. 3-30, 2017
Bell Art Room, Winona Public Library, Winona, MN.
Part 2. Something Beautiful to Cherish
Last week in my Blog I mentioned that maple trees around here are beginning to turn green leaves into fall colors. I love this time of year. It’s a litany of color in the neighborhood and surrounding bluffs. Fall trees are not the only source of color. I remember a litany of rising sun color in the Colorado Rockies the year we were on Sabbatical. We were camped at Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. After a week of wonder in that special place, we awakened before sunrise one morning and drove outside the park to find a good spot to photograph the rising sun.
“We hang around the rig in the cold morning and watch the light change. Muted fall colors surround us here in a distinctive valley monochrome of dry grasses. Antique gold and pale browns contrast with the red earth colors and streaks of fall darks in the shrubbery and weeds. On the still shadowed mountains the swatches of dull gold locate the aspen stands . . . A faint wash of color slowly infuses the cloudless sky. Deep indigo night pales to a weak grey–blue that melts into lemon yellow, briefly mixing into a surprising tint of luminous green before the band of yellow gives way to coral blush. A heavenly artist shifts colors of the rainbow palette, and the sky slowly turns bright orange, then pink . . . [Finally] a narrow brush stroke of deep glowing red edges the mountain peaks before a few rays of sunlight thrust above the ridge, casting long shadows forward in front of adjacent peaks. It’s foreshadow. Amazing. I never understood the meaning of that word until now. When the sun rises into full view, the violet foreshadows shorten, then finally vanish. Sunlight brightens the sand to a pink beige. The dark forest now reveals green hues; the aspen lighten into gold brights. Low shafts of sunlight contour the dunes with indigo shadows. They slowly shift and reshape until the sun rises high enough to visually flatten out the contours. It’s something beautiful to remember always. Something beautiful to cherish.” (Excerpt from my memoir, The Road to Beaver Park, Painting, Perception, and Pilgrimage, p. 83)
“Stop, and consider God’s wonders . . .” (Job 37:14) This planet is colorful, beautiful, an amazing place to live. Take time to cherish the earth. It’s our home.