Exploring Capitol Reef

Capitol Reef National Park is a relatively unheard of one - and I don't live that far from it! We visited last March and pretty much had the park to ourselves. There wasn't a fee station or anything; we even laughed and wondered if it was truly a National Park!

We had now been to the other 4 parks in Utah, and we were pleasantly surprised with this one. For me, it encompassed all of the variety of rocks in the other parks but still had it's own uniqueness (and the fact that there weren't any crowds - far from it - made it all the more better!) We could be walking on the white sandstone and in the distance see the red rocks. (You would think that I would have learned a lot more geology after living in the Four Corners for the last 15 years, but "red rocks" it is.) Further in the distance were the snow covered Uinta Mountains.

My favorite painting of this series is the "Twisted Juniper". I don't know how many pictures I've taken over the years of the gnarled trees in a desert landscape, but this was the first one that I painted. If you look closely you can see the different colors and lines in the wood. I'm always fascinated by the patterns that these trees have. I was also intrigued by the bush in the lower right hand corner - I hadn't seen this bush before and it was really neat. After researching, we discovered it to be Buffaloberry. We weren't there when it was blooming but it was still pretty nonetheless.

I always enjoy the striking colors of the rocks when the sun is rising or setting, or even the shadows of the clouds on the rocks. Painting this was a challenge, as there are SOOO many colors in the desert and it's hard to capture them all.

You can take home a part of the park with my National Park series - original paintings, prints, note card sets, and coasters, all available in my online store.