Vermillion Cliffs Paintings

These paintings were inspired during my residency at the north rim of the Grand Canyon. I needed to drive into Flagstaff mid residency and the trip took me by Vermillion Cliffs. The cliffs themselves rivaled the Grand Canyon in the richness of their color and textures, but what captivated me were the cloud formations over the cliffs that day. We all have occasions to see a clouds that resemble natural forms in the ever-changing masses of moisture that roam through the skies, but the formations that day were extraordinarily clear in their suggested likenesses. The raven and rattlesnake are such important creatures to the native people of this desert that to see them floating over these great cliffs seemed a request to become paintings that could not be denied. They are now two pieces in my ongoing Sentient Landscapes series.