A personal reflection| by Deborah Allison
T
he land is the first attraction. Bare rocks, spiky
plants, drama. The hills are
ancient and yet they are so new that
they haven’t been worn down by the
weather. I’ve heard many folks notice
the similarity of the landscape to that
of an ocean floor….just a bit drier.
The lighting is magical. It can be
clear and stark, or soft and rosy. It is
like the light you find in Tuscany or
Provence. Mystical, elusive, almost
touchable light. It invites you to try
your hand at a painting. Even visitors who have never touched a paint
brush feel led to give it a shot. Experienced painters find their hearts
beating faster.
The sky is enormous. With few
trees, low hills and no skyscrapers,
there is not much blocking the view
of the horizon. Often there are no
clouds at all, just an incredibly clear
blue. Then quickly puffy clouds appear that can change to atomic look-
ing thunderheads. Sunrises and sunsets of impossible colors and the
amazing starlit night skies treat us
every day.
So, being a visual artist, I was immediately pulled into the Big Bend
area by what my eyes beheld. We arrived in the area in 2002 and I
dreamed of endless days painting in
the beautiful outdoors. Vistas, long
thin paintings of the distant horizons, it all danced in my head like
Christmas sugarplums.
I tried. It was April and I found out
quickly that even though the temperatures were perfect and the skies
were clear, the spring winds challenged my easel. We found some
heavy rocks to anchor the easel legs
and keep it from sailing away. But I
still ended up chasing a tipped canvas and even today there is some
local texture (dirt) in the sky (oil
paint).
But it is worth the challenges.
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