Amazing long views, clear colorful
shadows and eye squinting brightness. Most of the time we don’t have
viridian greens, but there is a variety
of more subtle colors in the flora. The
sage greens of the cenizo and even
the bright yellow green of the occasional cottonwoods. The twisted
barbed wire appearance of the
ocotillo and the spiky grace of the
yucca add a staccato beat to the long
flatness between the mountain
ranges. The rocks of the Davis Mountains have shades of red not found in
the northeast and the bluish tint of
the hills in the evening is a wonderful
balance to the vivid orange of the sky
as twilight approaches.
mous artists such as Xavier Gonzalez
and Julius Woeltz. This program attracted painters to the area each
summer to learn contemporary techniques in the inspirational region of
the high desert. This program ran
from 1932 to 1950, but the influence
lingers in the current Art Department of the Sul Ross State University
in Alpine.
The forties also brought influences
History
Going beyond the sheer paintability of the area, there is history. Not
just the forts, the cowboy stories and
the adobe buildings (all tremendous
subjects in themselves), but there
have been artists in this area since
the indigenous people painted and
carved on the rock walls. Areas in
the Seminole Canyon State Park
have incredible color figures painted
possibly about 7000 years ago.
A few thousand years later, the
local teacher’s college had a very successful and well-considered art colony
taught by many of Texas’ more fa-
www.BaxterGallery.com
5 • www.GalleriesArtists.com