Sunrise regularly kisses the desert with unexpected color. I've seen it happen time and again, yet it always takes my breath. The magnificently complex geology of Burro Mesa in Big Bend National Park is especially prone to glowing when the sun bestows the kiss of golden color. This amazing cirque canyon on the "backside" of the mesa is among my favorite landscape subjects, because the already colorful rocks constantly change colors with the light, and it's easy to be mesmerized by the textures of the pitted, cracked and layered walls. And because I love canyons, with their sheltering walls and hidden turns.
The deep blue, almost cloudless sky lingers just after the sun rises enough to bestow the kiss of color at the canyon's entry, while everything else sleeps, still hidden in sheltering darkness. You feel mystery, a sense of entering the unknown day ahead.
Several coats of archival acrylic varnish protect this watercolor and keep the colors as vivid as they come out of the tube. No glass is needed!
- Framed: 8 x 8 x 1 in (20.32 x 20.32 x 2.54 cm)
- Subject Matter: landscape
- Current Location: Old Spanish Trail Studio - PO Box 2167 401 Crows Nest Road, Fort Davis, TX 79734 (google map)
- Collections: Big Bend National Park, Far West Texas Landscapes, Miniatures, Watercolor Landscapes