GRAND CANYON PAINTINGS

January 25, 2014

In just a week my son, Owen, and I will have an opening of our art show at the Contreras Gallery. The opening is Saturday, February 1st from 6 to 9 pm, 110 E. 6th St., Tucson. This will be my fifth show at this gallery. Each year I have had a theme. Last year it was “Rocks and Water”. This year it is that great inspiration, the Grand Canyon. Here are two of the paintings.

The unfinished painting – “Canyon Highlights”

(The darkness on the right side of the painting is due to the way it was illuminated when I took the picture)

“Canyon Highlights”

“Canyon Highlights” felt right almost the moment I put paint to paper. When I had finished blocking in the main forms I liked it a lot and was almost afraid to touch it again for fear of spoiling the effect. It wasn’t until I had finished all but three of the 24 paintings for the show that I returned to this one, and decided to take the risk of working on it more. In the end I was very happy with the result. Incidentally, during our Christmas vacation, I had used the drawing for this painting as an exercise in teaching some of my family members watercolor. There are now a half a dozen versions of this painting in various homes in our family. All the young artists did wonderful work.

The other painting is a full sheet (22″x30″), called “The Drama of Evening”. I love the contrasts of sunshine and shadow in these sunset views. A scene like this can be very fleeting, lasting only a few minutes. The people in the painting help to convey something of the scale of the canyon. If you are in Tucson on the first Saturday of February I would love to show these two paintings and the other attempts to capture aspects of this natural wonder. The show will include two of my oil paintings, and 22 watercolors, plus works by Owen Rose.

MILE HIGH BEAUTIES

January 22, 2014

Yesterday Dave and I felt we needed to get out in the fresh air. I had been cooped up with a cold for over a week, and Dave had been busy. We both needed the renewal that we always find in the mountains.

Looking straight down into a pond of very clear water with a white butterfly floating on the top

We did not have much time, so we drove just over seven miles up the mountain road and headed toward Bug Spring. Then we looked up at the peak straight ahead of us and felt it calling. A deer trail took us to the top. We were just about a mile above sea-level, commanding a beautiful view of the valley. We could see part of Tucson, and distant mountain ranges. The temperature was mild. It was the middle of January, so we did not expect to see any flowers, but there they were, smiling bravely at us. We even found a beautiful pool in the stream bed, complete with a floating white butterfly. We saw a few live butterflies and even heard the rush of a humming bird, but never saw it.

Looking down at an “invisible” flower – possibly Spurge – euphorbia pediculifera

A close up of the spurge showing their gorgeous flowers

By the time we reached home we had been gone only a few hours, but felt as refreshed as if we had been away for a week.

Goodding verbena – glandularia gooddingii, in full bloom on January 20

One of the lotus plants in full and glorious bloom

The manzanita shrubs are starting to bloom, with their white bell-like flowers, tinged with red

BROUGHT LOW BY INVISIBLE BEASTIES

January 8, 2014

On New Year’s Day Dave and I had a wonderful hike in the mountains, as reported in my last blog. The next day I started to feel bad, and knew that trouble was coming. Within hours I was into one of the worst coughs I have had for years. It is now six days later, and I still cough a lot (so much so that I have moved into the guest room so that my wife can get some sleep.) The last few days I have managed to get a few hours of work in. I am sleeping 8 to 10 hours a night, and take two-hour naps during the day. Then I watch old movies, etc. I just hold still to reduce the danger of coughing, and count on my body to do its work in getting rid of the invisible enemy.

One lesson I have learned from the movies. Not only do heroes fall for beautiful women, but, amazing as it may sound, some beautiful women are really ugly inside! It is quite disillusioning. And it helps to pass the time.

More later when I feel up to it.

GOING HIGHER THAN WE EXPECTED TO GO

January 3, 2014

We are already into the New Year. This blog has been quiet, since my wife and I went to Minneapolis/St. Paul for Christmas. The drawing card was family – altogether 21 of us at one time or another. That included my wife, Louise, and I, three of our children, (Alan, Elizabeth and Jeremy), their spouses (Lesilee, Mike and Carol), 8 Grandchildren, one of whom had a spouse, and another a boy friend, and three Great Grandchildren. What a wonderful time we had. The snow and icy cold weather were difficult at times, and a treat. Some of us took a one mile walk in the -4 degree temperature, two took a longer hike in a nature center at about the same temperature, three of us walked out onto a frozen lake, complete with ice-fishing holes, trucks and huts. One very cold night, -13 degrees, we tested the suggestions as to “how to enjoy cold weather” first by freezing water filled balloons, then by blowing soap bubbles and watching at least some of them freeze enough to land on the ground and roll around, and throwing boiling water into the air to watch it instantly turn into fine snow.

I guess it was predictable that the most entertainment was provided by Isha, less than two years old, with her impish grin and endless antics.

It seemed a little foolish to travel in such wintry conditions. Our flight were delayed both ways, but we did arrive safely at both ends, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

After only a few hours sleep, I woke fairly early on New Year’s Day and persuaded my friend Dave to go hiking with me. We went to Molino Basin. On the way up the mountain I suggested we visited “our” Rosewood tree. This was a fairly ambitious suggestion, since it involved going off the trail and up a steep hill. I was particularly interested to revisit the tree. It is featured in my book. “Mountain trees”. In lectures I have pointed out that although the tree is less than fifteen feet tall, its trunk suggests that it might be very old. So far I had not actually measured it.

Here Dave, (who is 5″ 4″) has his hiking stick on his head (another 5′) and the top of the stick does not reach the top of the tree, which we think is over 14′ tall.

It is hard to see clearly in this picture, but the trunk is very complex, and very wide.

We arrived at the tree and realized that we did not bring a measuring tape. Gathering various straps we linked them together and constructed a line that we could wrap around the base of the tree. As you can see from the photograph, this was no mean feat. The trunk is complex with two main trunks and some smaller ones. Dave marked our make-shift ruler so that we could check it when we got back home. We guessed from looking at it, that the base of the tree was about eight feet around.

As we sat and enjoyed our refreshments I kept looking up the hill and to the right. Above us there was a fairly level arm of the mountain, and it seemed to be calling to us. Finally I suggested to Dave that we might want to climb up there. Well, once such an idea is in the air it is hard to resist, so we left our packs and extra gear by the Rosewood tree, and scaled the hill. It was well worth it. We eventually found ourselves on a ridge commanding views from both sides. We could look down, way down, into the Molino Basin, and turning around, to the Tucson Basin even as far as Mexico and New Mexico. What a thrill it was to sit there high in the mountain on a perfect day.

Looking down to our Rosewood tree from our first trek higher up the mountain

Then I found myself looking up again, and finally mentioned to Dave that he might want to see if we could go higher. Soon he was off up the hill, and then beckoned me to follow. It was steep in some places, but gentle and easy walking terrain in others, ending in a magnificent pile of rocks. We had reached the top! Years ago we had wondered what that would be like. Today, by going in stages, we got there. There was something very wonderful about sitting on those flat rocks and scanning the view. The only jarring notes came from the rumble of cars and the roar of motorcycles driving 500 feet below us.

Dave at the very top of the peak. Snow is visible on the Rincon Mountains in the distance.

When we got down we looked back up. The highest point in this picture is the peak.

As usual we kept our eyes out for flowers, and found two species in bloom – spiny aster and wiry lettuce.

Returning to Dave’s we took out our make shift measuring device, placed it alongside a measuring tape, and found that it was exactly eight feet long!

Coming Art Show

December 28, 2013

This past summer I worked intently on a series of paintings for a show coming up in February, 2014 at the Contreras Gallery in Tucson. The show opens on February first, which is coming up very fast. I am glad I have already done the bulk of the paintings. It has been a special treat to return to trying to capture this inspiring landscape. It is also a challenge is to take a fresh look at this very familiar natural wonder.

Here are four more paintings:

Catching the First Rays

Coming Back Up

Layers

Toward Evening

WINTER WONDERS

December 20, 2013

When I got up last Wednesday morning it was still dark. Looking to the west I could see the nearly full moon getting ready to set, with Saturn shining brightly a few degrees above it. There was a very faint but still visible halo around the moon. Perhaps you can see it in this photograph. You can also see that the camera moved during the exposure, so Saturn is a short white line instead of being a dot. This phenomenon tells of ice crystals high in the sky and indicates that rain is coming. When I rose this morning (Saturday), it was raining and there was a third of an inch in the rain gauge.

It has been mild lately, with temperatures into the high seventies, so Ed and I decided to drive higher into the mountain range. At the ski area the sun was just a glowing spot in an overcast day.

The picture below shows the sky through the tracery of Quaking aspen with a hint of a halo around the sun like the one I had seen around the moon early the same morning. .

We hiked up Turkey run, very comfortable in our light jackets. We did not see any flowers in bloom, but had the pleasure of enjoying the fresh air and the patches of snow.

We noticed that small rocks along the trail had created pockets for themselves. Even the needles of pine trees melted little depressions on the surface, since the rocks and needles absorb the heat from the sun better than the snow does.

The slow drip of water in the grotto area that we love to visit had turned into a frozen waterfall.

The trail was clear under the forest canopy. In places where the sky was open above, there were patches of snow, as in this picture.

We did not see any flowers in bloom this late in December, and did not expect to see them. At the Mount Lemmon General Store, where we stopped for a snack, we saw a Common mallow plant (Malva neglecta) in full and glorious bloom.

This photograph of Common Mallow was taken at an earlier time.

A HIKE TO REMEMBER

December 17, 2013

Dave and I hiked in Ventana Canyon yesterday – so named because “Ventana” is Spanish for window. High up the trail you come to a window – about 15 feet high and 25 feet wide.

This map shows the trail we followed. The trails we have hiked are marked in red.

This brought back memories for me. Twenty-eight years ago my wife and I hiked up to the window. The plan was to slog the 9 plus miles up to the Window on the Esperero Trail from Sabino Canyon, (just over 9 miles), have the wedding, spend the night near by, and then in the morning hike down the Ventana Canyon trail, 6.4 miles to where we had parked a second set of cars. But there was a snag. Most of our gear was packed onto three horses that were going meet us, bringing water, sleeping bags, food and the bride’s wedding dress. We waited and waited for them to arrive, and finally decided to head to the Window before it got too late. As we walked the last two miles toward the Window we passed a lone hiker. Louise and I were at the end of the line. By the time the hiker met us he was mumbling under his breath: “Three days of hiking without seeing a soul, and now I meet a whole damn wedding party.” (There were 11 of us)

After the wedding we headed back the way we had come, going as fast as we could so as to not have to hike too long in the heat of the next day. At a certain point it was simply too dark, so we lay down on the trail where we were, and fitfully slept until the early light of morning woke us. We hurried down into the 109 degree heat of a Tucson summer day. It took quite a while for us to cool down I had to immerse myself in a tub of cold water. The following day we felt fine.

Whenever I hike in Ventana Canyon, I think of that adventure. Yesterday started cool, but got warmer, even though it is mid December. The first thing we noticed was the very tall grass called Giant Reed (Arundo donax). Some time ago I went to a talk in Sabino Canyon where they spoke of the task of eradicating this very aggressive plant from the Canyon. It had taken over large areas, and was crowding out the native species of trees and plants. Dave and I went off the trail to get a closer look at this member of the grass family. The plant in this picture is 15 feet tall at least. Farther along the trail we saw other clumps of the grass, and commented on how difficult it would be to keep it from taking over Ventana Canyon.

Above is a picture of just one Giant Reed plant

The plant on the left is at least 15 feet tall.

After exploring the trail and the stream bed, we came to a nice resting place. There were thousands of seedlings carpeting the ground. I particularly noticed this one. Dicot plants send up a shoot which branches into two leaves (from Dicotyledon, meaning two Cotyledons, or seed leaves). These leaves look much the same in a variety of plants. Then the plant produces new leaves recognizable as belonging to a certain species. In this case we can see from the crinkled leaves, that it is a Phacelia (Heliotrope or Scorpion weed). In a few months the floor of the canyon will be graced with a light purple haze from the beautiful flowers of this plant, mixed in with the blues, golds and whites of thousands of other wildflowers.

A WALK BY A DESERT STREAM

December 13, 2013

Ed’s brother, Bob was visiting, so last Wednesday the three of us hiked up Bear Canyon toward Seven Falls. It was a little cool at first, but after a short time we were peeling off layers of clothes and basking in the warmth of the sun. The canyon was bright with the gold color of autumn leaves, including Velvet Ash, Fremont Cottonwood and Bonpland willow. Added to this was the rich orange-brown color of the Arizona Sycamore. There was plenty of water in the creek from snow melt higher up the mountain.

I was particularly conscious of the grasses, noting with some regret, how many of them were not native to this area. We saw lots of the admittedly beautiful but yet threatening Fountain grass, (which was deliberately introduced into Southern Arizona in the 1940’s). Its near relative, Buffel grass (Pennisetum ciliare), is even more of a problem. Both were in bloom. I couldn’t help noticing the similarities and differences between the foliage of the Fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum) and the local Deer grass (Muhlenbergia rigens).

Fountain grass

Deer grass

Close up of Deer grass male flowers

There have been some heavy rains recently leading to fresh growth. Places along the trail were totally covered with little green seedlings. If we get some more rain early in the New Year, we should have a spectacular display of Spring flowers in just a few months.

A carpet of green seedlings

GRAND CANYON PAINTING

December 10, 2013

I have been continuing to create watercolor paintings of Grand Canyon for a show at the Contreras Gallery in Tucson opening on February 6, 2014. This is the most recent one, done from a photograph taken early in the morning. I enjoyed the diagonal slope of the foreground cliff and opposing diagonals of the canyon shadows. I also appreciated the way the trees and other plants hang out over the canyon, so I called it “Life at the Edge.” The image size is 10″x8″.

I started working on another painting, and when I had done the drawing realized it was taken from a spot only a few feet away from this painting. This shows how much I liked the view! The final effect will look very different.

NOSE BURN

December 5, 2013

The forecast yesterday included high winds and a chance of rain. Ed and I set off for Saguaro National Park East and the Cactus Forest Trail. We walked past the old lime kilns, came to a junction in the trail and decided to head for Lime Falls. The trail in part follows a stream bed. There were even a few little pools of water left over from rain last week. As we walked I told Ed about my new interest in Spurges – members of the Euphorbia family. It is a very large family with 300 genera and about 7,500 species. Many of them have “invisible” flowers as I have noted in this blog before. Probably the most famous, especially this time of year, is Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima). Poinsettia flowers are very small, hidden in the center of the top leaves. The leaves are the showy part and may be red or a variety of other colors.
I told Ed that I had even thought of buying a book about this family, but learned that the one that seemed the most interesting costs about $500 (in a ten-volume set). It is definitely a fascinating family, but maybe not worth that much to me right now. Just then I looked down in the stream bed and saw a rather dark plant. Some of its leave had turned red. I knew at once it was Nose burn (Tragia nepetifolia), so called because its leaves irritate the skin. Until today I had never dared to pick the plant or inspect the flowers at close range. It seemed to both of us that it was not in bloom. A few days ago I had looked for flowers on this plant in Molino Basin and concluded that it was long past blooming, so I assumed that this one was no longer in flower. But then, realizing that we were dealing with an “invisible” flower, I leaned down, and inspected it with my loupe. To my delight it was in full and glorious bloom. I picked a sprig, not worrying at all about its stinging reputation. It was not very irritating after all. Here are the pictures I took of this fascinating plant.

Looking straight down at Nose burn in the stream bed. One would not expect to find flowers on this plant, which was about a foot wide.

This branch is a little the worse for wear. Note how some leaves have turned red. The flowering part is at the top of the branch.

This is a close-up of the flowering head.

And a close-up of the close-up.

We met a couple on the trail, and after a brief conversation realized that we had met them before much higher up on the mountain – an area called Bear Wallow. They were Rick and Pat, and were very much interested in all aspects of nature, so we introduced them to this “invisible” flower and invited them to join the blog so that they could see these pictures.

It was a very pleasant day in the desert. We even saw other plants in bloom, including a Brittle bush, Wire lettuce, Dalea (pulchra, we think), and now this Nose burn.

When I woke up this morning there were three tenths of an inch in the rain gauge, so the rain did come, and very welcome it is.

Frank S. Rose

Flowers and more