Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Great Sand Dunes National Park
10" x 8"  Oil
Temporarily On Hold...Although, Please let me know if you are interested

While at the Medano Zapata Ranch we headed over to the Great Sand Dunes National Park for some early morning painting.  The Great Sand Dunes are nestled against the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and are a natural system that includes high mountain peaks, sparkling streams (although pretty low right now), powerful winds and of course sand.  This wild landscape is unexpectedly awe-inspiring.
I set up right in the stream bed.  

These huge dunes are the tallest in North America.  They comprise about 11 percent of 
an enormous sand deposit that covers more than 330 square miles.  

We were set-up and painting by 7:00 and were soon followed by climbers seeking the top 
and looking forward to the thrill of sliding down.  Many use a plastic snow sled or 
big piece of cardboard.

13 comments:

Debbi Smith Rourke said...

Fabulous. Love the cool and warm colors and the value contrasts and the competition.

Autumn Leaves said...

Very pretty, Pam. Love that last photo that gives some idea of size of the dunes.

Sandy Graeser Haynes said...

Hi Pam, from another former art teacher... love your blog, and your wonderfully painterly landscapes. Would you care to trade links with me?

Amy Hillenbrand said...

Great painting Pam, I can feel the water running down stream. Great colors and wonderful shadows.

Pam Holnback said...

Thank you Debbi. I think it was the contrast of cool and warm that drew me to this!

Sherry, Thank you. The dunes are huge!

Thanks so much Sandy. Blogging is great...we meet so many people with things in common.

Amy, Thanks so much.

martinealison said...

Un lieu fantastique d'évasion et de liberté... Quelle chance vous avez de peindre dans un tel cadre.

Gros bisous.

Marian Fortunati said...

Wow... what a place!!! How fun to paint it too.

I remember a big sand dune like this near Point Mugu that we used to climb up (huffing and puffing) so we could have the thrill of sliding down it. Ahhhh memories...

juliefordoliver.blogspot.com said...

I love your painting, you really captured the feeling of the light and sparkle... and brave soul, setting up in the river bed. How far did the legs sink in?

Pam Holnback said...

Merci Martine! Vous avez raison. J'ai de la chance!

thank you Marian. It is and incredible place. I love childhood memories!

Julie, Thank you. Surprisingly the legs hardly sank!

Douglas Clark said...

I really love how you painted the water.

Dean H. said...

I love the meandering stream which was built out of the touches of your brush! Great color also, Pam.

Jala Pfaff said...

Lovely color work.

Someone please make all this heat and fire go away!

Pam Holnback said...

Thank you Douglas. The water was so low that the color was a lot of reflected sky as well as sand.

Dean, Thanks so much. When you think about it, all paintings are built from a meandering brush!

Thank you Jala. I hear you!!