Wooden Shoe

Friends -
This will probably be the last oil painting that I am able to complete for a while, due to various undefined logistical issues. And maybe that is just as well because I really think that this is one painting that I could keep changing every time I look at it. Much like the real place which changes minute by minute - as the sun moves across the sky. It is very difficult to portray any location in the southeast Utah desert in one still painting. A 'video painting' would be more rewarding, should such a thing exist.

Nonetheless, I did what I did and I think it will be a nice reminder of one of the most fulfilling camping experiences I have ever had (backpacking excluded). The particular spot in this painting is at the Wooden Shoe group camp site in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park last September. Isolated. Quiet. Enormously beautiful. And I suppose you can guess why they named it 'Wooden Shoe'.

Besides the primo qualifications of the particular campsite, there is unlimited wilderness hiking nearby to wear you out on a daily basis. It really makes you appreciate the sun shower, camp dinner, and falling quiet under the Milky Way at least as well as any other place where I have laid down my sleeping bag.

Rest assured, we intend to do more -- and some day we will take my grandsons as well.....

I will sell prints of this painting to interested persons for a donation to Doctors Without Borders, or another worthwhile non-profit that you may prefer.

Best regards -

margie lopez read

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