We're camping this weekend at Ute State Park, near Tucumcari, NM (Brian Urlacher's home town, I believe) and decided to drive around the secondary roads, just to explore. The above scene is actually a riverbed that must have seen water recently, altho there's only a small collection of water under the rock overhang on the left center side of the photo, next to the trees in the center. The green was lush, and the type I'm used to seeing in the Midwest, but not in New Mexico! Thoroughly enjoyed this view!
I just loved the desert wildflowers that were in bloom. I don't know what the flowers above are, but they are very tiny and (obviously) close to the ground. I just loved the mix of purple and yellow running along the ground!
Cholla (pronounced choy-a) are really nasty shrubs - their thorns seem to just leap out and attack you if you get too close. That doesn't really happen, but it seems like it because the thorns are so sensitive to things close to them, they attach themselves to you very quickly.....and HURT!! However, their blooms are just lovely! The above bloom is a lovely bright pink color, and I've also seen them yellow. Beautiful to look at, but don't get too close!!!
Enjoy!!
Went for a walk this morning (my first this year - yea, energy!) with Jeff, Miki and my camera. Got some pretty images of little blooms (and grasses) in our airpark.....right under our noses! I really like the above image - one of the reasons are the shadows of the stamens on the petals. I feel like adding some inspirational quote on the left side of the image and create a note card from this image.
Here's what I believe is an Indian Paintbrush. I love the bright green tips (stamens?) as a contrast to the orange.
I know, I know, this is technically a weed, but I just loved the way the middle of the flower gone to seed created such a cool pattern! And, the fuzzy head was just so perfect - the wind hadn't gotten to it yet!
This was a grass that was actually pretty small and short. I just loved the reflection of the morning light off the little fronds. It just looked sort of lacey and delicate.
Enjoy!
There is a huge wildfire going on a bit southwest of our home - actually about 4 hours southwest of us. As of last night, it covered 80,000 acres and was not contained at all, due to the terrain there, the very dry weather we've been having, and the extremely high winds (wind gusts of 55 - 60 or more mph). That wind causes the smoke to drift over New Mexico as well as into Texas and Colorado. Altho wildfires are not good and can be very scary if you and your home are in the path, the smoke from them does present some interesting and ironically beautiful sunset opportunities. The photos in this post are from last night's sunset. The above photo was one I submitted to our local news station, and they ran it during last night's 10pm newscast, during the weather segment. I have to admit, it was pretty cool to see my photo on TV, even if it's due to some very serious weather conditions. Oh, and can you see the faint echo of the sun in the lower right hand corner of the photo?
The above image was taken during the last remnants of the sunset. As you can see, the sun is actually below the ridge of the Sandia Mountains. I think the smoky haze adds some interesting texture to the sky. I also love the fact that the ground cover in our back area is actually green! The mountain off to the right of the photo is South Mountain, about 5 miles from us.
This image seems pretty surreal to me, like something out of a sci-fi, the earth as we know it is being destroyed, type movie. Again, the mountain range are the Sandia Mountains, the "clouds" are actually smoky haze and the homes in the foreground are part of our little town, Edgewood. The sun seemed so unnaturally large, I just keep getting drawn to this image.
Enjoy!
A couple of weeks ago, I created some background paper using acrylic paint mixed with glaze on watercolor paper. I applied it liberally (a couple of different colors on the same page), and then covered it with some cling wrap (aka saran wrap) and let it dry overnight. I had done this before, but didn't leave the cling wrap on that long. Anyway, by doing that, it created some cool texture, which you can see as you check out these bookmarks. Anyway, I then decided to make bookmarks with the paper. The above 2 are called "Manifest Plainess" and "Poet". These images are transparencies that I created either by typing on them or stamping on the transparency. I then tore out the definition of the word poet that I found on a scrap dictionary page that was at hand. I just love it when things appear just when I need them!
The bookmarks above were made from some wrapping paper that I just received in the mail (one of those things where charities hope to guilt you into making a contribution by sending you a "gift" - I tend not to fall for those, but make contributions to charities on my list), and I thought they would be perfect for the bookmarks - another happy coincidence!
And, finally, these 2 cool bookmarks. Images on these are transparencies. The moons aren't a stamp, but some images I found and scanned, then printed out on the transparency. The text is a stamp that I used on a transparency that I had previously colored with alcohol inks (I think - I did it a while ago, and really am not remembering clearly). It created a really cool color and texture effect when I placed the transparency on the textured background paper!
Enjoy!
Here are a few shots of some of the wildflowers found at Fool Hollow. Above are some tiny little daisies that grow along the roadside, usually near some rocks. Such delicate beauties!
Above are a couple of Indian Paintbrush blooms. They are such a vibrant orange color - very cool! I was actually laying down on the ground on my side to get the shot. Definitely worth it!
Enjoy!
In April, we visited a state park that we last visited in 2010 - Fool Hollow State Park in Show Low, AZ. We really enjoy sitting at our campsite among the pine trees, overlooking the lake. This time, we had a visitor - a young bald eagle!! Jeff checked him out with his binoculars, and said that some of his feathers weren't quite super white yet, so he must be about 2 years old. I just love that we got to see him!!
The evenings were nice, too - check out the pretty sunset one night!! The silhouette was really pretty, don't you think?
Enjoy!
The day after it snowed, we decided to drive the back-road up to the top of Mt. Lemmon, the mountain behind our campground. When we started out, there wasn't much of a trace of the snow from the previous day (but you can see a bit in the rocky fire ring in the very front of the photo).
Then, as we got further up the mountain, the road became snow-covered!! A hairpin turn going up the mountain (traversing a steep mountain includes a lot of these!!) was quite interesting - thank goodness Jeff was driving!!
And, finally, at the top, these beautiful snow-topped trees!! We also saw some folks having snowballs fights - take advantage of the short window of opportunity before the snow melts.....in a day or so!
Enjoy!
