Two very different sections of the park hold beautiful rock formations filled with various hues. Fire Wave Trail in Valley of Fire State park is one of my favorites. The trail starts and leads the hiker through the desert, around rock cliffs, and opens up on to an amazing trail with striped rocks. The mounds, boulders, and hills leading up to the wave are lovely on their own and I could have spent hours photographing or sketching them. The wildflowers and cacti are endless during spring and the colors illuminate their surroundings. My husband, dog, and I like to run this trail and go over the wave and into the wash. Here is where I found this lovely little nook to sit and marvel at. The rocks were huddled in the small space and reminded me of the gold rush when everyone was hustling to find gold. To me, this is my gold. Rocks and nature speak to me and this painting is titled, “Golden.” I tried to capture the colors of the day in the park with high sun and a little overcast. This blog is titled “Perspective” because my newest painting on the Rock Formations from this park is from a totally different area.
Even with both paintings being from different parts of the park, I really love how they go together. They look wonderful side by side. The second one, and newest one, “Rock Formations of Valley of Fire,” is from the Arches campground site. We were amazed at how many huecos and outcroppings there were in such a small camping area. We had always wanted to camp at Arches but these spots are taken most of the time. We lucked out on this recent trip and found a spot overlapped in time. We had one glorious night through high winds and sunshine. This was our first camping trip with the baby and she used the tent like her personal bounce house having the time of her life. Between her enjoyment, laughter, and smiles, there seemed to be nothing close to this amazing experience. Then, we walked around and found beautiful rocks that she also loved with just as much excitement! I hope this blog finds you well and that you have a lovely weekend. What do you think of these two paintings together? Thank you for reading!
-Karen Hilliard