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This blog is a work in progress for a show later in the year.  I have been so concerned about the border walls that are proposed through one of the most spectacular areas of Texas - perhaps of the entire United States.  So these paintings are of Big Bend National Park.  On once very special visit I found myself at the Chisos Basin during a snow storm.  It was late in the year for such a thing and the flakes when they fell were so large that you could year them hit where they landed.  It had been raining n Teralingua and Study Butte, but as I drove to the summit of the Chisos Basin the rain become snow. 

A dusting of snow covered everything. Hanging on the cactus needles and every branch.  The air was filled with the sound of falling snow.  It  was indeed a very special viewing to this harsh landscape that rarely sees moisture.

The snow obscured the rocky, volcanic, extruded background and accented the vegetation in front of the rising terrain like veil.

Ive never again found this phenomenon while at Big Bend.  

Moving  into the lower valley, the Chihuahuan Dessert quickly returned to spring green and gold as the snow melted away and evidence  of  the usual spring reappeared.  Untouched for the most part this incredible landscape is a wonder to behold.  It can change in an instant during a storm or as the sun passes across the sky and plays with the shadows.  I cannot imagine building a wall through this vast area between the US and Mexico.  

The temperature difference between Chisos Basin and the Rio Grande is usually about 10 degrees.  It is one of the most monumental  views of the 1500 foot rift between the US side and Mexico.  The earth has been eroded away for a millennium by the river as is carries it's silt downriver.  Santa Elena Canyon -  a favorite place to start a weeks worth of painting with its dramatic shadows and towering cliffs.  

There is nothing more inspirational than to take a ride through a generations held piece of Texas.  Here and there are always remanemts of past generations that have toiled on the land.  An old barn that is still standing with many repairs full of pieces and parts of a generation past.  Heavy machinery that has long passed its usefulness and has not been discarded but just moved aside.

Not his is more important to ranching than the tractor.  It's an incredible invention, replacing the team of horses with the power of many men.  They are precious possessions and when their life span is over rarely are they totally discarded.  Left to weather in the fields near where they once served.  The are sculptures of gears, levers and spokes.  

San Miguel Allende, Mexico is a world heritage site.  It consists of early Colonial architecture, breathtaking Cathedrals , vibrant colored walls and buildings and a fascinating assortment of indiginious cultures all celebrating festival after festival.  Inside of the high walls there are one gardens which rival any I have ever seen anywhere.  My friend who has lived there for 22 years has lavished years of work on her garden.Above a steel two story arcade there is Jasmine, Wisteria, roses of several kinds all surrounded with banana trees, lemon trees, lavender and her collection of cactus and succulents. 

These banana trees originated in the garden of her uncle in San Diego California years ago.  There have traveled to several different places.  I think they are the most happy in San Miguel as anywhere they have been.  Up high they were loaded with bananas but down in their shade near the ground they palm fronds were cascading to the ground.  Spring green was everywhere especially with the high altitude light filtered through the plants behind.  

Having tried unsuccessfully to grow lavender, I am duly impressed with anyone who can grow it.  This large wandering patch of free flowing lavender has chosen to grow under and around a lemon tree that had so many lemons on it it was impossible to keep up with picking them all up.  

Taking a walk outside of my friends walls there is  lavender and purple blossoming trees that drop to  the street like purple snow.  If one word has to be used to describe this area it would have to be COLOR. It is a stunningly beautiful location of cobbled streets and smiling people.