Friday, October 10, 2014

Today we ventured into Arches National Park again, a little earlier, to find some different sunset vistas.  The sky was trying to provide some backdrop drama and we did capture some arches, but I think we need to try again another day.

Sand Dune Arch was just a short walk (.4 miles round trip) from the parking lot.  It was hidden in among the fins.

David is standing under Sand Dune Arch to help with perspective.

Broken Arch was a bit of a hike (1.2 miles round trip), so I just did a quick zoom with the camera.  we were losing our light fast so we will do the hike on another day 

Skyline Arch was right along the side of the road.

Long shadows fall across Salt Valley at sunset.

Fiery Furnace Overlook is a very short walk from the parking lot.

Fiery Furnace is named for the warm glow seen on the rocks at sunset.  It is actually a maze of cool, shady canyons between towering sandstone walls.

At Balanced Rock (viewed from the rise across the road)...

...we watched the sun slip behind the horizon.

After the sun set, we headed back into Moab to check on the Plein Air artwork and to wander the little shops along Main Street.  All of the artwork was on display at the Moab Arts and Recreation Center, a renovated church constructed in 1925.  Through the window below was the wall where the Moab Quick Draw 2014 entries were displayed.  On the opposite wall were the entries in a Quick Draw competition at a winery a few days before.  

Yesterday's post included a picture over the shoulder of the artist painting this 1st place winner.  We have to agree, his work was very nice indeed!

Paul Bergquist captured the light so well (I don't mean the stop light!)  It was marked "Sold" (priced at $450).

Another of our favorites in the Quick Draw was this work by Wanda Mumm.  I watched her working on the painting below and think her entry should have been one of the finalists.  In addition to the Quick Draw competitions, all of the artists works for the week were judged and the Best of the Best were on display.  Wanda had many other works on display which were some of our favorites.

Wanda Mumm was my favorite artist, by far.  This could be mine for $575.

So often, when a painting drew me in, it was signed by Wanda Mumm.

I really liked this oil by Paul Bergquist.

In the shops on Main Street, we found a lot of unusual and unique treasures.  The textures and colors in the polished dinosaur bone below was fascinating.

I had no idea petrified bone was so beautiful.  One side of the bone was highly polished...

...and the other side was left alone.

I'm not sure how this piece could be used, but it looks incredible.

The most prominent feature of this storefront was its OPEN sign, yet it was never open.

In one of the photography galleries, Joani just had to snap a picture of an aerial photo of the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers (the Colorado is obviously the muddy brown one).

Photograph by Tom Till

It was almost too dark to see, but Joani's camera did a nice job of capturing Kokopelli riding a mountain bike.  We learned a few days earlier, from Ranger Glenn in Arches, that Kokopelli was prominently featured in a lot of the primitive rock art in the area.  Now he can be seen everywhere, (although, he is usually blowing into a flute.)

Moab's two iconic symbols, Kokopelli and mountain bikes, merge.