Initially, I got the idea about making a mini journal to use when hiking or riding down the trails. For those of us who enjoy these activities, sometimes you can just get such a rush of feelings while out in country, you just want to write it down! I thought, why not make a small journal that can be put into a zip-lock bag but make it with an original watercolor pencil painting and theme it with corresponding natural beads/stones. Each of these journals has a theme as to selection of animal, background and beading.
For this journal, my theme is the feral mustangs on the north desert Nevada range. One day, I hope to see the Mustangs in this natural habitat, running the range where abandoned gold and silver mines keep them company. The background represents the mountain ranges typical of that area. The stones I selected to compliment the painting are turquoise and sterling silver beads, because of natural turquoise and silver mined in Nevada. The natural turquoise beads are from the Fox mine area in western Nevada. I am a turquoise nut, ahem, I mean collector and I try to choose southwest USA mined beads in my functional art creations (as best as from the source of info I can gather).
I know that I'm going to sound like a broken record here but when I saw the Grand Canyon south rim for my first visit this spring, I was so inspired!! I took tons of pics but I really need to go back and take more, for painting references you understand! LOL! I loved being there and lucked out and hired a semi private guide who was helpful in talking about the wildlife in the canyon. Elk are predominant on the south rim, and while we were there, I saw some elk scat (manure) pile really close part of the canyon trail edge. So this painting is my attempt to try to catch some semblance of the beauty of what is the Grand Canyon and one of the natural wildlife species that walks the trails as its home! I had a tough time choosing beads to match the theme of my painting, as I was looking for natural gemstones/minerals of the Grand Canyon or Arizona that would be small enough and affordable to use. After some research I came across info of the Arizona fire opals but didn't find the sizes needed available. What I did find, and decided to use was the Mexican fire opal beads as a close second choice . The colors and "fire" match those of the Grand Canyon walls. The other beads are antiqued copper beads, as there is some copper found in the GC, and I thought antiqued copper would represent the ancient history of the wonderful canyon. To the Grand Canyon I say, "I'll be back!"
How can I call myself a southwest wildlife artist if I don't include at least one painting of a buffalo! This painting idea came from my goal of one day visiting Yellowstone National Park and seeing the natural buffalo that freely roam among the geysers. While gathering my reference materials for the painting, I was blown away by how painters of buffalo seem to portray the great beast with such reverence and presence. I like to think my painted buffalo here is small but mighty!! Now what turned out to be a real gem for me was in my research for a natural gemstone of Yellowstone river area I found Montana Agates. And was lucky enough to find a source of the Montana Agate in the bead size I could use from a natural stone cabber in Montana. The natural Montana agate beads are flanked by copper beads to reference the copper mining around that area. I really like the beads a lot!
So there they are, completed and they turned out just as nice as I had hoped! It was quite a journey getting these small journals finished, a lot of reflection in the time they took. They will be up for sale in my Artfire and Etsy stores soon. Thanks for visiting and happy travels!
