Alabama Hills

Alabama Hills, mixed media on board, 12”x12”

There is a plenty of painting, cutting and gluing happening these days in San Francisco.  All in preparation for my Collagescape show opening in August.  I did have time for a quick and inspirational trip to the other side of the Sierra.  My mom and I spent a wintery afternoon in the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, California. 

Here is the latest piece, this one inspired by those big gray rocks.  The grays are really quite complicated and full of hundreds of shades of browns, blues, reds, golds, etc.  Mix in the dry grass and sagebrush with looming, snow-covered Mount Whitney, and you have it. 

If you haven’t seen the Alabama Hills in person, you most likely have seen them on film.  Since the 1950’s the Alabama Hills have been the filming location for over 150 movies (mostly westerns) and numerous television shows and commercials.  It wasn’t planned, but the grays in this collagescape also resulted in a bit of silver tone palette – an appropriate homage to the many old movies shot up in the hills.