Take a Hike! — National Park ATCs

There is a great deal of expectation for artists to respond to the lunatic and his cronies that have occupied our White House.  As an artist I feel compelled to respond and yet I am torn.  I rather not let such negative energy into my art space. I want to make pleasant art and let my head escape to the national parks I love.  It is remarkable that something as innocuous as National Park-themed ATC’s could be perceived as something political. But these are remarkable times when our federal lands, lands protected for future generations, are under siege.   Even the voices of park rangers are being censored. Today’s outgoing mail art includes artist trading cards with the “radical” notion that the land administered by the National Park Service is to be loved and protected.

Yellowstone Collagescape

Yellowstone September, mixed media on board, 12”x12”

Yellowstone National park has been in the news lately.  Last week was the anniversary of the founding of our first national park.  And then there was this sensational and misleading story that was making the rounds online – yes, Yellowstone is a volcanic caldera, but no, it’s not about to blow in a cataclysmic eruption.  The Discovery Channel probably doesn’t help matters.  All this Yellowstone talk reminded me that I have not been back in 8 years.  Yellowstone makes a good long road trip from San Francisco.  It helps f you have the time to take a few days getting there and back with a lot of stops. 

The last time I visited Yellowstone it was a September.  The grass was golden and brown and the leaves were yellow.  The park was near empty, warm during the day and freezing at night.  The yellows and gold contrasting with the “unnatural” looking blues, or maybe unusual blues, of the hot springs and geysers.  There were some of the colors that inspired this latest piece for the Collagescape Series. Not to forget those big, brown bison at every turn.

Yellowstone September will be shown in my Collagescape exhibit opening in August.  In the meantime, prints and additional items with this image are also available from Society 6.

Happy Birthday Yellowstone

America's first national park, Yellowstone National Park is 142 years old today.  An amazing place and one of the many parks that inspires my work.  The image above are two of the handmade Yellowstone postcards included in a series of postcard booklets created in 2009.  More national park inspired work can be seen at tofuart.com