PAINTING TREES AT THE BLACK CANYON OF THE GUNNISON NATIONAL PARK

    This fall I will be going to Zion National Park for the first time to paint.

   I was invited to join a group of artists to paint in the Milford Zornes Paint Out. This event

   is generously supported by The Thunderbird Foundation for the Arts. They are the group

   responsible for restoring the Maynard Dixon Home & Studio in Mt. Carmel, Utah. I look

   forward to painting together in October.

   In November I will be painting in the Zion National Park Plein Air Art Invitational. I am 

   pleased that the proceeds from the event will benefit the Zion National Park Foundation

   and will support the educational programs that take place in the park.

   The focus of my work is the tree in the landscape. I went looking for Utah Juniper Trees.

   With the help of Park Ranger Paul Zaenger I found Everyone's Favorite Tree at 
   Dragon Point in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. I keep returning 
   to this spot to paint because it has a great variety of very old Juniper trees 

Everyone's Favorite Tree

Utah Juniper

This tree in Colorado is native to the Intermountain West but the Utah juniper is often confused with the Rocky Mountain Juniper because they appear to be very similar. These two conifer trees differ in the following ways: 1) The needles on the Utah juniper are yellow-green and the Rocky Mountain has gray-green foliage; 2) On the Utah juniper the bark is gray and on Rocky Mountain the bark is reddish-brown: 3) Utah juniper usually has male and female flowers on the same tree, whereas on Rocky Mountain juniper the male and female flowers are found on different trees.

The Old Utah Juniper

Dragon Point

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

www.nps.gov.blca

www.thunderbirdfoundation.org
www.zionpark.org