As a child I spent my summers in Canada traveling the roads of southern Ontario, with my mother at the wheel of our impala convertible I would squint my eyes through my wind blown hair to document the growth on the passing rows of vegetables and flowers. This is my first memory of observing the beauty of nature.
We lived on Lake Erie. As one of the Great Lakes, it more resembles an ocean in its changing waves and light. Its estuary was the wetlands where cattails lined banks swaying in the wind. It was here I grew to love the water and all it nutured.
I went to college in Boulder, Colorado crossing the Mississippi for the first time. I picked my sorority because the house we lived in had the best views of the Flat Irons that welcomed you to the Rockies. That great wall acted as a canvas capturing the palette created by the sun.
After I married, my husband and children Bradley and Damion Alexander moved to Telluride Colorado driving cross country through miles of farm land actually crossing the Rocky Mountains. I soaked in the vast variety of landscapes that constitute this beauutiful country.
It was in Telluride I first began to sketch landscapes. When we would drive to Montrose across the Dallas Divide, the splendor was breathtaking and I had to try to capture it in line if not color.
In the sixteen years I lived in that beautiful mountain town I extensively traveled by car the four corner states of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah.
In the early years my children took most of my time, but as they grew I found sketching the passing landscapes offered me great peace of mind and connection to the land.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
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