Not the worst setup :)
This was an interesting Arts in the Parks session. Most of the morning was quiet. Hannah was my only taker for a while but it's about quality not quantity and LOOK AT HER QUALITY PAINTING! I'm so proud. At the end of the day she realized that if she opened the map up her painting exactly matched up to the original mountain line of the old map we were using as canvases! So exciting to see how things can align like that in art and in life.
Hannah painted Big Bend on a GUMO map to display the road trip from park to park!
THAT ALIGNMENT!!
Ya know, painting a shoe.
I spent my morning continuing to paint on an old Adidas shoe that had been left behind at the Pine Springs Campground trailhead. I was so inspired by the sky on the night of Jenny's poetry reading that I decided to paint it! Just something about that dusty periwinkle!
The focus!
Throughout the morning I attempted to encourage visitors to sit down and paint, but there was a weird vibe in the air. Nobody was even biting or curious about the idea of eco art. I hope to always be encouraging but I totally understand that art can be intimidating. It just makes me so sad when people are physically afraid to even try. You've got nothing to lose! There is more to art than realistic painting!
There was actually one point in the day around noon (when I usually pick up) where this large group of hikers physically sat away from the picnic tables (you can kind of see in the photo to the right) to avoid making art. WAH. But I finally reeled one man in who was inspired by his alma mater to make some hook em' horns over an old map.
Finished product!
My painting KWEEN
Hannah later noticed how beautiful her palate was when she held it up against the foliage and the light shone through. THAT IS THE EYE OF AN ECO ARTIST! Also, I loved how she said hell to the paint brushes and used her fingers to get the smoothness she wanted when she was painting! YAS KWEEN ----->
We ended up striking a conversation with a few of the members of the large group, one of which used to be the Superintendent of the Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns! We were painting amongst royalty! Eventually the group got up to head back with the older Superintendent trailing behind. A few minutes later we hear him holler to us, "girls, I need a hand." So I walk up to him thinking he needed assistance getting to the parking lot, but instead I find him keeled over requesting an EMT!! So I grab the radio (thank god I had one!!) and call the visitors center to get the law enforcement rangers over here. JESUS I was shaking but trying my hardest to remain calm. Luckily Eli (the ranger) was able to come to the scene in minutes and they took the man off in a stretcher to Carlsbad. About an hour later Eli came by to pick up his stuff and told Hannah and I that we had saved a life. HOW lucky there was someone at Frijole that day AND that he didn't have a heart attack on the trail. THANK GOODNESS he was okay! Feeling super motivated to get my Wilderness First Responder re-certification. I need to better prepare myself for situations like this!
The process of making art can be the art itself :)