Let me tell you about this painting I recently finished. This dizzying view is looking down Frijoles Canyon onto Tyuonyi Pueblo, in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico.
This is one of my favorite paintings that I’ve done recently. Every day, for almost 10 days, I couldn’t wait to sit down and lay some paint down.
What was it that got me so excited to work on this?
Well, for one, I love the area of the painting’s subject.
This is part of Bandelier National Monument, in New Mexico. This canyon cuts into the Pajarito Plateau, on the east slope of the Jemez Mountains, just west of Santa Fe.
The Jemez Mountains area is one of my favorite places to visit and paint. The beautiful green of Valles Caldera is flanked by rock mountains of orange, deep canyons, and shimmering steams. The Pajarito Plateau was formed by lava and ash from a prehistoric eruption of the Caldera.
In 2015, I hiked with my uncle over the plateau to the edge of the Frijoles Canyon. From there we could see some beautiful views! It was a great hike with a man I admire.
Bandelier is a 33000 acre area of wilderness and ruins. Trails run through the park, along the little stream, on the sides of cliffs, and over hills. The monument preserves the territory and some structures of a prehistoric Pueblo people.
The elliptical pattern at the bottom of the valley is the ruins of the Tyuonyi Pueblo. Each box-shape would have been a room, entered from the top. Other rooms were built on top to form a multi storied building, housing many families.
Each room was entered from the top with a ladder. The arrangement of “apartments” formed a circular structure, with only one entrance. These puebloans would have been well protected.
The larger hole in the ground is one of three kivas. Kivas were underground rooms used for religious, social, and political purposes.
These prehistoric pueblo people settled here around 1200, and built this particular structure around 1400. This date is well established through tree ring dating of the roof beams.
By the time the Spanish arrived in the 1500’s, Frijoles Canyon had been abandoned because of severe drought, and its people migrating to the Rio Grande valley.
I love history and archaeology, so I was really into this piece. I was also pumped about the composition and depth. I love painting the difference between far and near!
I thought about this scene for a long time. The view was so breathtaking, I didn’t think I could do it any justice. The landscape stretched out so far!
I decided to tackle it, so I bought a tall, narrow canvas. The shape of the canvas, I thought, would let me capture the depth of the canyon, and the distance of the plateau and neighboring mountains, while keeping the sides narrow, like a canyon wall.
Once I started, I was obsessed! I couldn’t wait to get in the studio and develop this piece.
And there you go! Now you know all about the making of this painting, “Above Frijoles Canyon”
You may remember I mentioned that the Jemez Mountains was my favorite place to paint. Below are a few other paintings of mine from the area. The last one is the same canyon, from almost the same place, but looking in the opposite direction!
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