News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters artist Dan Rickards is on a mission to paint the National Parks of the United States. One of those paintings, of Redwood National Park, is the subject of his annual print giveaway scheduled for Saturday, October 11.
The project is a kind of life-transition for the artist, who has gained an international reputation for his Western landscape and wildlife art. His children are grown and on their own, and he and his wife, Julia, have the opportunity to hitch up the trailer and travel to new places of beauty for Dan's work. It's also a way of reconnecting with his family heritage of art and the outdoors.
"My dad was always the one who took us out camping," Rickards recalled. "My mom was the one who set us up with the arts and crafts around the table."
Redwood National Park is the second park Dan and Julia have visited together, the second to be painted. They rolled down the California coast in that trailer.
"We call it our Empty Nester," Dan said. "We parked it in Mill Creek Campground."
The trees are astounding, even to an artist who has spent his career in the wild places.
"When you realize a tree is 15 feet across - it's hard to get your head around that," Rickards said.
The redwoods reach 360 feet in height, and the oldest are some 700 years old.
Dan and Julia walked along a dry riverbed as the sun was breaking through an early morning mist.
"That's kind of what I'm painting," Dan said.
The painting - as all the National Park paintings will be - is large: 40 by 48 inches.
"I'm trying to do the paintings a little bit large... so it'll feel like you're looking out the window at something," he said.
It takes three to five weeks to complete a painting.
"I've been spending 18 hours a day on it lately," the artist said.
Rickards hopes his series will inspire families to get out and experience the parks, to disconnect for a moment from the wonders of a technological world and explore older, quieter, yet perhaps more profound wonders of the natural world.
To get the project done, Rickards will have to paint two or three parks a year, which means he's got a lot of painting to do - and a lot of miles to put on The Empty Nester.
Crater Lake is the next subject. It'll be a winter scene - perfect for a Christmas release.
Doors open at Clearwater Gallery at 10 p.m. on Saturday, October 11. The first 150 people will receive a complimentary fine art print. Rickards said that people start lining up about an hour in advance.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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