Saturday, February 1, 2014

Tahquitz

                                                          watermedia on Yupo 26x20

Downtown Palm Springs is flanked by the massive Mt. San Jacinto. At the base, clearly visible from anywhere in the city, a canyon opens into the mountain like a mouth. It beckons to anyone curious. When I was a Californian I really wanted in there, but it was owned by the Agua Caliente Cahuilla tribe and was off limits. Around 2000 they built a visitor center and opened it up. I found this out planning my little trip. It was the first place we went and I knew quickly it was worth the wait. The twisting sycamore trees along the creek where ghostly white with last autumn`s red leaves still attached and they were spectacular! Now California is in a serious drought so when we reached the falls, the flow was more of a trickle which gave emphasis to the fragility of this landscape and made it a tender scene. It also allowed for close observation of the cliffs which were sculpted and smooth from centuries of runoff. It was cool, dark, quiet and breathtakingly beautiful. Western Oregon is full of amazing waterfalls, I love them. This was altogether different, this was like a temple.


available work

2 comments:

Melody Cleary said...

This is fabulous - is that rock sitting on a crevice...that dark space at the bottom? Just a wonderful rendering of depth, Randall.

RH Carpenter said...

I love love love this!