The Big Bend National and State Parks are treasures that are largely unvisited. They are remote with few amenities that people find necessary for comfortable vacations. Conditions are hot by day, cold at night with some of the darkest skies in the lower 48 states. It frightens some people because there are only moon and stars for light and the sounds of nature. That is exactly why you might want to explore the thousand square miles of parkland for yourself. There is no other place where you can hear the Dagger Yuccas whisper in the breeze.
Staying with the darkness for one more post. This image is a riff on work done by West Coast artists such as Ed Ruscha. Long lines and exaggerated perspective appeals to me. Having been born and raised at least part of the time in the American West, I tend to see landscapes with a certain color, sweep and depth. The result of saturated golden hour hues from dust in the atmosphere and deep blue high altitude light. It became imprinted in my perception as a child. That is my story anyway. Regardless of where I live I can close my eyes and see the Wasatch range topped with snow and glowing in golden light.
This is the first in a series of retro styled postcards I’m producing featuring imagery from the Texas Big Bend region. I remember seeing postcards like this with scenes of the Southwest as a kid. It is something that was echoed in the actual landscape of the Western US. My eyes were trained by that landscape to see near or far but not middle distance.
Another influence for my postcards is the work of Ed Ruscha. His highly graphic designs using bright colors, sweeping lines and text has always appealed to me. In particular his use of text to overlay graphics and photorealistic images is very interesting.
These postcards are not copies of an existing style and do not emulate the work of any artist. They are inspired by commercial art, advertising and fine art but the synthesis of ideas for the works is down to me. All the postcards will derive from photographic images modified to get the look and feel I’m after. For instance they will have linen like texture as seen in old postcards and reduced color palettes which will limit detail. All will combine text and images.
The individual postcards will be released as free calendars as they are created. Once completed they will be available for sale as a printed set of postcards. As you might imagine a considerable amount of time and effort is required to produce this work.
