Eight Annual Exhibit

SUN SHADOW ICE & SNOW
seasons along the panhandle trail

featured artwork

“Paths I Have Walked”

featuring art, photography and poetry of and about the Panhandle Trail

plus paintings & sketches from prior exhibits
prints of paintings and photos
handmade gift items inspired by the trail

Opening Friday August 26, 2022 5:00 P.M.
through Saturday August 27 11:00 P.M.

Panhandle Trail Quarry Area as part of Rock The Quarry

For more information about the event please visit www.panhandletrail.org.

 

I didn’t create a new painting this year, but I’ve chosen one from a few years ago that I’ve decided to feature this year because it’s very special to me. I also have many photos from the trail itself, and some images from other areas around the trail. In addition I’ll have paintings and sketches from previous exhibits, prints of photos and paintings, and new handmade gift items featuring my art and photography of the trail: keepsake boxes, decorative trays, cabochon pendants, suncatchers, votives, garden flags, gift bags and coasters, and who knows what else.

Paintings in Seasons Along the Panhandle Trail

Paths I Have Walked, pastel on illustration board, 16 x 28

I painted this image for my 2016 exhibit on the trail. I’ve never done a self-portrait of any sort. At my first Panhandle Trail exhibit in 2014 I set the standard for exhibits to follow by walking through the woods to Robinson Run to get water for my big enamel cooking pot and walking back gathering wildflowers for my display. Because I have so few photos of me and find I both like to see them and need to use them in promotions, I asked a friend to photograph me in this activity after the show. They quickly became some of my favorite photos, and I’d always wanted to do a painting or two from them. I have never been the subject of one of my paintings, but kept visualizing this painting, especially when I had come into a really beautiful vintage frame that would be perfect for my idea. I added touches of different gold finishes to the details of the frame and it all came together.

The very next year I felt the first twinges in my hip and by the end of the year I could barely get onto my bike. The next year I could barely walk the trails in what would become a hip replacement in 2019. I remembered the freedom of walking down to get the water and just to walk through the woods and hoped it hadn’t been taken away from me permanently. Then came Covid. I’m back to all my old activities, and this painting reminds me to be in the moment and love even the simplest things.

 

Emerging Spring, pastel on pastelmat, 13.5 x 19.5

I painted “Emerging Spring” last year after many years of trying to get the best reference photos in a difficult spot, one where I could have never set up an easel to paint. Click the image below to read more about this painting and how I prepared for painting it. The original is sold but I will have framed prints.

Social Isolation, pastel, 7 x 9, 2020

I painted “Social Isolation” in the woods in April 2020, the first painting I’d done in a couple of years while my hip was out of commission, and looking at that favorite spot, and feeling the beginning of the Covid shutdown, something about the light and the wandering path, and the trees, usually commingling, seemed isolated from each other, distanced across the path from each other singly or in their own groups, the uncertain destination, as we were at that time. Click the image to see the painting and read more. The original is sold but I will have framed prints.

Photography in Seasons Along the Panhandle Trail

I have some interesting views on common scenes, including a walk through the spring woods, typically full of emergent color and shape, in black and white film. My DSLR needed a repair but I couldn’t get it done right then. I pulled out my old Pentax K1000 fully manual film camera and a roll of black and white someone had given me. I saw completely different things in the flora than I’ve ever seen before, and the feeling was completely different.

Poetry and Prose in Seasons Along the Panhandle Trail

I’ll also have my folio of poetry, all of which was inspired by, and much written on the trail. Here are a few lines of the featured poem as an example:

Wild Apples

Time spent in nature gives the the freedom to expand my thoughts, touching all my senses and leading me to a greater, deeper, even new understanding of myself and my world. Poetry is a perfect way to express that.

Published Articles

Also, each of my paintings and photos have a story of how they came to be. I found a magazine that was happy to publish not only the essay about “The Rope Swing”, but to publish the art as well, in 2019, then in 2020 they published an essay about “Running Through the Woods”. I’ll have that with me, and several copies you can purchase.

 

I’ve been visiting the Panhandle Trail since 2002 with my bike and on foot, for exercise and inspiration, more inspiration than exercise, packing in with backpacks of camera equipment and art supplies. I’ve taken thousands of photos along the trail and off in the woods, but I’ve also done a number of sketches while there in pencil, charcoal, pastel and watercolor, and arriving home in my studio to do more from photos. I’ve collected a number of these for an exhibit, but not in a gallery—right on the trail, where I’ve spent so much time and found these inspirations. It’s the place where I found the scene of one of my favorite paintings, “Dusk in the Woods”.

From the very first show it’s been one of my best and one of my favorites. Most of all I love to get the chance to talk to others who love their trail and share with them both the familiar places and the extraordinary moments.

I will still offer all my handmade goods along with prints…

 

Panhandle Trail Photography from Previous Exhibits

The following five photos were features in this year’s exhibit, all taken on the morning of March 10, 2017. To visit the page to purchase a photo, click the image.

Dramatic Light

When I reached the trail that day the sun was just beginning to break through small holes in the the clouds that cast beams of sunlight like spotlights. I knew I wanted a photo of an icy, snowy tree completely alight against the deep gray clouds of the storm as they left the area. The photo above was from the very beginning, as soon as I arrived at the trail and I saw the sun moving over the trees, changing every moment. I just began photographing, zooming in and out, capturing different lighting. Everyone who saw the photo recognized the bridge as the very first one on the trail and knew exactly where I’d taken the photo.

Though “Dramatic Light” was my first love from that magical morning, there was another photo I wanted to capture just as much. As I drove to the trail I looked at all the tree-covered hills that looked as if they were frosted with powdered sugar. I did photograph a few of the hills, but I knew that the steep hills surrounding the valley where the trail and Robinson Run were would be even more dramatic, and when I arrived, as soon as I’d photographed “Dramatic Light”, I turned to the hill on the left and it did not disappoint. The sun moved like a spotlight over the hill and I did capture several where one treetop of many was highlighted. But it was when a quick flash of hazy sun through thinning clouds touched the hillside that I saw what I’d envisioned: treetops frosted with white to fill the frame. As I organized my exhibit “Frosted” quickly captured me and I decided to use that photo as my feature at the front of my tent.

Frosted

And here is the photo.

Both “Dramatic Light” and “Frosted” are matted with black core mats and framed with a 2.25″ matte black wood frame.

Photos always included in the exhibit

Clicking on any image in the gallery will bring up a full-size image, and you can also see the images in a slideshow. I know that some are missing from here because I decided at the last minute to include them.

Only a few of the images below are available on this site. Now that I know which ones are more popular at exhibits I will add them.

Original paintings

Running Through the Woods
16” x22”, pastel, $500

Other paintings and prints of paintings included in Seasons Along the Panhandle Trail

I’ll be previewing new works over the next few weeks. Clicking on any image in the gallery will bring up a full-size image, and you can also see the images in a slideshow (photos are below).

. . . . . . .

What’s the quarry? The Panhandle rail line, which was removed to built the trail in the old rail bed, runs right through a century-old limestone quarry, a portion of which is still actively quarried. The quarry ponds are there and that and the woods around make a natural gathering place.

I use this trail all the time, and part of my giveback is to maintain their website and the little bit of social networking that we do, along with photographing things. I use to volunteer during the event, usually in the kitchen dishing out easy food, but this is much more fun.

For more information on the trail please visit www.panhandletrail.org.

Other pages for Seasons Along the Panhandle Trail exhibits:

2014 Exhibit

2015 Exhibit

2016 Exhibit

2017 Exhibit

2018 Exhibit

2019 Exhibit

Seasons Along the Panhandle Trail, All Photos

Seasons Along the Panhandle Trail, All Paintings

Other items with the same art or design To find all items on this site with the same art or design, use the search box for the name of the artwork and you'll find all that's available.

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