Rocks in his Head...

 

... that is what some people say about me

I have to admit it is true. 

Today for example, we stopped by the White Mountain Museum and Gallery in North Conway NH. Among the extensive display of White Mountain art, I was particularly struck by the painting above by Byran Carr. It is a large painting (24" x 30") of Champney Falls along the nearby Kancamagus Highway. The falls themselves are named after local artist Benjamin Champney whose works can also be seen (and purchased) in the gallery. 

I was struck by the color and modeling of the rocks, the amazing patterns of dappled light, and the animated sense of the water as it drizzles over the stone. 

FMI see this link to the museum and gallery here. 

While I was there, I talked with gallery owner Paul Mayer a lot about rocks, including ochre villages and flumed waterside stone quarries in France and artist Eric Koeppel's (another local artist) mountain sculpting glacier painting with a view of Mount Washington, complete with a paleontologically accurate mastodon skeleton and evidence of ancient indigenous life. 

 

The painting is called “Dawn of the Holocene” and depicts his vision of Mt. Washington 12 to 13 thousand years ago when it was emerging from the glacier. On his Facebook page, Koeppel writes that the scene comes from much geological discussion with experts and has an element of moving through time as the viewer moves through space. The painting is 56" x 102." While this painting is now in a private collection, there are a number of Erik's paintings for sale in the gallery.

We also went to an exhibit opening at the Bartlett NH Historical Society which commemorates the 200th anniversary of the infamous Willey slide in nearby Crawford Notch in which rocks killed a family but spared their home which later became a tourist attraction. FMI see this link to the museum here and my previous blog about the art of the event here. 

I will be presenting a program on the Willey slide on August 19th at the Conway Public Library. 

I hope to see you there and I can put rocks in your head too.