Walking in the woods has been a lifelong pleasure. Taking a trail through trees always evokes a sense of adventure. Better yet, leaving the trail to wander at leisure through the many patches of aspen on the western slopes of Steens Mountain. Autumn colors, unique trunk shapes, irregular black scars on white bark--these trees even have eyes! Sometimes the encrypted scar messages turn out to be crusted names of former shepherds who travelled the same watershed with their flocks.
These drawings come from many such wanderings. Experimenting in my studio with varied types of graphite and erasers (wine cork?) was also a joy. Something akin to a child playing in a sandbox. Drawings are often made as a prelude to painting. These were done for their own sake.
