Autumn Sky

We've kayaked to and painted this location many times and each time the scene is different.

The division of light and shade is always interesting when on the water, it is a unique interplay of reflections and shapes. As the sky changes so does the water, the cloud cover and the time of day all influence the subject and present an ever changing play of light and shadow.  And as we move from season to season the transformations become even more dramatic.

There is a beauty and complexity in the simple subject of earth, sky and water that will never cease to inspire me.  There is nothing ordinary or boring in nature if you take the time to look deep into your subject.

“It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.”― Henry David Thoreau

Jim Serrett, Autumn Sky Over Cedar Lake, oil on panel, 7 x 9 in.

Explore - Question - Learn - - Enjoy, Jim

"...in Wildness is the preservation of the world." - Henry David Thoreau

Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska

Sketch of Mt. Denali from Eielson visitor center  

This month friends of ours in Alaska invited Linda and I up for a grand Alaska adventure. This was a truly unprecedented opportunity to see the real Alaska with good friends from a unique perspective, they had won the Denali Road Lottery. Each September the Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska hosts a four-day event called the "Road Lottery." During these four days, winners of the lottery drawing are given a rare day-long permit, allowing winners to drive personal vehicles the length of the 92-mile Denali Park Road. Routine travel in the park with private autos is prohibited and with exception of the Road Lottery visitors must use buses operated by a concessionaire to travel the park.

We started our grand Alaska adventure by visiting and hiking the Matanuska Glacier and jumping on the Denali Highway for a 135 mile journey along some of the most pristine and wild country anyone could image. Denali Highway is lightly traveled, mostly gravel road with a posted speed limit of 30 mph and is just a spectacular drive. Traveling this you get a real feel for the wildness and immensity of Alaska, and ending at Denali National Park you're treated to “the Great One” Mount Denali.

A place to remind you of the vastness and grandeur in nature and take you on a transcendent journey into the sublime.

Mount Denali photographed at Reflection Pond in the Wonder Lake

area within Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska (9/15/13). 

 "...in Wildness is the preservation of the world."

                                                                                                  --- Henry David Thoreau

Explore - Question - Learn - - Enjoy, Jim