The story behind the artwork

When you find yourself deep inside a slot canyon, you can't help but feel as if you've fallen in a large womb. It's small and dark and ultimately feminine. Even the earthy scent from trapped water and silty mud give you the sensation that you are in the womb of mother nature herself incarnate. The shapes around you are smooth and undulating, like walls of flesh, rippling on and on ahead of you, and are simply undeniably sexy. In fact there's one slot canyon within the Colorado Plateau know as Mae West, it is just that riddled with hourglass curves. Mystery is an aptly named slot canyon in Zion National Park. It's not the most secret or difficult, but it has a darkness in places, and a temperament unmistakably womanly. As a woman I felt a strange familiarity within her walls, and as some reference photos may reveal, an intimacy shared in her details. To serve her justice I wanted to paint a tribute to this sensation of mystery.

These are original reference photos I took while in Mystery Canyon. The one on the far right is the one that I worked with most.

These are from my sketch book. I start with tiny thumbnail studies like the first two images below. I draw lots of them and quickly, and just try to see the image in black and white in a very simple way. This breaks the photograph down to it’s basic compositional elements.

mystery
acrylic on canvas
24x24"

Additional Links:

My blog with photos about my Mystery Canyon adventure.

Mystery, a poem by Bonnie Kelso

More about Zion National Park.