Wednesday, January 23, 2008


Wukoki Tower

Watercolor on archival paper, 7" x 5"
$125.00 + $6.00 shipping in US.
Available for purchase starting 01/23/08, 12 noon PST

I loved exploring the high plateau country of northern Arizona. Wukoki Ruin is about 30 miles north of Flagstaff. It is settled amidst a vast, undulating plain cut by meandering dry washes. Built sometime in the 12th century by ancestral Puebloan people, the stone and mud walls look more grown than constructed-rising up out of a base of huge natural sandstone boulders. What an amazing place.

7 comments:

Suzanne McDermott said...

This could be a family portrait. There's something sacred about this composition... maybe it's the viewpoint.

gypsy said...

this one is beautiful...

Don Gray said...

Thanks, Suzanne. I'm pleased that the painting evokes those thoughts.

Don Gray said...

d sinner!!!--thanks!!!

Nader Shenouda said...

Very nice view, I agree

Nader Shenouda said...

Oh btw could I ask, what's a "gessoed" hardboard ?

Don Gray said...

Thanks, Doudy. True gesso was commonly used by artists of the Renaissance era as a ground, or basecoat for the wood panels they painted on. It is a mixture of chalk or whiting and an animal hide glue, usually rabbitskin.

The "gesso" usually used today is a high-grade flat acrylic paint. It is used for the same purpose, as a ground for painting on. Hardboard is made up of finely granulated wood fibers pressed under great pressure into panels, usually 1/8" or 1/4" thick. Masonite is a well-known brand name.