Anasazi Ruins, Canon del Muerto. 40 x 60.

You may see these ruins from the Mummy Cave overlook if you get out to
Chinle, Arizona. At the Grand Canyon, the various layers of the canyon
walls project outward in tiers, so that the overall angle from the rim
to the bed of the Colorado River five thousand feet below is about 45
degrees. There are exceptions, of course, but to paint that canyon,
some part of the near rim seems essential to give the viewer a feeling
one has looking into the canyon. Although Canons de Chelly and del
Muerto are not more than a half mile wide and one thousand feet deep,
their sides are one sheer stratum of cross-grained sandstone. From
the lip of the rim there is nothing until the flat floor of the wash.
Thus I have restricted the foreground in this painting and let the
main view cover the far side of the canyon. The horizon is above the
canvas. The cross-bedding in the warm sandstone, curved alcoves and
arched spalls, streaked with manganese and iron oxide drapery, create
one of the most dramatic and sensuous displays of natural rock I have
ever seen.

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