Painting the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument

We will be traveling the incredible scenic backroads of Utah for the next three days as I explore and paint the geologic wonders of the Grand Staircase. I will be traveling with two noted geology professors, Robert L. Eves from Southern Utah University and Larry Davis from the College of St. Benedict, St. Johns University as they work on a research project. My job is to tag along, try to learn something, and paint what I see. I kind of envision myself in the role of artist Frederick Dellenbaugh accompanying John Wesley Powell on his early explorations, but I think I might be over-glamorizing things a bit, since we will spend our nights in motels. Anyway, I am excited to get to go exploring in the land that I dearly love with like-minded individuals. Hopefully I can post some of my sketches soon. We will start near Kanab in Johnson Canyon, head north to Bryce Canyon area, and end at Escalante, covering over 275 million years of geologic history in a few days. Amazing!

This awesome illustration by Dick Beasley shows the grand staircase from the Grand Canyon to Bryce. 275 million years of geologic history are laid bare for the visitor to see.