Badlands Residency Day 31

April 21, 2012

I leave for home a week from this morning. Not something I wish to dwell upon, I'm trying to focus on the two return trips I already have planned. I'll be back through for around five days in June. In mid-August there will be an Astronomy Festival here that the park received a grant to put together. Should be pretty great with all the things planned. There will even be an astronaut around. I might be teaching some kind of astronomy art project as part of it. Planning to be here for a couple weeks. I'm sure there will be other visits as well, even school/art related trips. I'd love to come back and work with the kids in Interior again. When I get back home, I am going to begin work on a large project, putting together an art program for use in the national parks. Some parks are looking for a junior ranger style book for the arts, others wish to have a ranger led program, a senior program, or a self-led/teacher led program. My plan is to concoct something that is universal and multifaceted, usable for any art related purpose in the parks. If I can get far enough along with it by August, I might do some trials during my visit.

On to today's activities. Slept in, worked on some overdue blog posts, went through photographs. Then hiked Saddle Pass with Steven and Ed. Back to the quad where I finished matting and framing all the kids' paintings. Next I'm going to get as far as I can with designing a poster featuring thumbnails of all the students' work, to be hung in the visitor's center. I also have a couple paintings in progress that I want to get a little more paint down on. Much to do, but all good stuff. Also need some sleep; I might get up for a morning hike before getting ready for a possible day out at Palmer Creek.

Looking up at Saddle Pass.

On the hike up.

Looking back, halfway out.

Looking back, other direction.

Up at the top, Castle Trail ahead.

Snail fossils.

Fossil bone fragment, with rodent gnaw marks.
Ed says if we measured them and looked at the curvature,
you could figure out what did the gnawing.  Cool.

Ankle bone, fossilized/

Turkey vulture.

Ed and Steven, photographing and fossil hunting.

Back down after the hike, looking down
towards Calhoun Canyon.