Poppy Jasper & the Petrified Forest

Photography - I've been playing with different backgrounds behind my jewelry so my Etsy listings would have more color. "What if?" could be my motto. I paired a photo from the Petrified Forest with a Poppy Jasper necklace and was pleased with the results which you can see by clicking on my Etsy store to the right. Today's picture is what is behind the necklace. It's AMAZING to see all those colors in the petrified logs. Magnificent!

I still have problems to work out with my photo set-up. I'm getting a lot of hot spots on the polished stones. But I can't complain much, because my set-up was very inexpensive as compared to the commercial products available. It was fun brainstorming with hubby at Lowes & Hobby Lobby for what we could use to build it.

Petrified Forest

A friend emailed me plains/badlands photos that reminded me of the vast, wild spaces of Arizona's Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. Hubby & I were there in late May 2006, 24 years after our first time there. I LOVE this place. It's so different from the lush, moist, green of the Midwest. The soil is chalky white, purple, green, red, tan, and black. Simply amazing! We marvel at the imagination and diversity of God's creation. Photos just don't capture the atmosphere and mood of the place, but I've posted one anyway.
I have a set of Daniel Smith watercolors that are made from genuine earth pigments such as Lapis Lazuli, Minnesota Pipestone, Amazonite, Sleeping Beauty Turquoise, and Hematite. I use some of these same stone as beads in my jewelry. I found that many of these paints were perfect for rendering the Western landscape. So far, I've just played with some ideas, but hope to do a more detailed painting in the future.