Elephant Rocks

Egg Tempera
24 x 35

I struggled with this painting, and I'm not entirely sure I'm done with it. It's turning into one of my bone pictures, pieces that I keep going back to and playing with like an old dog with a bone. Anyway it's a view of another state park, this one featuring these huge granite outcroppings. Everybody climbs around on them and has a fine time. One thing that I always found strange about the place is that puddles form in the little depressions in the rocks . That in itself isn't odd, but every one of these little puddles is filled with tadpoles if you're there at the right time of year. The idea of frogs jumping around on the rocks just seems odd to me.

I love the textures and colors of the rocks. That plus the light filtering down through the trees onto the granite is what drew me to this particular piece.