plein air, 9" x 12", oil, 'Bristlecone Sentinel'
I have always wanted to see a bristlecone pine and Saturday afternoon I hiked the Bristlecone Pine Trail in Utah's Dixie National Forest and stepped back in time. The bristlecone pine is one of nature's oldest living things reaching an age far greater than that of any other single living organism. It lives for thousands of years in a community of ancient trees, thriving on high, steep slopes. The needles can live for 40 years and it gives the tree branches an interesting bottle brush look which I found challenging to capture.
As you can see from the photo below, its trunk and limbs are twisted and gnarly. I think I would be too, if I was over 5,000 years old! Wouldn't you?
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