Day Twenty Three - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

plein air, 12" x 18", pastels, 'Escalante Sunday Morning'

Escalante is in Garfield County, Utah along Utah Scenic Byway 12. The town was named after a Franciscan missionary, Silvestre Velez de Escalante.  During the 1776 journey, referred to as the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition, Escalante and his companions passed by the Grand Canyon and were among the first white men to enter Utah. The community of Escalante was settled in 1875 by a group of Mormon settlers from Panguitch, Utah. It is surrounded by part of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

On my way to breakfast Sunday from the Prospector Motel, I saw this spectacular Escalante sunrise and could not resist getting out my pastels and quickly captured the essence of what I saw and felt. The light changed so fast!!!