Fort Yamhill State Heritage Area and Colored Pencil Artwork Update

 

Fort Yamhill State Heritage Area

Fort Yamhill State Heritage Area

Today we visited Fort Yamhill State Heritage Park located near Willamina, Oregon. In all my years living in the Yamhill County, Oregon area, I have never had a chance to visit this state park. The park has the historic remains of a store, blacksmith shop, carpenter shop, horse stables, granary, bakehouse, laundress house, hospital, mess room, company quarters, kitchen, blockhouse, storehouse, commissary, guardhouse, adjutant's office, officers' quarters, sentry box, parade grounds, and flagpole. In 1866 the fort was abandoned, and the buildings were auctioned off. 

An easy ADA-friendly trail loops around the historical remains and is approximately 0.7 miles in length. There are information panels located along the trail that share the history and life of army officers, soldiers, and Native Americans. There are location markers indicating where the structures once were standing. This is a great little hike to take your kids and teach them some history of the area.

The only structures remaining are the store and relocated officer's quarters. The store is where the camp hosts are located. 

The blockhouse was sold for $2.50 at a public auction. Later it was moved to the town of Dayton, Oregon.

Sentry box and flag pole.

Wildflowers begin to bloom in late May and early June. I was able to catch a few on the trail.

Wildflowers on the trail

Work in Progress

Advancing a little further now on this wildlife colored pencil work in progress. Working on adding color to the sky first. Then I will apply a colorless blender.  After I finish adding color to the sky,  I will add color to the rocks and vegetation.

Keep on Creating!

Have a blessed week!

www.mooresartgallery.com

John Day Fossil Beds National Monmument and Update on New Wildlife Colored Pencil Artwork

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

This past week, we had the privilege of visiting the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Eastern Oregon.  

My Family 

The park has three units: the Painted Hills Unit, The Blue Basin Unit, and the Clarno Unit. There is also the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center that has an amazing fossil gallery exhibit and a gift store. In addition, there is the Cant Ranch House which is presently closed due to Covid. It use to be the main visitor center until the Paleontology Center was built in 2003. 

The National Park was discovered by Captain John M. Drake, who had collected items and sent them to Congregationalist minister and self-trained scientist Thomas Condon. He had an avid interest in geology and paleontology, and he was the first to proclaim the importance of the fossil beds and conducted many expeditions in the area. The National Park Service states that "Thomas Condon believed that religion and modern science went hand in hand - that science was a means to understand the spectacular nature of God’s creation and that science and religion were not in conflict with one another."

And this area, I must say, is one of God's fantastic creations. The rolling painted hills, the variety of wildlife, and the fossil beds telling a tale of a time long ago. 

Painted Hills Unit	Painted Hills Unit
Painted Hills Unit	Painted Hills Unit
Painted Hills Unit	Blue Basin Unit
Old Logging Road	Blue Basin Unit
Painted Hills Unit	Old Logging Road
Painted Hills Unit	Fleabane
Oregon Sunshine	Purple Prairie Clover

Work-In-Progress Update

I am continuing on layering the Terracotta Prismacolor Verithin on the new work-in-progress piece. I didn't get much time to work on it this past week as we were on a mini-vacation. I hope to get more time this week to work on it and to begin the next step of adding other layers of colors. 

Keep on Creating!

Have a blessed week!

www.mooresartgallery.com

Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge

Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge

Woke up at 5:30 this morning to head to Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is located just south of Salem, Oregon. Although this isn't as well maintain as Fernhill or Jack Bottom wetlands, it is great place for bird lovers to catch glimpses of a variety of songbirds, waterfowl, and birds of prey. There are also beaver, coyote, turtles, frogs, deer and variety of other wildlife that roam this refuge of fields, marshes, and ponds. In addition, there are several native and non-native wildflowers and shrubs throughout the wetlands.
There are several little trails and boardwalks to meander along and catch glimpses of wildlife, birds and wildflowers. There are a couple of blinds and overlooks to view wildlife and birds as well. The Eagle Marsh Kiosk and trail was my favorite out of all of the trails. As it was teeming with waterfowl and we even caught a glimpse of a beaver. Altogether we hiked approximately 3.9 miles along the dike trails and the Pintail/Egret Marsh Boardwalk.
Some of these new photos will be available soon as prints, cards and/or stock. Prints and cards will be available at my DA and Zazzle store and stock will be available at my website.

Pintail Marsh Area

Ankeny Wildlife Refuge

Pintail Marsh/Mohoff Pond	Pintail Marsh/Mohoff Pond
Yellow Parentucellia	Wild Teasel
Thistle	Slender Tarweed
Broadleaf Arrowhead	Cattail
Cedar Waxwing	Wild Carrot

Eagle Marsh Area

Eagle Marsh - Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge

Eagle Marsh	Swallows
Canadian Geese	Canadian Geese

beaver

Keep on Creating!

Have a blessed week!

www.mooresartgallery.com