Post for the Parks is complete!
Hello Parks Appreciators!
There we go - 2015 is over. Post for the Parks is complete. I hope you have enjoyed watching this process. For me, this project has been a wonderful learning experience, creative outlet and community builder.
Over the course of last year I created 59 watercolor paintings of our 59 National Parks. I have sent the original paintings off to the parks and posted them here and on Instagram. I have researched each park. I have seen beautiful photos and read fascinating articles about these places.
I have had the opportunity to talk and email with so many other people who love and appreciate our National Parks. You folks have told me of your travels, confided in me about your favorite parks, sent me cancellations from far-off visitors centers, acknowledged the complicated and sometimes controversial history of how these parks became public lands and gushed about how lucky we are to get to experience the beauty of these special places.
Keeping a strict schedule and routine with this project was important. As someone who usually only half-fills sketchbooks and abandons books half-read, I’m proud to say that every painting was done on schedule, posted on time and mailed each week on its assigned day.
(I went through a lot of beautiful vintage postage stamps as well as new releases too. Thanks, USPS, for letting stamps work forever...oh and also for seeing my little packages to their destinations!)
I’m proud of the body of work that has been born from this endeavor both the finished paintings and the rough drafts. I love looking back through the Post for the Parks sketchbooks. I posted a few of my favorite sketchbook pages on Flickr. You can see them here.
Connecting with other artists has been one of the most rewarding parts of this year. Kit Frost, Rob McConnell and Timothy Holstad are just a couple of the fellow artists I’ve had the chance to converse with and whose work and process has been a constant inspiration throughout this project.
Later this month the Post for the Parks shop will open. Selling things wasn't part of the original plan but I have had so many people reach out to me about purchasing prints, I’ve decided that this project will live on a little longer so you can bring pieces of it into your home, if you feel so inclined. I’m hoping to offer prints, postcards, a poster featuring all of the paintings, and a couple items with the Post for the Parks logo. Some of the proceeds from the store will go to the National Park Foundation, the non-profit that works to promote and protect our parks.
As expected, I have a lot of mixed feelings about the end of this project... I am thrilled to have followed my schedule and finished what has been my longest long-term art project. I am so grateful for the support and feedback I have received throughout the year. I am a little sad to be done. I am a little relieved to be done. Mostly, I am feeling pretty good.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all of your ‘likes’ and ‘reblogs’ and comments and shares. I did this project for me but as it progressed I was so inspired by those watching and scrolling from afar. Thanks for holding me accountable - even if you didn’t know you were!
Extra special huge thanks to the parks & rangers who took time out of their busy schedules to reply to my parcel online or via mail! Hearing from you really means the world to me. Carlsbad Caverns National Park / Hawaii Volcanoes National Park / Grand Teton National Park / Guadalupe Mountains National Park / Biscayne National Park / Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks / Capitol Reef National Park / Kobuk Valley National Park / Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
And THANK YOU to the sites that wrote about this project... The Letter Writers Alliance / She Explores / Wanderlust
Also, special thanks to Curtis. My steadfast advisor, travel companion, time-lapse photographer and webmaster whose support (and unending patience) has been crucial to this process. You’re doing a great job! <3
Post for the Parks was both an exercise in art-making and research for me but I also hope it helped a few people connect to our National Parks in a new way. If you have parks stories and/or thoughts about our Parks, about art, or about long-term projects, and want to chat, please get in touch! I will keep posting here about parks stuff, art, and relevant things so please stick around!
See you out in the parks I hope!
Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world. - John Muir
