![]() The soul opens watching a hawk circle in an updraft, startling a doe and her fawns in a grassy meadow, hearing the throaty jumble of sound a wild turkey unleashes from it's perch high in a tree top, and knowing that all of us are carefully observed by a thriving community of mountain lions. It's fight to preserve and protect over 17,000 acres since 1988 has protected the headwaters of the watershed that feeds the San Diego Basin, and has preserved the incredible biodiversity of wildlife and wild lands. The hard work of the Volcan Mountain Foundation is a gift to the future. As my knowledge and understanding of the the importance of wild spaces has widened, my commitment has deepened. My lifelong love of the wild lands of Southern California has become a driving mission to preserve and protect wherever we can. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to spend a year scrutinizing this beautiful environment under the sponsorship of the Marjorie and Joseph Rubenson Endowment for Art and Science of the Volcan Mountain Foundation. It's a timeless sight, a succession of ridge lines and valleys, habitats in large part still untouched. ![]() Walking down the trail after the long hot hike to the 5,500 foot summit I was struck by this lovely long view up the westerly face of the Volcan Mountains. Light and heat seem to come from everywhere. The grassy ridges and meadows seem to bounce the brilliance of the of the sun back to the sky. In late August the grasses on the mountain have been bleached by the sun and and rustle in the hot breezes that move about the mountain. This piece completes my 10 painting series examining the plant life on Volcan Mountain in Julian California over the course of the last year.
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