Go HERE to see photos and HERE to see artwork from the workshop!

    It was unanimous - everyone who attended the Yellowstone 2000 workshop had a GREAT time. Several folks even said it was the best workshop they had ever attended. Big hats off and kudos to Joy Day for setting this one up. Of course each person had their own favorites things about the workshop, so I've collected together some of the fun times....

    From Bill Hartmann - "For me a major thrill (and lifetime goal) was to paint in some of the locations that Thomas Moran painted. IAAA has already discussed that in some of his work Moran exaggerated the shapes of features. I didn't notice it much at the sites where I painted, especially the "Lower Falls" of the Yellowstone. What I did notice is that the lower right side of that vista is a really messy hillside of eroded spires and pinnacles of all shapes -- and that both Moran and I elected to idealize it, because trying to paint all the details was a disaster. The main waterfall, and hill outlines are very recognizable from the "Artists Point" site where several of us painted or sketched. (Or did that ungodly unAmerican thing that several members were doing with a *gasp* laptop at the site. If God had intended us to paint on laptops, he/she wouldn't have created a Nature full of whole-some natural materials like acrylics and palette knives!But I digress....)
    "What struck me about the experience was noticing the uncanny accuracy that Moran got in rendering the strange colors of Yellowstone, and how it may have influenced his other, later, western paintings. If I read my Yellowstone materials correctly, the strange chalky whites, yellows, golds, pale ochres, etc are cause partly by weathering of the native minerals by the hot gases coming up through the ground. [Oh my goodness -- I hadn't made the connection until this moment that the name, 'Yellow-Stone' probably comes from the observation of the unusual colors there! Silly me.]
    "And if I read my Moran materials right, the famous Yellowstone paintings and sketches were mostly early in his career. He returned to the west later on many occasions and did many other paintings, including the Arizona Grand Canyon and other scenes. But the odd thing, if you look through paintings of the other Western landscapes, is that he often used that same palette in other places where the normal rocks aren't that way.  Most western rocks include deep reddish brown sandstones and weathered basalts, dark gray basalts, etc. Lowish value earthy tones. At Yellowstone I found myself mixing in lots of whites and using pure yellows and oranges with palette knife, giving the same kind of intricate color mixes that were in the canyon walls.
    "So I have a hypothesis: Like many of us, Moran may have been influenced by his first attempts at rendering the landscapes of the west at Yellowstone. That's where he 'learned how to do it.' And he may have kept coming back to the same colors even in other settings. I find myself doing this, certain greens I use for shady vegetation, certain ones for sunlight on deciduous vegetation, others for sunlight on western gray-green vegetation.
    "That's why I like painting out doors from nature -- it keeps forcing you to break with those 'standard colors' that you've learned to use and try to paint the colors you really see under that sky, at that time of day, in that place."

New Member Hilda Green Demsky was delighted to attend her first workshop and had lots to say about it:
    "Arriving in West Yellowstone, MT on a small Sky West plane from Salt Lake City and wearing my newly acquired IAAA pin, I was quite surprised when someone I didn't know recognized my pin and said 'Hi Hilda.' What a delightful welcome from Jon Ramer and his wife, Terri. That kind of friendship marked the entire 10 days.
    "West Yellowstone is a tiny tourist town that caters to the folks who arrive for the purpose of entering the Park. The highlight for me was visiting the Grizzly Discovery Center. In natural protected habitats, one can see the grizzlies and wolves. Somewhat apprehensive about meeting up with bears in the Park, I listened carefully to the ranger who suggested that humans should make noise (sing, whistle or wear bells,) so that the bears are not surprised by your presence. I am happy to report that we didn't meet up with any bears, but we did encounter many elk, bison, and deer.
    "One of the things I loved dearly was the nightly critiques. IAAA members were so supportive of each other's creative efforts, and what spectacular results poured forth! Dave Hardy's thoughts were always sought after; he provided salient, right-to-the-point, much appreciated comments. Joy Alyssa Day gave me the best advice on what to do with my 17 ink drawings of spectacular scenery. My first car-sharing experience was driving with astronomer-artist, Bill Hartmann. What a knowledgeable scientist and talented artist. I learned so much from him about the IAAA and about the life of an astronomer. My roommate, Jackie Burns, was the kindest and most thoughtful person any-one could meet. How lucky I was to have someone so special to room with! Kara Szathmary and B.E. Johnson (BJ) wore the best western hats. Kara provided spiritual Native American music while driving around. Mark Garlick had his newest published work delivered to the workshop by Anil Rao.
    "Nature provided stunningly diverse landscapes to which one could ooh and ahh and find inspiration for the astronomical art adventure. Drawing, painting and photographing the thermal basins, geysers, cauldrons, springs and canyons was the best activity to share with all the workshop participants in an exhilarating land of beauty, mystery and serenity."

Jackie Burns was happy to share some of her fun times too: "The Yellowstone workshop easily has to be one of the best workshops I've attended. Not least for the contrasts in color, scent, light, choice of subjects and the wealth of stimulating experiences. And neither was it just because I found myself struggling in the heat at the beginning of the workshop and then at the end wondering if the return journey home would be delayed because of snow. No, indeed, these were important ingredients, along with the wonderful characters that were each of the attending artists, and it all came together to create a workshop of banquet proportions.
    "Artists Point - an area of extreme beauty and awesome depths. The canyon face is not only visually stunning in its array of color and texture, but breathtakingly steep... especially when viewed from the very edge and without the aid of protective barriers.
    "Kara, myself, and Dave Hardy had taken a short detour along a back path towards Ribbon Lake. The path was billed as 'primitive' and to be used with 'caution'. It was indeed primitive, very steep in places and not a little challenging to the nerves. But it did bring us out onto the edge of the canyon face with magnificent views across to the other side. I decided that I would not venture further (actually, my heaving lungs/thudding heart decided that I wasn't venturing further), so I found a stable tree growing right on the edge, with its' roots exposed a little ways down the canyon face in such a way that I could brace my feet whilst I sat with my legs swung over the abyss. Dave found a spot to park himself a little further up the path, whilst Kara was at the top before the path angled off to the right and continued on. "It was lovely, sitting there in the relative quiet of the early afternoon with only the shrill call of an Osprey as it wheeled along the thermals below and the whistle of the wind as it tugged at the pages of my painting pad, to distract me from my sketching. An hour later I found myself struggling to get back on firmer ground. As I looked up towards the trail I saw that Dave had had similar feelings as he too was also on his feet, busily packing away. Then the mylar sheet that Dave had been sitting on decided to make a break for freedom and fluttered on a gust of wind a few feet down the canyon.
    "A few minutes later Kara came down in time for discussing an appropriate rescue plan. And so it was that Kara edged, oh, so slowly down the canyon face, the heels of his cowboy boots chiseling deep furrows in the loose gravel. One hand firmly clasped in Dave's, the other hand lightly swinging the longest branch that could be found, back and forth as he inched his way towards the errant sheet. It took several minutes before the tip of the branch could catch the silver fabric and, with a deft turn of the wrist, flip it back into captivity.
'To cap it all, Dave calmly folded the sheet his heels right on the very edge, the buffeting of the wind causing him to sway - ever so slightly. One good puff and I'm sure he'd have been challenging the osprey for its' thermals!
"Let it never be said that astronomical artists lead a boring life!"

Kara Szathmáry had probably the most amazing encoutners with the wildlife of the whole group! "Here are a few of the bizarre things that happened to me, naturally when there was no one around, and without camera. Why do these things happen then? At any rate...
    "At Norris Geyser Basin, in particular Porcelain Springs Basin, after I had finished my drawing, I was hiking back to our rendezvous location as we all agreed, when my path became blocked by two, mother and calf, elks. I stayed still for five minutes until they meandered up hill off my path. As a proceeded slowly, suddenly a bull elk came running towards me out from nowhere up ahead around a bend. I froze, bewildered, then, decided to run the other direction but I stopped after running some thirty feet.
    "The bull-elk had also stopped and remained looking at me. So now I decided to stand still too and looked at him with my black Stetson hat owered to my eyebrows. We stared at each other for ten minutes - High Noon.
Throughout that time, the bull elk would yell at me 'yyaahhHHHAAKK!' I didn't move. I kept staring and wondering how do I get around him? That rack on his head had 14 points and was the size of a 4-foot by 5-foot tree as it sat on his horse-of-16-hands body.  Huge!  Well, finally he yelled again, stuck his tongue out, went 'yyyaayyyaaatteeTTHHHRRRUW', then walked slowly uphill to his ladies in waiting. Several minutes past before I made my daring and bold step up the trail. Once I got to the meeting point, I found a crowd was waiting, my colleagues and tourists, who all began to applaud my arrival.
    "Later on at Old Faithful territory I encountered another male creature. I was returning from a note taking trip to Morning Glory Pool, with beautiful emerald green 20 feet deep pool of hot water, surrounded by ochres, terra-cotta rose, burnt and raw umber browns, and parchment white calcium trimmings around the edges of the boiling pool. I was gathering a visual description so that I could demonstrate my painting style in our collaborative project. I also recorded the shapes of the pine trees that surround the back hills, some dead and bleached white by sulfur hot steam and with a few dead trees with lots of bleached dead branches. I noted how the trees also had fallen helter skelter on the hills as well, and the different types of grasses from background to foreground. Oranges, golden cadmium, naples yellow, turner yellow, crimson red grass, oh there was an orchestra of colors.
    "After my sketch I headed back for some supper and came upon a male buffalo standing 20 feet from the path by a dead trunk of a large tree. I stopped in fascination of the creature. Buffalo are nearly blind and very not smart. So I stopped beside an eight inch aspen to gaze at this enormous animal. I was up wind, so the bison could smell me in the air. He 'huffed' and grunted. So I returned the huff and grunt, imitating his sound. At that point, he turned around and clawed the ground slowly. I didn't move. Panic had either paralyzed or fascinated me. The bison then began to walk slowly towards me. What do I do? Where do I go? He kept advancing, building his momentum. Finally within a foot of me, as I was sure he would ram the tree, he turned left. I could have touched him - but didn't! BUT, as he pasted by, he let go one amazing long and fowl flatulence. Guess he told me what he thought of my presence. Oh brother, I thought the sulfur springs smelt bad! I bolted and left gagging for fresh air in the other direction, knowing full well he had poor eye sight. I shared my story with my colleagues that night at the Bear Pit tavern where I did my painting in the the dark, with a few mugs of beers to cheer me on. I painted fast and furious to the amazement of all around who wondered aloud how I knew what colors I was using? Good question, but did it really matter? Certainly the beer helped clarify my fauve mannerism of painting!"

Workshops are nothing new to Dave Hardy, but he still had a great time at this one. "It is generally accepted that one of the main reasons for attending an IAAA workshop is to meet other members, to put faces to names we have known for years, meeting old friends, the new friendships that develop and general camaraderie. The evenings, with their hectic meals and after-dinner meetings for critiques, painting or whatever, are always a highlight of the day.
    "And yet there is another side. The places we visit are, usually, the wildest, most alien places we can find on Planet Earth; the nearest we can get to visiting another world. And at each workshop I have attended -- Iceland, Utah, Hawaii, Mojave, Tenerife, Yellowstone -- I have found time to wander off and immerse myself in this strange and lonely landscape. I may not sketch, or even photograph, although usually I do. I just want to absorb its ambience, by myself if possible. A sort of meditation, if you like.
    "At Yellowstone, on the last afternoon (which was cloudy, with occasional bursts of sunshine) I wandered off to the thermal areas to the right of the Inn -- something I had promised myself, since my wife and I had already seen all the 'biggies' such as Castle and Grand Geysers erupting, on a too-brief visit in 1995, which nonetheless gave me the idea of holding a workshop there some time. After strolling along the boardwalks and chatting to some Americans while we waited to see if the Beehive would erupt (it was showing signs, like brief bursts of spray). After half an hour it was clear this was not going to happen, and I went into the woods towards Solitary Geyser. This proved to be one of those big blue pools, but it suddenly surged with activity, making me jump back! From the time I left the boardwalks I was completely alone, and I started off, on another path through the woods, on the mile and a half to the Observation point, high on the hills that back the basin.
    "From there you can see the whole basin laid out below you -- a wonderful sight. After just a few minutes I noticed that the little geyser near the Beehive was spurting. Sure enough, a huge jet of water and steam began pouring out of the Beehive, continuing for many minutes and drenching the people in the spot I had vacated half an hour or so earlier.... I could hear its roar even from my high perch. Not ten minutes later, Old Faithful itself followed suit, and the Sun spotlighted it. I made my way carefully down the rock-strewn path -- and suddenly became aware that not ten feet away was a bison, grazing. It looked up at me. Now Kara says that his presence was greeted by flatulence. I apparently had a different effect. My bison casually started to take a pee -- an inverted mini-geyser of his own. Perhaps marking his territory so there could be no mistake who had a right to be there?
    "As I neared the bottom of the path, a great plume of steam on my right showed that Castle Geyser, where I had seen people waiting literally all afternoon, had finally decided to put on a show."

Mark Garlick said, "I had such a great time, as did all the others. For me the visual highlight of the trip was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. But even after the workshop the sights continued. The drive down to Jackson Hole past the Teton range offered just awesome sights, especially in the dramatic light we had that day. The other highlight of the trip was the people. Such an amazing range of talent and personality. Jon was particularly bonkers, as participants have already mentioned on the list serve. I simply couldn't resist diving into episodes of Monty Python with him. And I thought *I* was weird remembering all those lines from films and stuff. ('I'm Brian and so is my wife!'). Must have been something in the water....
    "Jon had the idea that we do a joint-effort painting. He brought a long panoramic canvas that we divided into eleven segments. The idea is that we each get to do a bit of the image, which no doubt you will all see when done."

As for comments from me (Jon Ramer), all I can say is that I'm even more convinced that I'll never miss another workshop. Whether climbing the basalt columns and watching the moon rise over Sheepeater's Cliffs, hiking around the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, drinking beer with Kara, taking pictures with BJ, trading movie lines with Mark, getting painting tips from Dave, or just marveling at the incredible scenery, the Yellowstone workshop was a great workshop to attend!

The Last Word on workshops always go to the organizer, so here she is, that bundle of spirit, "gumpf," and energy, Joy Alyssa Day! "What a wonderful workshop that was. I am so thankful for the artists that could make it and share their views and talents. I feel as if my circle of friends has gotten dramatically richer. The different areas of Yellowstone offered us so many analogues, we couldn't keep up! And all within such easy reach of each other. From bubbling sulfur and mud pools, smoke breathing caves, and alien white calcium terraces, to thousand foot sheer cliffs with waterfalls and vibrant stone colors, to the jets, hot springs and geysers burbling, moaning and spraying. All with a liberal smattering of enormous wild animals thrown in.
    "Watching how the other artist's work and trying my own hand at so many new things was both invigorating and intimidating, but the gentle comments from those whom I've admired truly inspired me and I am recharged. I look forward to continuing the work, friendships and bonds that those of us at
Yellowstone shared.
    "If you have never been to a workshop, I encourage you to do whatever you can to attend the future ones!"

What more needs to be said folks? YOU need to attend the next workshop! Rumor has it that details on a workshop in Merry Ol' England will soon be forthcoming. Are you going to sign up?....