Warm Fall Days

Sitting under the canopy of giant pines enjoying the last of the warm days of summer. I can see that the sunlight has begun to change. Warm fall light, perched low on the southern horizon is consorting with the landscape. Fall is a wonderful time for photographs.

Click to view more fall images.

Warm light hangs in the air, filtering through trees, and extending across the still pools of Lapwai Creek. Blue shadows are broken with the intense reflection of near by aspen.

Photographs from the image library of Mark Lisk.

Grand Canyon Monsoon

They said it was going to be hot in the canyon, but I had no idea. July in the Grand Canyon. Water, and late afternoon monsoon rains our only saving grace. The daily temperatures 106 to 114, with lows in the upper 80's and low 90's.

View from ledge camp

Water spilled over the canyon rim falling several hundred feet. Countless small water falls from the afternoon thunder storm cut through the ancient schist that forms the canyon walls, inspiring pointed thought. 

Silver Grotto

Travertine Falls

Time

Alone on a ridge, the quiet onlooker. An observer to the passage of time, gathering stories that span many cultures and generations. With no voice for expression, I put my hand on the giants in an attempt to gain some wisdom and influence. Speculating on experience and listening through contact.

These images from Mark's recent travels to the St. Joe National Forest. Crystal Lake Wilderness Study Area.

50 Series

Every year Jerri Lisk creates 50 new 4x5 inch original paintings for her annual 50 Series. These paintings are based on sketches collected during the years wanderings. This years collection is exceptionally diverse touching on her enthusiasm for aspen, and zeal for desert canyon lands.
 It is an exciting show and one that Jerri looks forward to year after year. This collection of 4x5 inch original paintings will be on exhibit in our downtown Boise Gallery during the months of July and August.



                                                                          

A series of sketches from an aspen grove in the Dixie National Forest, The Grand Staircase of the Escalante.







Canyonland series of sketches from the Owyhee desert.

The shuttle driver

The Owyhee desert, has an unlimited amount of unique landscapes, many of which are not easy to get to. The old adage, you cant get there from here applies in many instances. In  late winter and spring that adage is even more crucial. Wet roads are impassible and you will be stuck for a while.


May and June weather in the Owyhee Canyonlands is a bit dicey at best. A good rule of thumb in the desert is,(always carry a tarp, extra provisions, and a good shuttle driver). When I say good shuttle driver I mean, someone with  exceptional driving skills, but more importantly, entertainment value at camp. You never know when you may be stuck face down in the muck. 24 hours of rain equals 24 more hours under a 12x12 tarp with your close friends waiting for the desert to dry out.

Patients will eventually be rewarded with the spectacular photographic images in Americas newest wilderness area.

Dan Gottsch, "The Owyhee Jackass". For shuttle info email gottsch1@mindspring.com

Note,Dan is quite a good tarp pole dancer.

Cathedral Valley

The Cathedral Valley is one of my favorite places to photograph. A small state park in southern Nevada. The eroded benonite cliffs create caverns and monoliths that are very conducive to black and white images as well as color. 

"An interval.

A peripheral,  short lived,

captured in a photograph.

Never to be duplicated."

                           -Mark William Lisk-

Images from last weeks trip through Nevada in route to a warmer climate in Arizona.

Between Two Canyons

The desert can inspire and change the heart of the beholder. That is true for the inclination and evolution of Jerri Lisk most recent series of paintings, Between Two Canyons.

 Her current show at the Calvin Charles Gallery in Scottsdale Arizona marks her transformation into a desert series of colorfully illustrated works, from the Owyhee Canyonlands in her home state of Idaho, to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River.