Canyon Country Created Into Jigsaw Puzzles Is Just Perfect

Canyon Country created into jigsaw puzzles is just perfect. Utilising photos of some of the spectacular landscapes of southern Utah, these jigsaws are a delight to put together.

In this CD there are 5 different photos which have been converted to jigsaws of 12, 24, 40, 104 and 260 pieces each, making a total of 25 jigsaw puzzles.

Canyon Country Jigsaw Puzzles CD

Australia (incl. P&H) $29.00 AUD Overseas (incl. P&H) $33.00 AUD

This range of puzzles can be used by children of different ages and skill levels, promoting hand and eye coordination. Not only are the jigsaws great for stimulating learning and the imagination, they’re full of colour and loads of fun. You can never lose the pieces.

Jigsaw puzzles are easy to do with the click of a mouse button and can be played over and over. Suitable for adults as well! Each CD costs $25.00. That works out to $1 per jigsaw puzzle - great value!

Puzzles are not printable, they're designed to be used on a computer or laptop or even on a large screen via a data projector, and internet access isn’t required.

They're great to take away on holidays and play in the car while travelling or in the tent, RV or caravan on rainy days.

In the Canyon Country CD there are 5 photos which have been turned into jigsaw puzzles: Bryce Canyon, Red Canyon (near Bryce Canyon), Kolob Canyons in Zion National Park, Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park.

The Bryce Canyon photo was taken in the afternoon when the rainy weather had cleared. Blue sky with wisps of cloud above the orange and rusty tones of the canyon. Overnight it poured again so I headed for Cedar Breaks travelling through the Red Canyon (very aptly named too). Rainy weather seemed to follow me so after cloudy skies in Zion National Park I decided to head over to the Kolob Canyons section of the park in the northwest corner. I preferred this because the vistas were in the distance. In Zion Canyon I felt boxed in and had to keep looking up at the canyon walls. At Bryce Canyon you look down into the canyon from the rim and see a beautiful panorama of canyon landforms with mountains in the distance.

Canyonlands National Park is quite vast and it was very hot when I visited. It had several striking formations, like Mesa Arch. My favourite place though is Dead Horse Point State Park with the Colorado River snaking its way around the bottom of high canyon walls. Camping on the spot gives opportunities for sunset and sunrise photos as well as the photo which I've made into a jigsaw. The place must be quite magical when it's covered in snow.



Here's a bit more about the jigsaws which are also available for sale from my other websites - click here!

Here are a couple of samples (a lion and a bus) so you can see how to do the puzzles -

Canyon Country Jigsaw Puzzles CD

Australia (incl. P&H) $29.00 AUD Overseas (incl. P&H) $33.00 AUD

Canyon Country Coming Soon As Jigsaw Puzzles

Utah's Canyon Country is coming soon as 25 interactive Jigsaw Puzzles on CD. The spectacular rock formations present photographers with such a wealth of material that it's hard to resist capturing them on film or digital flash card. The response to my photos has been so overwhelming that I've decided to make 5 of the photos into interactive jigsaws: Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park's Kolob Canyons, Red Canyon, Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse Point State Park.

Stay tuned!

http://utahparks.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/canyon-country-created-into-jigsaw.html

Rainbow Bridge To Monument Valley: Making The Modern Old West

Rainbow Bridge To Monument Valley: Making The Modern Old West, by Thomas J. Harvey looks to be an interesting read if you can get past the cover. Stunning photo of one of the Mittens in Monument Valley.



Rainbow Bridge to Monument Valley: Making the Modern Old West

The Colorado River Plateau is home to two of the best-known landscapes in the world: Rainbow Bridge in southern Utah and Monument Valley on the Utah-Arizona border. Twentieth-century popular culture made these places icons of the American West, and advertising continues to exploit their significance today. In "Rainbow Bridge to Monument Valley," Thomas J. Harvey artfully tells how Navajos and Anglo-Americans created fabrics of meaning out of this stunning desert landscape, space that western novelist Zane Grey called "the storehouse of unlived years," where a rugged, more authentic life beckoned.

Reviews
"Thomas J. Harvey's work on the Utah-Arizona border region . . . will stake out new intellectual terrain for scholars seeking to explore the relationship between geography, cultural nationalism, and Occidentalism in twentieth-century America. . . . Harvey shows quite clearly how layers of meaning continue to be attached to the region and how modern mythmaking is perpetuated."Carter Jones Meyer co-author of "Selling the Indian: Commercializing and Appropriating American Indian Cultures".

Super Cyclone License Plate Purse - Utah

I came across this Super Cyclone License Plate Purse - Utah, by Littlearth, and it looks quite a fun accessory. One of my hobbies is to also photograph license plates and Utah has a particularly nice one with "Delicate Arch" as the graphic, so it might be worthwhile checking out.



Super Cyclone License Plate Purse - Utah

Description
Photography provided by Littlearth for the express use of eBags.

Features
Twice the size of the Cyclone
Features 6" chrome hubcap ends
2 license plates are used to create the bag
Recycled rubber 8 " top handle
Chrome feet to allow bag to sit on hard surface
Purse also features a plush felt lining and an elastic lipstick holder
Littlearth finds used and recycled license plates from all around the country.
Nicks, cracks and rust spots are common and enhance the authenticity of the product
Bottle cap closure
Included is a signed and numbered Certificate of Authenticity
(CAUTION: These are real recycled plates! Every plate is different! We can't guarantee a specific style within a requested state. For example, the Arizona plate may have a desert scene at the bottom, or be red with white letters. But they all look cool!)

Specifications
Comments: Littlearth License Plate bags are made one at a time for our customers. Please allow 1-2 weeks for your specially made purse.
Material: Aluminum
Warranty: 30 days against manufacturer's defects
Colour: Utah

Natural Bridges Naturally Bridge the Gap

Natural Bridges National Monument, in southeastern Utah, is another fine example of nature's architectural design. The entrance to the park is at the end of Highway 275, approximately 35 miles west of Blanding, Utah, on Highway 95. Driving time from Blanding is roughly 45 minutes.

The entrance sign to the park really accentuates the natural bridge theme.

The next place to stop of course is the Visitor Centre to view the interesting displays and pick up a brochure highlighting the park's features. The Visitor Center is up at about 6,500 feet (about 2,000 metres) but it's still set in desert country and on a sunny day it's hot, hot, hot!





A day or two need to be set aside for this park but as usual for me it was just a quick trip by car around the one way circuit. The lookouts are well marked but parking on a busy day can be a problem. You can see the highlights of the park from the lookouts but this is a park that you need to spend time walking around. The bridges definitely need to be viewed from beneath as well as from above. The different perspective can only be obtained by walking on the trails not just glimpsing from the lookout. Remember to wear a big hat (like my trusty Akubra), put on the sunscreen and take plenty of water. This is very thirsty country.

There are three famous bridges, Sipapu, Kachina and Owachomo (pictured) but I just loved the desert country (maybe because I'm Australian). As well as the natural architecture, the vegetation is worth investigating too. Not just the trees but also the flowers. Reminds me a bit of Australia.

Here's more information about Natural Bridges National Monument.


I've found a few books which might be worth looking into.



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Painters of Utah's Canyons and Deserts

Painters of Utah's Canyons and Deserts [Hardcover], by Donna L. Poulton and Vern G. Swanson looks to be a beautiful and interesting book which has a 4.5 star rating. Check it out.

Editorial Reviews
Review
Painters of Utah's Canyons and Deserts is a welcome addition to any art enthusiast's bookshelf because it gives readers both a historical context and visual progression of the landscape through paintings created by Utah's past and present artists.

(Southwest Art )

This is a tremendous book - almost as big as a canyon itself. It's full of superb paintings and I like the broad selection with its wide appeal. This si much more than a coffee table book, it includes a series of essays giving a background to the painters that have visited and painted this region. Is there anything more wondrous than the canyons of this area? These painters capture the essence of the canyons - the quality of the light, the texture of the rock surfaces, the scale of the magnificent scenery and the colours of the desert and canyon. I have too many favourites to mention them all here. Some of the paintings are breathtaking. I think in this huge selection, there is something for everyone. This is a dramatic book that serves its dramatic subject well.

(Karen Platt www.karenplatt.co.uk/review )

From the Inside Flap
PAINTERS OF UTAH'S CANYONS AND DESERTS

Famous movie director John Ford once emphatically exclaimed, " . . .Monument Valleywasmy greatest star."But long before Ford lionized these great icons, paintings of the sweeping desert and colorful canyon country of Utah's plateau province had captured the popular imagination of American and European audiences.

Contrasts between painters who called Utah home and those who explored and visited. Starting with the rich visual images of Native American petroglyphs, the book then looks at the lively anecdotes of the "artists as explorers," including John Wesley Powell's harrowing trip down the Colorado River, artist Solomon Nunes Carvalho's recovery from the brink of starvation, and artist Richard Kern's death at the hands of the Paiutes. ThomasMoran is prominent in this history with dramatic lithographs and his own exploration of the Zion region.

Love of the western landscape has to do with the capacity of the viewer to experience vast space. To appreciate the desert terrain, one has to be comfortable with an inscrutable universe. Whether existential or spiritual, these themes are evoked in the modern paintings of Maynard Dixon, Conrad Buff, Georgia O'Keeffe, andMax Ernst,who are amongmany visiting artists successfully challenged by this landscape.

Utah artist Alfred Lambourne was the first artist to paint in Zion, and Henry L. A. Culmer was the first to paint the natural bridges. Utah artists recorded the natural beauty of the parks in the 1920s and the stark influence of the Great Depression in the 1930s. Today's modern and traditional artists mix it up, employing classical methods and conventions, often with flagrant juxtapositions, to convey political, existential, or psychological themes. V. Douglas Snow, Gary E. Smith, and Ed Mell are among a growing group of nationally known artists whose work is inspired by the Utah Red Rock.

In all, this is an informative and visually stunning compilation of Art in Utah, detailing its profound influence on western and American culture.

Donna L. Poulton is an Associate Curator of Utah and Western Art at the University of Utah's Museum of Fine Arts. She studied at the Boston University extension in Germany and received her PhD from BrighamYoung University. She has juried and curated many exhibitions, including the Olympic Exhibition of Utah Art. Dr. Poulton has written articles on Utah and Western Art, is the co-author of Utah Art, Utah Artists, and has recently completed a manuscript on Reuben Kirkham, an early Utah pioneer artist. She has taught Utah art history at the University of Utah and has served on the boards of several arts organizations. Dr. Poulton has also filmed extensive interviews with numerous Utah artists, produced commercial videos on Utah art, and consulted with private art collectors and galleries.

Vern G. Swanson is a native of Central Point, Oregon. He graduated from Brigham Young University (BA), University of Utah (MA), and University of London (PhD) in art history. He started his career at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (1969-70), taught art and art history at Auburn University as an Assistant Professor (1972-75), and was employed atWasatch Bronzeworks in Lehi (1975-78). Since 1980, Dr. Swanson has been the director of the Springville Museum of Art, has helped the museum's art collection of Utah and Russian art grow, and has contributed toward the construction of a new wing, dedicated in 2004.

Dr. Swanson has published fourteen art history books as sole or joint author. Five of these have been on Utah art, with several in collaborationwith Drs. Robert Olpin,WilliamSeifrit, and Donna Poulton. In 2006, he published a major tome Dynasty of the Holy Grail and in 2007, his third and largest book, Soviet Impressionist Painting. He is now researching for his next two books, "John Hafen: Faithful Artist" and"The Chiasmatic Atonement."

Photos of Utah's National and State Parks

Many of the visitors to this site are attracted by the photos of Utah's spectacular parks. The following slide presentation puts a few together for your enjoyment of Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef National Park, Zion National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Dead Horse Point State Park.

Utah Parks from Fran West

Check out Canyon Country Jigsaw Puzzles.