Every April we head into the Grand Canyon to visit the many natural wonders near the Native American village of Supai. The campground between Havasupai Falls and Mooney Falls is surrounded by red canyon walls, clear blue rivers, and lush greenery. April is the time for fields of blooms in every color and the sound of croaking frogs in the afternoon. CC and I brought our supplies and painted every day.

In our campsite we found a book that had been ruined by the rain and left behind by a previous camper. CC took this opportunity to craft one afternoon as she filled her journal with inspirations from our trip.

I was inspired by the sheer cliff walls and the colors around me. These stripes represent the rocks, water, trees, flowers, and dusty soil underfoot as I sat at the picnic table and observed.

My last mark on this painting is reference to one of the many holes the squirrels left as they chewed their way through our camp looking for nuts and other edibles. They made off with 9 Kind bars, 5 separate bags of nuts, a giant bag of peanut M&Ms, and what we estimated to be 4 pounds of cooked quinoa. Not one of us could have consumed all that in one whole day. They were in and out in just a few hours as we took a hike down river.

One of my greatest joys was to set up camp near a field of blooming Mallows. I saw dozens of other specimens growing in their native habitats. Springtime in the Grand Canyon can not be beat!