Yellowstone: “She’s Been Everywhere, Man!”
The Place:
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park is a nearly 3,500-sq.-mile wilderness recreation area that was established in 1872 as America’s first National Park. Located in Wyoming, and parts of Montana and Idaho, Yellowstone is known as one of the world’s largest volcanic hot spots. Approximately 50 percent of the world’s hydrothermal features are in Yellowstone National Park including the most famous geyser dubbed, Old Faithful, for its eruption regularity every hour.
This unique park is also home to the largest concentration of mammals in the lower 48 states, including bears, wolves, bison, elk and antelope. After years of exploration in the park and the introduction of the railroad for visitors in 1883, automobiles were eventually allowed into the park in 1915, making visits easier and more economical for tourists. Today, millions of visitors travel across the world to see the park and all of it’s natural wonders.
The Road Trip:
As a little girl, my parents took my brother and I on a week-long whirl wind road trip to Yellowstone. We stayed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and drove into the park every day to sight see. It was a trip I’ll never forget!
In the summer of 2021, my husband (who had never been to Yellowstone) and I made plans to visit the park yet again. This time we took the top off my 1966 Jeepster Commando and hooked it up to our truck and towed jeep all the way from Texas to Montana with adventure in mind. When we finally arrived at our rental Cabin in Emigrant, Montana, we felt right at home in a place called Paradise Valley, surrounded by huge mountain ranges, big skies, and sprawling prairies. The cabin was not only a great home base for us to come back to every night after touring Yellowstone, but its acreage and front porch was a vacation within itself.
Ultimately, we only had the opportunity to drive the topless Jeepster one of the five days we had planned to tour Yellowstone National Park. We took advantage of the sunshine on that day and after a breathtaking 8 mile hike to Yellowstone creek, we witnessed a hunting fox and a massive heard of elk that seemed even more surreal as we viewed them from the Jeepster without a top or windows. Thankfully, we had the cozy cab of our truck to tour the park in for the remainder of the cold, rainy days we were there. The weather gave us a very different, yet beautiful perspective of the park. We had the unique opportunity to see the famous geysers, Yellowstone canyon, and multiple herds of bison and elk amongst the low laying fog and rainy cool colors. As the trip came to an end we road tripped out through Grand Teton National Park and headed home.
The Painting:
The natural features such as the prairies and geysers found in the background of the painting were directly inspired by our trip to Yellowstone National Park. The colors and composition of the painting were inspired by the metallic color and body lines of the beautiful, custom Model A Sedan, owned by Brian Auderer, designer at dash3dots.com, found in the painting. His car acts as the primary focal point in the work. To get accurate details of the Model A and include a driver of some kind, I utilized a beautiful photo that combined both elements, taken by Trent Sherill with Trent Sherill Photography.
The artwork was initially sketched as a small thumbnail rough draft. I then created a clean pencil drawing and transferred it to my final canvas using Saral paper. The artwork was hand painted in Alpha 6 automotive enamels on a 12”x24” canvas. As with every painting in this collection, the overall landscape is made up of a collage of images and perspectives that I felt truly represent the reason Yellowstone National Park place earns a spot on the map of America.
The final “Yellowstone” Painting. Become a “She’s Been Everywhere Insider” here, and subscribe to my newsletter!
All ten original paintings, giclée prints, posters, and postcard gift sets are now available for purchase here!
“She’s Been Everywhere, Man!” is an innovative collection of ten original paintings, in automotive enamel paint, that depict women driving vintage classic and custom cars to some of our county’s most historic and iconic locations. The series title was originally inspired by the lyrics of the Johnny Cash song, “I’ve Been Everywhere”. After restoring my 1966 Jeepster with my dad, and traveling cross country in it with my family, I realized that America’s rich history is ONLY defined by our willingness to maintain the things and preserve the places that established our unique, cultural identity in the world that is AMERICANA! Through my art and personal story, I want to start a conversation on the importance of maintaining and preserving the things and places of our past, to inform and ultimately benefit our future generations.
My image inspiration for this series stems from WPA travel posters, old school paint-by-numbers, aviation nose art, and my own favorite photos from family road trips. You can check out these images and more over on my Pinterest.
To see more artwork and stories from this unique series of paintings just click here!
“She’s Been Everywhere, Man!” Collaborators
Again, another great post! Filled with awesome memories and your amazing art!