OCR Text |
Show Rock Speaks Studio & Gallery The work of artist Margaret LaBounty in the Rock Speaks Studio & Gallery is a rare visual treat when traveling through Bluff City in the Southeast corner of Utah. Margaret LaSounty From an early age, multifaceted artist Margaret LaBounty began developing a keen sense of awareness about her surroundings. This region, more widely known as the Four Corners, is famous for its enormous rock art panels depicting ancient petroglyph imagery and serves as a great inspiration to the artist, My work evokes the feeling of being there in the warm canyons amid the colors, textures and shapes. I wish to bring out images of a story living in the rock and this land while shaping a unique art form true to the Southwest through sensitive interpretations of serene space and the free movement of animals. It is here at the edge of Navajoland, nestled between ancient walls of red rock and Anasazi ruins, where LaBounty draws from all that nature and history have-t- o offer. Natural materials indigenous to the area such metals of as clay, wood, cactus, rock, and warm-ton- e brass and copper continue their life cycle, through the eyes, hands, and heart of this rare artisan. LaBounty describes the creative process as beginning in her mind and working its way through her hands. In partnership with the earth, Margaret borrows natural oxides for color by gathering a variety of soils which she sifts, strains, and mixes with water. This mixture is then painted on to a clay palatte and fired, ' thereby creating' test tiles to determine color tones for blending. With sculpting pen in hand, the artist then applies her personally mastered technique to each piece. Such a synthesis of mind and skill calls memories of place, texture, even the scent of clay to cieate a one-of-a-ki- work. Twin Rocks Cafe & Gift Shop Historic Loop WELCOME Visa & Master Cards Accepted Open Daily ATM (Cash machine) Collectibles Home Style Cooking Film & 12 Batteries lb. Hamburgers Navajo Tacos Jewelry Stew & Fry Bread Cards & Stationary Espresso, Latte, Cappuccino Delicious variety of Foods Clean Restrooms Buses Welcome Sutler Wash Interpretive Trail Butler Wash Interpretive Trail starts from a structures were used for ceremonies, storage and tool parking area adjacent to Utah Highway 95. To reach making. The main alcove contains four kivas, the the trailhead, drive south from Blanding, Utah on U .S. Highway 191 for three miles, then turn west onto underground chambers where ceremonial activities took place. The kivas are located toward the front of Utah Highway 95. Continue on Utah 95 for ten miles the " alcove. Behind the kivas are a number of habitation to the parking area which is marked by an Indian and storage rooms. In the cave next to the largest one, Ruins sign. The Butler Wash Interpretive Trail was another dwelling rooms is visible. Other small storage established by the Bureau of Land Management to rooms can be seen throughout the canyon. to access which a overlooks a provide easy viewpoint The cluster of Anasazi Indian Ruins. people who lived here farmed and hunted. Corn, beans and squash were grown in the deep soils Between approximately 500 A.D. and 1300 A.D., of the broad canyon to the south. As erosion cut caves the and mesa tops of Southeast Utah were inhabited by the Anasazi or "ancient ones." These arroyos and lowered the ground water level, irrigation people first developed the Basketmaker culture, and sources may have disappeared, making agriculture were the earliest of the inhabitants in impossible. Whatever the reason; drought, overuse of this region, living primarily on the mesa tops. The resources, or pressure from nomadic Indians, this site was abandoned before 1300 A.D. Basketmakers were continually influenced by people from other areas. This blending of cultures developed This archeological site is on public land managed the into the Pueblo civilization which was characterized Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department by manufacture fine of by the pottery, the cultivation of of the Interior. Under the Archeological Resources cotton, and highly developed stone work like that at Protection Act of 1979, excavation of such sites is Butler Wash and at the Mule Canyon Indian Ruins allowed only by permit. Damage to any site or removal farther to the west along Utah Highway 95. of artifacts is strictly prohibited and punishable by From the Butler Wash viewpoint, you will be able law. Rewards are available for information that leads to observe the remains of a 20 room dwelling area and to a conviction. Please notify the BLM immediately if eighteen signs identifying the native plants. On the you suspect illegal activity. return portion of the loop, you can test your ability to Information for this article was taken from a recognize these plant species. brochure titled "Butler Wash Interpretive Trail" From the viewpoint, you will see cliff houses across the canyon which were built and occupied by prepared by the Bureau of Land Management and the Anasazi Indians approximately 700 years ago. published by Canyonlands Natural History Association, 30 South 100 East, Moab, Utah 84532 (801) 3 The design of the structures reflect a full range of living activities. Archeological evidence indicates that in addition to residential use, portions of the several smaller structures nearby. Along the way to the viewpoint, you will pass two geology exhibits and The non-nomad- ic 259-600- |