The story of my trail sketches would not be complete without including Mary Boyd Ellis, my art teacher in Gallup, New Mexico. In the two years immediately before my thru-hike I took weekly lessons each Saturday afternoon with her and three or four other students in her wood heated studio on a ridge west of town. Part of the instruction included sketching, a "skill" that I took with me on the trail. It was lightweight and uncomplicated.
Even more than the technical skill, Mary taught me a new way to see. As a black and white photographer, I had an eye for the world as I could see it in a finished photograph. Mary taught me how to see the elements of the light and dark, shape, form and texture I found in a photograph. She showed me how to make all that appear on paper and canvas by hand, without the machinery of camera and darkroom. My two years painting with Mary and the Saturday afternoon students are among my fondest memories. Her spirit is in every sketch I made.
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