Jill Carver - Bears Ears - Cedar Mesa - Comb Ridge Panorama - Triptych (PLV90335B-0322-012)

24" x 12" each panel, 15.5" x 75.5" framed. Driving back on Highway 163 to camp near Bluff after a hot day exploring around Mexican Hat in Southern Utah, this panoramic view stopped me in my tracks. At this point on the highway, one has a 180-degree vista stretching from the recognizable buttes of Bears Ears, along the expanse of Cedar Mesa, to Comb Ridge with the Abajo Mountains beyond. The sun was low and at such an angle that it lit up the narrow tops of the many geological layers. I knew I could not capture the entirety on one canvas and decided that a triptych might allow me to convey three glimpses from the whole. My aim was to capture the beautiful light and the geological complexity of the vista. They do not directly connect – for that would take a work twice or three times as long! – but I hope in each one there is a color or a structure that leads the eye onto the next and an overall sense of awe in its expansiveness.