MikeAdamsArtist.com Blog

I decided I can file this on under “outdoor adventures,” too, since I recorded some of the video on skis during the winter of 2011 (February 9, 2011 according to the file information) at Pebble Creek. This is a layered video (having multiple superimpositions of images) that I included, albeit briefly, in the video projected in Skibladnir at the Viking Ship Museum. Something didn’t seem quite right, so I removed it. One of the problems is that I didn’t need any more monochromatic sequences in the video loop. Another is that the subtleties of the layered images are lost when projected. However, I still like the video, so I thought I’d share it. It’s rather short, and just ends. . .rather odd. . .I added a “fade to black” but it still has an unsettling effect, as if it is demanding to be continued. I’m not trying to create a narrative, but to set a mood, or present ideas. I’m still conscious of “filmmaking,” which I try to use and subvert at the same time. I watched the video loop at the museum today, which runs about 24 minutes, and I am still not sure how the use of “fades-to-black” affects the installation. I have to have a “fade-to-black” to hide the point where the DVD restarts the loop, and I’ve used others intermittently to camouflage that specific break. Now I wonder, though, if using this cinematic convention is a good idea, thus, I’m inspired to removed the transitional “fades” and see what happens.

My absolute-favorite hike in the whole world is from Barlow Pass on the Mountain Loop Highway (near Granite Falls, WA) to the old Monte Cristo townsite. It’s more like a “walk” than a “hike” because it’s along an old railroad-grade, and there is not much gain in elevations. It is hard to find more spectacular scenery anywhere! More pix on Flickr.

We finally had some nice weather today, i.e., nice enough to plan something outdoors a day in advance! Blü and I went up the Slate Mountain Trail in the Caribou National Forest just outside of Pocatello. I’ve posted all the photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/15891522@N02/. The irony is, one doesn’t get to the summit of Slate Mountain, one is only on Slate Mountain. It’s a Zen kind of thing, I guess! A beautiful hike, nonetheless. I am told that it links up to the trailhead at Gibson Jack, but Blü and I didn’t get that far. . .

Blü and I parked at the Deer Creek “Snow Play” area (Monday May 7) on the Mountain Loop Highway (about 65 miles from Seattle), thinking the road was closed all the time to vehicular traffic…but no. Anyhow, it didn’t matter. We walked up the road through the open gate and didn’t see a car the entire 3 hours of so that we were there. There was snow on the ground starting at about 2800 feet. (Beginning elevation is around 1200 feet, I think). It’s nice to walk–or trudge–over the snow in short sleeves in the sun. It was in the mid-sixties and sunny. Very beautiful. Interestingly, it was like stepping back in time because even though spring is in full swing at home near sea level, up at 2800 feet (in the snow!) the buds are swelling, but there are no leaves on the deciduous trees. Most of the trees are evergreens, BTW.

I wanted an easy hike because I had hurt my knee. Deer Creek fit the bill just fine. I stopped and did some sketches on the way back down. We didn’t make it to the end of the trail because the snow got deeper as we climbed higher making it slow going. I think we hiked (walked?) about seven miles total.

The sketch is of Long Mountain (I think). It was “painted” with snow fields here and there. I’ve always loved the abstract pattern of snow fields and avalanche chutes on mountains. This is a scan from my sketchbook. The drawing of Long Mountain is right side up in this view. The sketches lower down in the image are on their sides because I was holding the book the “normal” way when I did them. They are “close-ups” of snow fields.