Cosmic Views

Cosmic Wonders
Mixed media by Phillip Hoyle
after a Cherokee petroglyph from Judaculla Rock

After quite a few years of painting designs from Ute Petroglyphs, I took up some very interesting old figures from a site on the Tennessee River in western North Carolina. 

The hundreds of pictures on this ancient soap stone boulder were scratched and dug into the surface of the rock. Some of the pictured characters match old Cherokee tales of creation and life. Cherokee people of the region claim that their ancestors left these signs for them, stories as it were of mythical times in which the gods and heroes interacted directly with the tribe. 

For me the soap stone suggested grays and blues along with red accents. So a few years ago I painted several of these wonderful and challenging designs. Last week I hung another one in my display at Colorado Mountain Art Gallery in Georgetown. If you're going that way, stop by. It located on 6th street next to the city building and police station, across the street from the historic hotel from the old days of silver mining. It's about 45 minutes west of Denver along Interstate 70. 

There are many other kinds of art in this co-op gallery that shows work of about sixty Colorado artists. It's worth the stop.

The "Cosmic Wonders" hangs next to "Deer on Turquoise" taken after
a Ute Petroglyph from western Colorado.
Both works by Phillp Hoyle.

Denver, 2015