Landscape Painting

Magic at Mounds

/ Tamara Brown / 2 Comments

My visit to Mounds State Park last Saturday was full of sunshine, painting and chats about art with new park friends. One of the smallest parks in the Indiana state park system, Mounds isn’t as well known as some of its larger and more scenic counterparts but the mysterious earthworks resting amid wooded trails and the White River, as well as the historic Bronnenberg House, make a visit to the Mounds worthwhile.

This 290-acre park features 10 unique earthworks built by prehistoric Indians known as the Adena-Hopewell people. The largest earthwork, the Great Mound, is believed to have been constructed around 160 B.C. Archaeological surveys indicate the mounds were used as gathering places for religious ceremonies from where astronomical alignments like the summer and winter solstices can be viewed.

The Federal-style Bronnenberg House is a lasting reminder of early settlers who recognized the uniqueness of this area and protected the earthworks from looters and farming practices. Despite the construction of an amusement park and railroad in the early 1900s, the Bronnenberg family actively fought to preserve the mounds. Along with the house, the prehistoric earthworks became part of the state park in 1930. The fully-restored brick structure seen today was originally built around 1850 and is open for tours.

Throughout the day over 85 visitors stopped or strolled by and I had the pleasure of creating art at the Great Mound in the morning with two new friends who brought their own art supplies ready to draw! In the afternoon 20 kids and adults took me up on my challenge to try out the waterbrushes and watercolor field kits. After attending a birthday party celebrating the Centennial of the Indiana state parks, we stuck around for drumming and dance by the Miami Nation of Indiana that took place inside the Great Mound this year.

Like the Bronnenbergs I recognize the uniqueness of this particular park and its earthworks. Painting in this ancient place fills me with peace and a sacred sense of wonder. Often overlooked despite its close proximity to Indianapolis and I-69, I chose this particular park to bring attention to its beauty and special charm, grateful to those who protected and preserved the Mounds’ special magic over the years.

Falling For Clifty Falls

/ Tamara Brown / 2 Comments

This past Memorial Day weekend found me painting up a storm at Clifty Falls State Park near the mighty Ohio river and Madison, Indiana. Created by Ice Age glaciers millions of years ago, the waterfall that has cut away the soft shale from hard limestone bedrock can be found some two miles away from where it first began on the Ohio river banks leaving a deep canyon in its wake. Sixty feet high and supplied by this year’s ample spring rains, I could hear the roar of Big Clifty while I set up my easel for the morning demonstration.

My painting spot was one of several prime viewing areas protected by stone walls built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps where Brad Hessans, the park’s very knowledgeable interpretive naturalist, stopped to point out fossils embedded in the stones. Creek beds and rock formations throughout the park hold many examples of fossils from an ancient marine ecosystem full of corals and brachiopods.

The campgrounds and inn were also full at Clifty for the holiday weekend and I was able to engage over one hundred visitors throughout the day on Saturday at several locations in the park. I worked on a small oil painting of the Falls in the morning and a pastel of a long-range view of Clifty Falls from a lookout point on the trail in the afternoon. The trails range from rugged to easy and there’s plenty to do in the park as well as the nearby cities of Madison and Louisville.

Established in 1920 at the suggestion of Richard Lieber, father of the Indiana state park system, Clifty Falls is the first of six state parks I’ll visit this summer and fall. If you get the chance I encourage you to come visit Clifty’s stunning waterfalls and scenic overlooks. My next stop in June is Mounds State Park near Anderson, Indiana. Until then, grab some supplies and go make some art outside!