A Philmont Morning is the Best Kind of Morning (plein air outlet painting, New Mexico landscape, Tooth of Time)

A Philmont Morning is the Best Kind of Morning - Limited Edition PRINT of New Mexico plein air painting - by Dawn Chandler

*** $50 of each print sold will be donated to the Philmont Fire Recovery Fund. ***

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WHAT HAPPENED WAS...

Chances are you were glued to your computer those first days of June 2018, desperate for more news of Philmont and the Ute Park Fire.
If you were able to sleep at all, likely you went to bed each night with nausea in your belly, and your head pounding with anxiety.
Come morning you raced to the computer to see if the fire had spread, and felt your heart scouring the inside of your throat as you read that once again the fire had doubled in size.

Friends and family who don't know Philmont, who've never been there, but know YOU and know that this arid corner of New Mexico is sacred ground to you, saw on their news feeds that this "Boy Scout Camp in Northern New Mexico" was on fire. And they said to you, "I'm sorry about Philmont...." and it's all you could do to choke down the sobs.

Your HOmEland — your SPIRITland, your SOULand was burning. All you could see was loss and destruction. You were in an utterly grievous state.

But then....
... then you started reading about the current staff, and the good people of Ute Park, of Cimarron, of the neighboring ranches.

You read of the firefighters.

You read of heroism.
You read of resiliency.
You read of unbelievably tough decisions.
You read of integrity.
You read of humor and of hope and of grace.

And out of the ashes -- out of your sorrow -- somehow rose a little green sprout of life — and hope.

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WANTING — NEEDING — TO HELP...

We all want to do something to help Philmont recover from the fires. For myself, I decided the best & most true way I could help was to put my artistic talents to use for The Cause.

So I decided to create a special painting to auction as a fundraiser — hence, this painting, these prints:
"A Philmont Morning is the Best Kind of Morning."

Below is the story of this painting....

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BACKSTORY OF THE PAINTING....

This scene is from the overlook, where one can take in The View. I mean, it really is THE VIEW, don't you think? For from the top of Hwy 21 just south of Philmont's Basecamp, there's so much hope and promise here! You've got the Sangre de Cristos, the sweeping plains, ALL of Basecamp — PTC, the Ranch Dept, Camping, CONS, Rangers, Food Service, The Museum & Admin and all the other departments in between. It all comes together here, right before your eyes. And you have the mystery of Urraca, the tragedy of Trail Peak, and most of all, you have The Tooth — that gateway beacon to all that Philmont stands for, and all the excitement and adventure awaiting you in the backcountry that you can't see so much as sense is back there, just pulling you like a sage-&-cedar-pine-scented magnet.

And this — this exquisite vantage, this superb view — is available to anyone who can drive or walk or ride up here. It is available to Every. One. Of. Us.

I've painted this view of The Tooth a couple times before, and I'll surely paint it many more times again.
But never before have I painted it on the morning of July 7, 2018, with a couple of good Philmont friends keeping me company in the brilliant glow of daybreak.

And I've never painted it 38 days after the Ute Park fire exploded across Philmont's central country scorching over 27,000 acres of The Ranch's very heart outlet & soul.

Nor have I ever painted it 11 days after lightning ignited the Morris Creek fire on Philmont's south boundary, where it torched over 1,600 acres. I've never painted it two days after Philmont made the staggeringly difficult decision to close its backcountry for the season — the only time in its 80-year history.

And I've never painted this view on the very day that the Philmont Staff Association would dedicate its new office & gathering space at Philmont, commencing a new chapter for the PSA.

So this painting — "A Philmont Morning is the Best Kind of Morning" — is a pretty special painting, not the least because 100% of the proceeds -- $2825.00 !!! — from the auction of it was donated to the PSA's Fire Relief Initiative. This fund will help Philmont with critical and vital restoration projects in the aftermath of the 2018 fires.

And now these prints are being sold as an additional fundraiser for the Fire Recovery.

Thank you for supporting & loving Philmont!

NEEDLESS TO SAY... this is a perfect gift for anyone who loves Philmont!

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SPECS ABOUT THE PRINTS:

TITLE: A Philmont Morning is the Best Kind of Morning
KIND OF ART: Giclee print/reproduction of an original oil painting by Dawn Chandler.
MEDIUM: Printed with archival inks on beautiful 100% rag watercolor paper.
EDITION: Special Limited Edition of 200 small prints each signed and numbered by Dawn Chandler.
ARTIST'S PROOF: There are 10 "sample" Artist Proofs.
PRINTED IMAGE SIZE: 7.5" x 10"
PAPER SIZE: 8.5" x 11"
PRESENTATION: Printed on beautiful heavy white watercolor paper and stored in a clear plastic sleeve, carefully placed in a handsome protective presentation envelope.
SHIPPING: Included in price for shipments within the US. Shipped flat, via USPS Priority Mail.

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SPECS ABOUT THE ORIGINAL PAINTING:

TITLE: A Philmont Morning is the Best Kind of Morning
MEDIUM: oil on panel, en plain air, painted on 8 July 2018.
SIZE: 8" x 10"
STATUS: SOLD! The original painting was auctioned in July 2018 as a fundraiser for Philmont's Fire Recovery fund, with dozens & dozens of amazing people placing bids. The winning bid in the exciting final seconds of the auction was for $2,825.00. [!!!] ALL of which was donated to Philmont's Fire Recovery Fund.

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© Dawn Chandler
All copyright and reproduction rights are retained by the artist.
Artwork may not be reproduced by any process.


To view yet more art by Dawn Chandler, please visit her website at www.dawnchandler.com