I’ll be showing my fine art prints at Pandora’s Backpack in downtown Bend for the 2009 spring Art Hop on April 3rd.  Pandora’s Backpack is located at 920 NW Bond Street, Suite 101 Bend, Oregon.   The Spring and the Fall art hops are the most highly promoted and anticipated of the First Friday events in downtown Bend.  Typically it is an exciting, festive evening, so please stop by and patronize the arts!  Things tend to start to kick off at about 5PM and wrap up at about 9:30 PM.   I’ll be there with my fine art prints and, homemade easels  a smiling face and a few new images.  Below is one of the images I’ll bring along which has been lightly shown but has received rave reviews from the Aspen tree lovers in Oregon.  

Aspen grove in fall near skyliner drive west of Bend, Oregon

 The pure density of the fall foliage in this aspen grove picture makes it an enjoyable and festive image to view.  I’ve always been a huge fan of aspen trees and aspen groves in that they seem to have a special energy.  While I won’t divulge exactly where this photo was taken, I’ll tell you that it was taken west of Bend and it probably isn’t where you’d think it is!   I’ve searched all around Central Oregon and I had very little luck with aspen groves until I found this scene.  If you are an aspen lover, I think you’ll enjoy this photograph.  The Next image is one I captured while backpacking along the Broken Top trail with my good friend Old Mike Croxford who is currently on an extensive post retirement road trip.  Click here to read more about Old Mike’s Road Trip.  Old Mike is a great adventure partner because he can carry a lot of weight, he doesn’t complain, he loves the great outdoors, and because he makes coffee in the morning!  I remember how pleased i was to return from taking sunrise shots adjacent to Broken Top Mountain in the Three Sisters Wilderness area and find that not only was Old Mike awake but he’d already made coffee.  Excellent!

Picture of spring wildflowers along the flanks of Broken Top in the Central Oregon Cascades

 The combination of senecio, red indian paintbrush, and alpine fireweed make a playful wildflower foreground with one of broken Top’s pinnacles as a background.  This is a very alpine area where it is difficult to find great flowers like these.  I’ve never found an official name for the small glacial lake in the mid-ground of this picture but my friend Dave Nissen of Wanderlust Tours refers to it as No-Name Lake which is as good as an official name as far as I’m concerned.    When anybody who is as gifted of a naturalist and as sharp a person as Dave has a name for something,  I don’t need any other references.  Therefore, my official name for this lake is “No-Name Lake”.

     This next picture is a favorite of both my wife and my good friend, Big Todd.  It was taken somewhere near Alder Springs Trail Head south east of Sisters, Oregon.  I’ll have it at the art hop but my wife will be mad at me until I put it back over her dresser, unless of course I sell it!  It is my favorite grouping of Bitterroot blossoms in an area managed by one of my favorite charities, the Deschutes Land Trust.  It really is a special area and a great early spring day hike as it is relatively low in elevation and has some diverse and beautiful terrain but if the balsamroot are blooming, please beware because the rattlesnakes are out of their winter hibernation!

Photo of bitterroot blossoms near Alder Springs trailhead in Central Oregon

 This final spring art hop preview picture is of one of central Oregon’s favorite locations, Tumalo Falls.  I shot this photo with my daughter in a driving rain.  Despite the associated gusting winds, the rain was helpful.  It served to enhance the saturation of the scene that was already at it’s peak of fall color.  despite the fact that one can find hundreds of pictures of Tumalo Falls, this is still my favorite.  The combination of color, composition, memories and a long exposure make this photograph a strong representation of a beautiful location.  

Picture of Tumalo Falls near Bend, Oregon

    Please stop by  and say “Hello” if you happen to be out in downtown Bend  during the upcoming spring art hop on April 3rd.  I’ll have the above fine art prints there as well as many others.

I Hope to see you all there!

Mike Putnam