"Treasure Valley"  South Eastern Oregon 

Central  Idaho Region Paint-Out 2002

The Treasure Valley Region is a newly established pastel area in the Pacific Northwest.  An area better known for watercolorists, this section of South central, South eastern Oregon and West central Idaho has been looking for an opportunity to express itself in Pastels.  With the selection of this area for the 2002 NPS Expedition, the opportunity for sharing the beauty and character of pastels was possible.  With enough people in this area to begin building a working pastel interest group, the NPS established the "Treasure Valley" region.  This provides the use of NPS resources as an assistance to the local artists who want to make pastels a permanent part of their chosen media.

The Memorial weekend of 2002 began the NPS Expedition to two Oregon State Parks just south of Ontario, Oregon.  Invitations were sent out to artists throughout the territory to join the NPS on its weekend, and to share our medium with whoever wanted to learn.  There was no lack of interest.  On Saturday, May 25th, the NPS hosted a reception for local artists.  A slide presentation was given by Jean Findley of the Vale Office of the BLM.  Following that slide presentation, John Knapp (NPS board member) gave a talk on the use of pastels.  A computer was set up with a "slide show" of pastel art from the 2001 Seattle Convention Center International Show.  At the conclusion of the reception, plans were made for meeting the following morning and painting.

We started on May 26th, Sunday, at about 10:00 AM with a caravan of cars leaving Ontario for Succor Creek Canyon.   Connie George and Mary Ann Kaplan of the BLM were our guides.  Connie, a watercolorist, was looking forward to trying pastels.  As we traveled through Succor Creek Canyon the caravan stopped many times to take pictures.  The picture to the right is one of those pictures. As we traveled along further, we came upon the entrance to Leslie Gulch.  We had decided to paint in Leslie Gulch.  Our time spent in Succor Creek Canyon was therefore spent taking pictures, and meeting other artists.
Reaching Leslie Gulch, we were overtaken by some spectacular scenes.  Here is a sampling of what we saw:
	The Treasure Valley represents new opportunities for pastel artists.  The unusual beauty in this region provides painting locations which are within close driving time from any location in the northwest.  With a new interest in the pastel medium, I look forward to the creation of a new NPS region with new talent.  I am looking forward to seeing their names on the NPS roster and their paintings in shows.
I will be making arrangements for NPS instructors to go to the Treasure Valley in this next year to give more individual attention to the development of these new pastel artists.  If you have something to offer these talented people, do feel free to contact them.  I have listed some of them below. John Knapp Expedition Coordinator and NPS Webmaster