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Near Page, Arizona is a short but deep slot canyon called Waterholes Canyon. There are two portions of it, and thus an upper and lower version of it. The upper part is lovely and an easy stroll. The lower part includes a 350 foot rappel near the end. When I was going through this canyon with my husband and two friends, we didn't have much information to go on. This can make a 350 foot rappel on Navajo-owned land a bit daunting to say the least. This is not a National Park like Zion where the search and rescue service is in regular use. If you get stuck out here an argument can go on for weeks as to has to go out and rescue you from your own insane actions. I really don't blame the Navajos a bit for not wanting to spend their money and meager resources on it. It's just something that crosses your mind more than once when faced with a problem.

We did run into some other people in this canyon. They turned back at the big drop, since they didn't have the ropes for it. We had the ropes for it, so we were going down. It was getting late, and we hoped like hell our boat ride back to Lee's Ferry would wait for us. We had decided not to bring camping gear, there were weather issues. We were attempting what was originally supposed to be a two-day trip, in one day. Needless to say, when we rapped down this cathedral like setting, I knew we were in the mother of all waterholes.

The sky was turning dark and threatening. If you can imagine sliding down a 500 foot wall right along the path that a flash flood would take, you can understand the butterflies in my stomach. Not to mention you are dangling hundreds of feet in the air! In my painting, I wanted to express that ominous feeling I had, but at the same time the awesome place I was experiencing, for the first and probably last time. It was dreamlike. Huge cracks and flakes ran up the shear walls. There was a curvature to this giant hole and I imagined myself like a tiny gold fish in a sandstone fishbowl. The crack I had wedged my whole body in during my descent, now looked more like a hairline crack in a giant teacup. The amphitheater that was a giant waterhole curved around me. I was feeling amazingly small. I was imagining what it would be like to see that crack as a flowing waterfall, slowly filling the sandy bottom. The ground beneath me was soft sand, pummeled into fine grains from floods of the past. We were experiencing this waterhole in an unusually dry state. In my painting I wanted to show some sense of scale, so I added the greenish water running down the varnished walls, this was most fortunately only imagined. After getting our rope stuck and sadly deciding to abandon it, we scurried down the last rappels and made it to our ride just in time. We cashed in a lot of lucky coupons that weekend and I swore I'd never do a rappel that high again. We'll see how long it takes me to forget that statement.

I just wrapped up my first ever promotional video. It was so much fun to make, I decided to write a blog about it. For those artists out there, who are thinking of ways to market yourself, perhaps you might want to give this a try. Every day I seem to think of new ways I can use this little three minute diddy to further market my artwork. The best part is, it was fun to make.

The way the technology is these days it didn't take much. I used video editing software that came with my computer, and a simple point and shoot digital camera on video mode. With the help of a friend for the action scenes and a tripod for the rest, I was able to take enough shorts to compile a sensible narrative about my work and painting process. Just think of it as an artist statement on steroids. And the nice soundtrack in the background? Well, that was a royalty-free $12 purchase from a cool website called DAWN Music. Of course all the rest of the material used is all me. My stills and my script. It is important to be mindful of copyright laws. Also, my advice is to keep it short. I had a hard time keeping mine to three minutes. When I first started it, I was doubtful I could fill thirty seconds. It's amazing how quickly you can fill a video short. Can you hear how fast I am talking? In my next video I'll try to slow it down a bit.

Think of it like a commercial about you and your work. Define the main points you want to get across to your viewer. Speak to your audience in an honest, sincere voice. We're artists, we can get away with some informalities. With the new age of YouTube we can post our videos for free. People can access them from anywhere, and who knows who might just happen to come across it one day. Perhaps your best customer ever! Have other artists out there made videos similar to this? I'd love to check them out. Please send me a link.

Link to my video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqev3wRRbDs

It's also on my website at www.bkelso.com.

Beware of the snake in the grass. This image was inspired by the brown snake of Australia, a particularly potent venomous snake, and surprisingly common. Ironically this painting happened to attracted a snake of another kind, the fraudulent internet art buyer! I almost became a victim of fraud just today, and wanted to share the experience with the art community so that you will be wary of that particular snake in the grass.

As artists, we generally tend to be good natured people, who believe in the good nature of others. I have to admit, all I was seeing was green-backs when I received an order via email for two original paintings and one giclee print. I was so flattered by the potential buyer's comments that they were, "true masterpieces," and would look stunning in his new home in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that my inflated ego got the better of my judgement. At first I thought, well, I'll believe it when I see the check. The buyer indicated he would be sending me a cashier's check in the mail. When a company check arrived a few days later, postmarked from Texas, with a California address imprinted on it, red flags began to fly. The check was issued from my own bank, which made for a smooth deposit. Why the check cleared, I still don't understand. Don't be fooled by this. The check was mysteriously for less than the invoice I had sent. The buyer informed me now over the phone from Malaysia, that he had reduced his order and wanted me to pay his cartage company out of the remaining funds, a whopping $3,000+ USD. This would include international shipping of other personal items of his such as a couch and loveseat, computers, chandelier (fancy), and baby furniture (nice touch). Strange, I thought, why is he making me pay for all of this? Still, my hopes of showing a year of profit, clouded my thinking, and I proceeded with the instructions given to me by the shipping company. After talking with the shipper, Kenneth Walstrom, of Flystream Movers, California, who had a distinctly thick foreign accent, about how MoneyGram was concerned about my transaction, and feared fraud, I began to realize there was a true snake in the grass here, and I was being a fool. So as they say, when it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Well, it was.

Needless to say, after about ten phone calls, a visit to the bank again, and to the police station, the transaction went uncompleted. I was disappointed as my hopes of a payday faded with the setting sun. A warning to all you artists out there, double check with your bank about any suspicious checks. I was lucky that my good instincts kicked into gear before I lost thousands of dollars and potentially my valuable artwork as well. Be careful who you share your personal information with. These criminals now have my home address, two email addresses, and two phone numbers of mine. Even though they didn't get my money, I still feel pretty violated. The police and bank manager informed me that there have been many, many incidents like this reported, and like the brown snake of Australia, is quite commonly encountered. The stacks are piled high of complaints from victims like me, but there is nothing done about it. You have to watch out for yourself, as no one wants to hear your violins after you've lost your money. The money I had deposited and that showed up in my account so easily would have just one day been removed as easily as it had appeared once the fraud was discovered. This can take days, weeks, even months to occur. Meanwhile, there would be some guys out there toasting to my foolishness, over some Dom Perignon at my expense, while my personally treasured artwork would be on sale out of the back of a van somewhere for a pittance of it's worth.

Yesterday I got to travel through the Maze! A local favorite here at Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, it is a true oasis in the desert. From above on the ridge near Bridge Mountain the Maze is a long deep crack. Being the middle of summer hiking up to drop in point in 108 degree temperatures calls for some extraordinary efforts. It took us a bit of huffing and puffing and about 3 hours of slow ascension from Willow Springs. Even the 2 foot long rattle snake I nearly stepped on at the ridge was too hot to move or rattle!

It was a relief to drop into that crack, a place mostly traveled by animals in search of refreshment. It turns into a sexy slot very early on. Small basins known as potholes dot the pathway down and are filled with clear rainwater and hundreds of tadpoles just waiting to grow large enough to hop their way out into the world. I make a wish for them in passing that they'll either see rain soon have their metamorphosis completed before all the water evaporates.

The upper section has some cool formations to rappel down. One trickles with water flow, like the image I have painted. The water below collects into pools so deep you have to swim your way out. The water is very chilled here and a wetsuit is required. From extreme heat to extreme cold, you have to be prepared for anything in the canyon. Sun leaks in over the towering walls above, and occasionally finds it way to the bottom to warm you up before the next big drop.

Deeper in the canyon there are full-fledged frogs. They've found the party. They peek at us curiously, not knowing any fear of humans. The lower section drops even more dramatically providing us with longer rappels, until we exit through a tunnel of sorts and become visible again to valley dwellers. This drops falls 200 feet and is a running waterfall, covered in mossy growth. From the distance of the scenic loop you would never even see it. A true hidden oasis and a joy to the senses, my trip through the maze was full of amazing sights.