Intricate cut and layered paper creates images of plants, animals, and scenery in Zion Canyon. Some images include deer, turkey, butterflies, and also shuttle buses. The background features renditions of the Emerald Pools Trail and the West Rim Trail. In the middle of the image, a large cottonwood tree stands in the middle of a lawn.
Lorraine Bubar, Paper, September 2016
Artist Description: I created this papercut piece, “Angels and Emeralds,” during my September Artist-In-Residency, 2016. This papercut piece, created with an x-acto knife and layering numerous layers of colored papers, captures my experience of the immediate area I resided in. My experience included coming back to the historic Zion Lodge to watch the mule deer and wild turkey gather with the visitors every afternoon around the Cottonwood tree, walking on The Grotto Trail between the Lodge and The Grotto House where I lived and worked that was lined with blooming Datura, and riding the shuttle buses from the crack of dawn to different trailheads and returning after being filled with awe from the majestic beauty of Zion National Park. Being in the park for a month allowed me to immerse myself in the color palette, textures, and hourly change of lighting that is unique to this location. I hiked all of the trails multiple times, especially Angel’s Landing and Emerald Pools because they were right outside my door. I experienced the incredibly dark skies filled with the Milky Way and the beautiful cacophony of sounds when the shuttle buses and visitors were quiet.
I feel very grateful to the National Park Service for giving me this unique experience, especially during the 2016 Centennial Year Celebration. It was truly inspiring. I hope that by donating this work the National Park Service, that visitors will see how the park inspires creative expression. Hopefully, the artwork created by National Park Artist-in-Residencies will continue to motivate visitors to visit National Parks by seeing the unique beauty and qualities that artists capture in their unique art forms and, hopefully, this will also contribute to the conservation of this country’s beautiful outdoors.
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