Bristlecone on the Blue

Barbara Whipple

In addition to her work as a visual artist and writer, Barbara Whipple was a nature enthusiast after whom a trailhead was named in Buena Vista, Colorado. She found inspiration in the many parks of the American West and often created works of the flora she came across, including this ancient bristlecone pine, framed against a background of woodgrain.

Bristlecone pines are famous for their resiliency and hardiness in unwelcoming environments, sprouting from dolomitic soils where virtually no other plants can grow and needing very little rainfall to thrive. Whipple captures their characteristicly stout, twisted trunks, their strange, tangled forms forming a powerful depiction of the force and determination of nature.

After Whipple's signature in the lower right margin are the initials "GH", those of her husband and fellow artist Grant Heilman, a photographer who sometimes assisted her in printing her works.