Postcard from Northeastern Washington

If you have followed this blog for any length of time, you may have noticed that I enjoy creating digital paintings of broken down pickups and larger trucks. Well, here is another one…done in the Japanese Moku Hanga style.

My fascination with these old trucks started up in Northeastern Washington, a sparsely populated corner of the state near both the Idaho and Canadian borders. There are a few small towns here and there, but once you head north on highway 25 out of Davenport, the flat plains fall away and you enter some beautiful hills and mountain country.

This is also where you find most of the old trucks you have seen here in previous blogs. Sometimes I think there are more old abandoned trucks and cars up here than people. You find them in junk yards, in fields, sitting by the side of the road, and, in one case, under an apple tree.

No matter where I find these old trucks, they often make great subjects for paintings and sketches. Some of these paintings sold quite well when I was on the road doing art shows. I remember one show up in Montana where I sold out of every old truck print in every size.

Besides discovering old abandoned vehicles, there is much more to see and do up here in this far flung corner of America. Just outside the city of Republic, there is the Stonerose Fossil Site where you pay a small fee and quarry for 50 million year old fossils including shells, insects, fish, leaves and twigs, and bird feathers…and you get to keep them. I still have a small collection of ancient fossils I dug up on my visit.

Just barely south of Canada, we discovered China Bend Winery hidden away in the lush mountain greenery one finds that far north. I was surprised at the high quality of their wine being that the area is subject to some pretty severe winters. But the owner did his homework and found the right wine grapes that would not only survive, but thrive in these conditions. Trust me, their wines are delicious. 

And if old barns are your thing, there are plenty of them to see. Some are standing and some are not necessarily standing up straight. I photographed several of those, to be sure.

This part of Washington is a great place to get away from people and everyday city life. You can probably leave most of your electronic devices behind as there is little connectivity up here. We are talking about a return to the stone age…but a really beautiful stone age.

(To see a larger version of this image, just click on it)

To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page.