Adventure Journal

Our adventures in the Hocking Hills...

Categories:
DustyBlues 2022 Review
DustyBlues 2022 Review
January 6, 2023  |  Hocking Hills
DustyBlues Gallery reflected back over the holidays on what an amazing year we experienced! We thank our patrons so much for your support and friendship and look forward to seeing you in our future.

DustyBlues' year began with several client projects...

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Hocking Hills Lodge and Conference Center
Hocking Hills Lodge and Conference Center
September 30, 2022  |  Hocking Hills

DustyBlues Gallery are excited to announce the new Hocking Hills Lodge and Conference Center opening.

DustyBlues is a signature artist at the new lodge and we have curated 45 large framed artworks for the interior space of the lodge...

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Hocking Hills Legends
Hocking Hills Legends


The Moonville Ghost

Local legends, myths, folklore & the supernatural in the Hocking Hills:

The Legend of Old Man’s Cave: Old Man’s Cave is a beautiful gorge of Black Hand Sandstone that was formed over thousands of years of geologic erosion, mainly due to the last glacier in Ohio from 14000 to 17000 years ago stopping just before reaching the Hocking Hills...

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Cantwell Cliffs
Cantwell Cliffs

Address: Ohio SR 374, Rockbridge, Ohio 43149

GPS Coordinates: 39.539822, -82.575880

The Cantwell Cliffs area helps define the rugged natural beauty of the Hocking Hills State Park...

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Hocking Valley Photography Group
Hocking Valley Photography Group
Hocking Valley Photo Group - Bowen House 2020

The Hocking Valley Photographers Group will host their annual exhibit at the Bowen House beginning with an Open House on Saturday, August 29th.

Dusty & Val are pleased to be a part of the exhibit...

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Inn at Cedar Falls
Inn at Cedar Falls
Check out the DustyBlues Gallery at the Inn at Cedar Falls!!


A special Place  Hocking Hills Cabins, Yurts, Cottages and Bed & Breakfast Rooms Strong Wolk Cabin
We stayed at the Inn at Cedar Fall's Strong Wolf cabin (shown above) in our first visit together here so many years ago...
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Hocking Postcards
Hocking Postcards
DustyBlues is pleased to introduce our new portfolio of Postcards from the Hocking Hills.  The history of our country is locally told so often with post cards stories. We have developed Hocking Hills Post Card Impressions for your consideration...
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Classic Americana
Classic Americana
October 2019

This special bridge is a link to our Americana past in many ways. The romanticism of the covered bridge in early American life as a wonderfully engineered span of safety across many hindrances...

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Men at Work - The Bowen House
Men at Work - The Bowen House
September 2019
The Annual Hocking Hills Men at Work Exhibit at the Bowen House features many of the Hocking Region's finest men's art. Dusty is proud to represent the DustyBlues Gallery with his artwork again this year...
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Hocking Valley Photographers Club Annual Art Show
Hocking Valley Photographers Club Annual Art Show
Hocking Valley Photography Group Exhibit Hocking Valley Photography Group presents the annual Art Exhibit at the Bowen House. Join Val & Dusty at the Bowen House for the Opening Reception on July 19th...
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June Skies
June Skies
June 2019

A rare night in June with no moon and clear skies. This is a stack of 15 images of the Milky Way as it stretched from the Southern skies overhead. The planet Jupiter is shining brightly in the lower left...

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May Flowers
May Flowers
May 2019

May flowers are springing forth in abundance and variety.

We spent several mornings so far in various locations of the Hocking Hills crawling along the ground capturing the diversity of nature...

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Rapunzel's Plunge
Rapunzel's Plunge
April 2019

An early Spring morning and a brisk hike found us peering over the abyss at Rapunzel's Plunge. Fed by its sister, Cinderella, this is one of the few falls allowing the vantage point to easily capture it glory...

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The
The "Road to Hell" Tree
March 2019

One of the intriguing stories of these Hills is the "Road to Hell" tree tale. 

An Indian hunting trail wound through the valley between present day Laurelville and South Bloomingville...

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High Water Everywhere
High Water Everywhere
February 2019

A Cascading Old Man's Cave Creek. 

Slipping out early on a mid-week day after several continual days of rain gave rise to many contemplative locations. This classic view held sway for me for quite some time as I paused to reflect on the evolution of these hollows from innumerable floods such as this...

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Blood Moon
Blood Moon
February 2019

The Full Blood Moon

A frigid night yet powerful emotive forces were at work. I silently watched and gathered periodic captures as the Earth's shadow shrouded the moon...

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Christmas Eve Adventures
Christmas Eve Adventures
December 2018

An early morning hiking adventure to Parish Rocks.

Val and I researched this location and with the expert advice of local friend and neighbor, Aaron Fox, we trekked here with no problems...

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Dual Wonders
Dual Wonders
January 2019
November 2018

An easy stroll allowed us to gather in this visual expression of nature's wonder here in the Hocking Hills.

This is one of the easier hikes in the area. A mostly flat paved path meanders down the middle of Conkle's Hollow amid towering Black Hand sandstone walls above...

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Subterranean Plunge
Subterranean Plunge
November 2018

A circuitous route, slippery slopes, a bit of rappelling and we finally discovered an amazing and beautiful plunge Falls. This place typifies how the grandeur of the Hocking Hills evolved over eons...

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Lake Hope Reflections
Lake Hope Reflections
October 2018

Dawn at Lake Hope - A Reflection

An early morning drive led us to an outstanding dawn with no wind. The lakes' surface allowed perfect mirrored reflections and gave Mother Nature expressive moments to show off her finery...

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Fall Impression
Fall Impression
October 2018

Fall Impression

Our morning journey was roundabout but ended here as a thick fog was no match for the rising sun's glow.

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Nostalgic Perfection
Nostalgic Perfection
October 2018

The morning atmosphere was impeccable as the fall glow illuminated this classic covered bridge. 



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Airplane Dawn
Airplane Dawn

Val and I hiked up in the pre-dawn light to watch the full moon descend and consider the sunrise over the hollow. Thursday, October 25, 2018


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Yesterday - Fall In the Hills
Yesterday - Fall In the Hills
Monday, October 22, 2018

Early morning Fall Dawn in the Hocking Hills - A hoar frost crisp day.

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Will You Be Mine?
Will You Be Mine?
October 12th, 2018

 DustyBlues was pleased to have been selected to surreptitiously capture this magic moment when Jeff surprised Stacie with a marriage proposal. Some days the world is just right!

All the best to the newly engaged couple!!


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Autumn's Lovely Smile
Autumn's Lovely Smile

Nature is the art of God - Dante Alichieri

The Hills here are slowly beginning their change. The days are crisper, the temperature is moderated from the stifling summer heat and ever so slowly the colors give the sense of our developing world here...

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Legends of the Hollows
Legends of the Hollows
September 2018

Local legends, myths, folklore and the supernatural surrounding the Hocking Hills:

The Legend of Old Man’s Cave: Old Man’s Cave is a beautiful gorge of Black Hand Sandstone that was formed over thousands of years of geologic erosion, mainly due to the last glacier in Ohio from 14000 to 17000 years ago stopping just before reaching the Hocking Hills...

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Unleashing Creativity
Unleashing Creativity
July 22, 2018

“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last, you create what you will” – George Bernard Shaw

This Journal give some sense of the  artistic development process as one evolves an awareness of creativity...

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The Patriotic Hills
The Patriotic Hills

Taking a leisurely cruise through the back country roads of the Hocking Hills I came upon these three fine steeds grazing. This expression of what America was founded upon really impacted my thoughts...

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Southwest Gallery Additions July 2018
Southwest Gallery Additions July 2018

A long but engaging journey through the back country of Zion National Park. We hiked through streams and a forest valley with little clues of civilization. Finally reaching the end of this box canyon we were rewarded greatly by this double arched sandstone evolution...

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The Hills in Bloom June 2018
The Hills in Bloom June 2018

[wgphoto id=1431 title="Grandma II" caption="The headwaters of Grandma Gatewood's trail through the Hocking Hills inaugurates new visitors to the impressive visions yet to come." prints="yes"]

Val and I spent a morning in the Old Mans Cave gorge a week ago...

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Emotional Qualities
Emotional Qualities
May 1st, 2018

As we developed a knowledge of our inner worlds of mind, consciousness, perceptions, feeling, instincts, and expressions the thought occurred: "What would the inner brain/mind appear like when experiencing various emotional states?" How would a microscopic view of the neurons firing and the wash of chemical reactions appear? What creativity and inspiration is required to develop images digitally that often gave rise to these same emotions and bring about compositions from these, depicting our perceptual world of emotions and feelings? After several years of contemplation and efforts,we have developed our constructs of these in this portfolio...

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Dappled Morning
Dappled Morning

Cedar Falls in Bloom

Looking back at the wonder of a great day at Cedar Falls this past year, we wait with anticipation for it's post Winter renewal this year. We have seen some of the hardier tourists beginning to visit and on the week-end the Main Park areas can have quite a few parking spots filled...

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Vernal Equinox
Vernal Equinox



The Vernal Equinox

The Earth and Sun perform their yearly dance. The Sun crosses the Vernal Equinox that typically indicates Spring is near. This morning it seemed quite hard to tell as an overnight snowfall graces the early yellow daffodils...

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Idle Force of Nature
Idle Force of Nature
April 2018

Spring Bloom

The idle winds of nature are slowly, slowly pushing aside old man's winter grip and diminishing the cabin fever in so many. Daffodils recently began their golden glow and the feathered migrations bring new and delightful songs and sightings every day...

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Grandma Gatewood
Grandma Gatewood
March 2018

We have always been amazed with the story of Grandma Gatewood. Hiking the Appalachian Trail straight through at age 65. These were the early days of the Appalachian Trail and many sections were not complete...

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New DustyBlues Gallery Area - opening soon
New DustyBlues Gallery Area - opening soon
March 2018

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Airplane Rock
Airplane Rock
October 2017

Fall Dawn – Airplane Rock…


Predawn and Dusty & I hiked up to Airplane Rock for a great Fall morning. The solitude and memories gave a sense of visiting an old friend.

We arrived early in the dark and renewed our thoughts from our previous visits as to a composition that conveyed the emotion of the moment...

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Troll Bridge
Troll Bridge
January 2018

"Far to the north, or indeed in any direction, strange mountains and creatures have always lurked- elves, goblins, trolls, and spiders:-we encounter them in dread and wonder...

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Dreams of Glory
Dreams of Glory
December 2017

"Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside dreams. Who looks inside awakens." Carl Jung


At a recent arts festival I spent some time with a fellow artist talking of our “Dreams of Glory”...

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