Adventure Journal Our adventures in the Hocking Hills... Categories: Select Category Hocking Hills Nature Hiking Southwest Emotions Understanding Development 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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. Read more ... Nostalgic Perfection October 2018 The morning atmosphere was impeccable as the fall glow illuminated this classic covered bridge. Read more ... 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 Read more ... Yesterday - Fall In the Hills Monday, October 22, 2018 Early morning Fall Dawn in the Hocking Hills - A hoar frost crisp day. Read more ... 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!! Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... New DustyBlues Gallery Area - opening soon March 2018 Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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... Read more ... 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”... Read more ...