MONUMENT VIEW ORIGINAL PAINTING

MONUMENT VIEW 15″ X 24″ acrylic on masonite board. 2020. Monument Valley, known to the Navajo as Tse’ Bii Ndzisgaii, or ‘Valley of the Rocks’, is part of the Colorado Plateau and the Navajo Nation. This group of sandstone buttes has been used in so many motion pictures that it presents an image that symbolizes the American West. How was one region in the southwest blessed so many, shall we say ‘monumental’ rock formations like Monument Valley? The intense red coloring of the rocks and even the sand is caused by iron oxide in the siltstone originating from the valley floor. The darker blue gray rocks get their color from manganese oxide. Major rock formations include West and East Mitten Buttes, Merrick Butte, Hunt’s Mesa, Eagle Mesa, Sentinal Mesa, Brigham’s Tomb, Castle Rock, Stagecoach, Spearhead Mesa, Mitchell Butte, Gray Whiskers, Elephant Butte, Sitting Hen, Rooster Rock and King On His Throne.