The Grand Canyon is aptly named. What could be more descriptive of this mighty array of cliff formations set over such a vast space?

 

Many people, upon first viewing the Grand Canyon, whether from its North Rim or its South Rim at the National Park or the West Rim on the Hualapai Reservation, say nothing but simply stare. There is so much to visually and metaphysically take in. Silence is the most natural reaction.

 

Stillness, Steve Henderson's original oil painting, captures this sense of awe and wonder, in tandem with a reverence and honor toward nature's majesty. This latter sensation is one that we all too easily lose in the process of checking out the gift shop, or figuring out where we'll be eating lunch, or reviewing our travel schedule on the phone to see where next we are supposed to be.

 

It is a time and place to simply be still.

 

Supporting the Parks and Places of Natural Beauty

 

While the natural tendency of many human beings, when encountering a place of majestic beauty, is to stand quietly and view it, other people quite unfortunately think differently. Investment and financial acumen factor so strongly in their way of thinking that when they see pristine beauty their first thought is, "How can we develop this to make a profit off of it?"

 

Within the United States, the regional, state, and national park system is supposed to counteract the irreversible damage done by unfettered development for the profit of a few. Sadly, politics is more speech than action, but there are places -- like the Grand Canyon in the Southwest -- where pristine beauty has been preserved in some form for people to experience and enjoy.

 

Paint the Parks is a non-profit organization that encourages artists to paint these protected places of beauty, and encourages art lovers to purchase these works. In support of treasured natural beauty, Steve participates with Paint the Parks, donating 10 percent of the sale price of original paintings on his Supporting National, State, and Regional Parks page to the non-profit association or foundation connected to the park in which the image is captured.

 

Stillness is one of these paintings, with 10 percent of the sale price of the original painting designated toward the Grand Canyon National Park or the Hualapai Nation (the painting purchaser chooses which of the two) when it is purchased at this link.