Below are some of my favorite
images which I suggest as fine art
for home or office. Click any image to see more from that area:
Natural Abstract Patterns:
Above:
An orange and green leaf rests on polygons of orange and gray lichen in Denali State Park, Alaska. See also Fall colors & patterns of Alaska.
Travel tip: Southwest USA and Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park in USA/CANADA offer many amazing natural patterns concentrated in a small geographic area.
Left:
Jagged teeth in Lower Antelope
Canyon, a beautiful water-carved slot canyon at Page, Arizona, USA.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Below right: Colorful slot in Lower Antelope Canyon.
(Click
any image on this page to
see more from that area.)
Left: Colorful fractured rock pattern, on the hike to Hidden Lake
in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA.
(Click the image to see more from the area.) See Abstract nature patterns of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.
Above right: Fossilized seabed ripples in Glacier
National Park (Montana, USA), which has some of the best
concentrations of rock patterns that I have seen in the
world. (Click the image to see more from the area.) See Abstract nature patterns of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.
Exfoliating rock pattern. Glacier
National Park, Montana, USA.
(Photo
by Carol Dempsey.) (Click the image to see more from the area.) See Abstract nature patterns of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.
Young swimmers & snorkelers explore the beautiful sandstone
Painted Cliffs of Maria Island National Park, Tasmania. (Click any
image on this page to
see more from that area.) (Click the image to see more from the
area.)
Below: Grand Prismatic
Spring is the largest
hot
spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Yellow algae grows in the hottest
water, followed by orange, brown, and green algae in progressively
cooler
water exiting the hot spring. Yellowstone National Park was established
in 1872 as the world's first national park, and now it is now part of
the
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem which extends across parts of Wyoming,
Montana,
and Idaho. It is now also recognized as an International Biosphere
Preserve,
a World Heritage Site. (This panorama combines three images; scroll
right
to see all):
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Below left: The last wave of high tide left these small waves of brown
algae foam on the sand at Seaside, on the Oregon coast, USA. It
resembles a fractal pattern.
Below right: a rainbow of sandstone
colors in Valley of Fire
State
Park,
Nevada, USA:
Left: Closeup section of a Coral Hydnum mushroom (Hericium
coralloides)
[taken from the image below right]. Wenatchee National Forest.
Washington.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Below right: This Coral Hydnum mushroom (Hericium coralloides) is
about 4 inches tall and edible. Wenatchee National Forest. Washington.
Above: I was fascinated by the colorful coastal sandstone Painted
Cliffs of Maria Island National Park, Tasmania, AUSTRALIA. (Click
the image to see more from the area.)
Above: Natural patterns in the sandstone "Painted Cliffs" of Maria
Island National Park, Tasmania, AUSTRALIA. (Click the image to see
more from the area.)
Left:
Grass frozen in thin ice on a puddle creates an intriguing
pattern. Champoeg State Heritage Area,
Oregon.
Left: Natural patterns in the sandstone "Painted Cliffs" of Maria Island
National Park, Tasmania, AUSTRALIA. (Click the image to see more
from the area.)
The lichen-covered Remarkable Rocks at sunset. Flinders Chase
National
Park, Kangaroo Island, South Australia, AUSTRALIA. (Click any
image on this page to
see more from that area.) (Click the image to see more from the
area.)
Left: The Tessellated Pavement is a unique natural geologic wonder
in Tasman National Park, Tasmania, AUSTRALIA.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Below right: The Remarkable Rocks are fascinating natural granite
sculptures.
Flinders Chase National Park, Kangaroo Island, South Australia,
AUSTRALIA.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Left: The Wave, Coyote Buttes, located on the Arizona side of Paria
Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness Area, which is public land managed
by
the United States BLM. (Click the image to see more from the area.)
Below right: Pancake rocks at Punakaiki, Paparoa National Park,
NEW
ZEALAND.
[Published in Sierra
Magazine, Sierra Club Outings January/February 2004.]
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Above: The Wave, Coyote Buttes, located on the Arizona side
of Paria
Canyon-Vermilion
Cliffs Wilderness Area, which is public land managed by the United
States
BLM. (Click the image to see more from the area.)
Left: Orange algae grows in the hot outflow from Grand Prismatic
Spring, and brown and green algae grow on the cooler edges. Grand
Prismatic
Spring, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
Small terraces at the base of Palette Spring, part of Mammoth Hot
Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.:
Left: Orange algae coats small terraces of Grand Prismatic Spring
(2004). Two people reflect on the surface. Yellowstone National Park,
Wyoming.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Below right: Orange algae grow in hotter water than brown
algae.
Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Left: Smooth wet stones on Pictured
Rocks National Lakeshore, Lake Superior, Upper Peninsula,
Michigan. (Click the image to see more from the area.)
Above right: Jagged exfoliating rock pattern, Glacier National Park, Montana. (Click the image to see more from the area.)
Left: Spines of a sea iguana in breeding colors, Galápagos
Islands, ECUADOR. (Click the image to see more from the area.)
Jagged peak in Banff National Park, Alberta, CANADA. (Click the
image to see more from the area.)
Smooth exfoliating rock pattern. Glacier
National Park, Montana. (Click
any image on this page to
see more from that area.) (Click the image to see more from the
area.)
Above: Rock etched into polygons by lichen. Yoho National Park,
British
Columbia, CANADA (Click the image to see more from the area.)
Left: Water drops on maple leaf in late September. Superior National
Forest, Minnesota. (Click the image to see more from the area.)
Left: Fall squash harvest in Minnesota.
Left: Steaming hot water formed these travertine terraces at Mammoth
Hot Springs (1998), Yellowstone National Park. In 2004, these terraces
had dried up, as shown on the right. The total outflow of Mammoth Hot
Springs
stays the same every year, but shifts between different locations.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Colorful mold on rotting log. Yoho National Park, British Columbia,
CANADA. (Click the image to see more from the area.)
Left: Tree trunks in late September, Porcupine Mountains Wilderness
State Park, Michigan. (Click the image to see more from the area.)
Left: Birch trees on the edge of Lake Superior. Porcupine Mountains
Wilderness State Park, Michigan. (Click the image to see more from
the area.)
Below: Liverwort plants, Yoho National Park, British Columbia,
CANADA.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Left: A husk of birch bark found on the beach at Pictured Rocks
National Lakeshore, Lake Superior, Upper Peninsula, Michigan. Image#
"03MI-G0020-BirchBarkHuskRocks". (Click the image to see more from
the area.)
Below right: Coral mushroom, Wenatchee National Forest,
Washington.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Rainbow Falls, Cape Otway National Park, Victoria. We stayed at
Bimbi Caravan Park, and hiked 5 miles round trip to this stunning
orange
travertine waterfall located on a remote coast with wild white beaches,
AUSTRALIA. (Click the image to see more from the area.)
Left: Meteora,
GREECE: The Greek word Meteora means "suspended in
the air", and our words meteorite and meteorology come from the same
root.
The conglomerate rock at Meteora has eroded into fantastic peaks upon
which
medieval monks built monasteries, several of which are still active. In
1988, UNESCO declared Meteora to be a World Heritage Site. (Click
the image to see more from the area.)
Below: Serrano Glacier seracs, located on the fjord "Seno de
Ultima
Esperanza"
(Sound of Last Hope), a day trip via catamaran ferry from Puerto
Natales, CHILE.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Left: Landscape Arch at sunrise. Arches National Park, Utah.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Cracks in mud. Paria River, Utah. (Click the image to see
more from the area.)
Below: Sandstone layers. Vermilion Cliffs, Utah.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Capitol Reef NP: Exfoliating sandstone pattern. (Click the image
to see more from the area.)
Left: Bull Valley Gorge. Utah. (Click any image on this page
to
see more from that area.)
Below: Ridges east of Mount Rainier, Washington.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Below: Fall colors in
Superior National Forest, Minnesota. (Click the image to see more
from the area.)
Left: Lichen covered old growth trees in Deception Pass State Park, Whidbey Island, Washington.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Below:
Sandstone pattern by Carol Dempsey. Valley of Fire State Park,
Nevada. See
Page 8 NV: Valley of
Fire
State Park (Click the image to see more from
the area.)
Above right: Fluted patterns have eroded into a bluff of volcanic
tuff
across from Uçhisar Castle, in Ancient Cappadocia, TURKEY.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Left: Eucalyptus bark peals off into many colorful patterns in Royal
National Park, NSW, AUSTRALIA. This park offers a great 7-mile day-hike
loop through native Palm Forest, bluffs, and beach, a convenient day
trip
by rental car or train, south of Sydney, NSW. A 3-foot long goanna
(monitor
lizard) surprised me with its boldness and size. A pair of huge forest
parrots impressed us also. Best of all, I spotted a rare Lyrebird
running
silently across the trail in front of me.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Below right: Colorful bark on gum trees (eucalyptus) on the
Overland
Track. Cradle Mountain-Lake Saint Clair National Park. Tasmania,
AUSTRALIA.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Left: A small grub forms these wiggly patterns under the bark of
the Squiggly Bark Gum, Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park (14 miles north
of Sydney), NSW, AUSTRALIA. (Click the image to see more from the
area.)
Eucalyptus Bark, Royal National Park, NSW, AUSTRALIA. (Click the
image to see more from the area.)
Left: Wilson's Promontory National Park, Victoria, offers a
beautiful
variety of coastal scenery, tidal estuaries, and easily seen wildlife,
AUSTRALIA.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Below right: Fire is a necessary and natural part of the
lifecycle
of eucalyptus forest, to the dismay of people in adjacent cities.
Ku-Ring-Gai
Chase National Park (14 miles north of Sydney), NSW, AUSTRALIA
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Left: Close-up view of giant lupine flower bud, Peru. (Click the image
to see more from the area.)
Inca Trail, PERU: The spines of this alpine plant may discourage
hungry animals. (Click the image to see more from the area.)
Below: Maple leaves.
University of Washington Arboretum.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
TURKEY: Total solar eclipse corona, 1999.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Below right: Five-Finger Fern
(or Western Maidenhair, Adiatnum
pedatum
aleuticum), in Twin Falls Natural Area, Ollalie State Park, in the
Cascade
foothills of western Washington.
(Click any image on this page to
see more from that area.)
False Lily-of-the-Valley, Maianthemum (Lily Family), on hike to
"Lake 22", Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Below: A pattern of girders on
Deception Pass Bridge, Whidbey
Island,
Washington, USA.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Above: Andes highland village & fields near the Vilcabamba
Range,
PERU. (Click the image to see more from the area.)
Ancient pre-Inca experimental agricultural terraces of Moray, PERU.
(This image also available in vertical format.) (Click the image to
see more from the area.)
Left: Nevada
City, a ghost town in Montana, USA: Reflections in old-style glass.
(Click the image to see more from the area.)
Weathered wood siding in the gold mining ghost town of Bodie. Bodie
State Historic Park, California. (Click the image to see more from
the area.)
Left: Corn, or maize, is native to the Americas, and Peru grows
cobs with especially large kernels. PERU. (Click the image to see
more from the area.)
Above right: Here at the ruins of Tambomachay, the Incas diverted
a spring through impressive stone work. The Incas perfected stonecraft
to a degree which amazes us today. Not even a piece of paper can fit
between
stones in the finer temples. Near Cuzcu, PERU. (Click the image to
see more from the area.)
Above: Salinas salt mines above the Urubamba River, PERU. (Click
any image on this page to
see more from that area.) (Click the image to see more from the
area.)
Exterior of 2004 Seattle Public Library, Washington, USA. (Click
the image to see more from the area.)
Above: Petroglyphs on Newspaper Rock, Canyonlands National Park,
Utah. (Click the image to see more from the area.)
Left: "Abstract concrete,"
Washington. (Click the image to see more from the area.)
Silhouettes of photographers on Mount Nemrut, TURKEY . (Click
the image to see more from the area.)
Click any image above to see more from that area.
See also: Abstract nature patterns of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park ~ Fall colors & patterns of Alaska ~ Desert
Landscapes ~ Sand patterns on the Oregon Coast
Copyright 1981-2008 by Tom Dempsey. Photographs or text may not be copied without permission.