"O Yosemite!" Light, Land, and Legacy

This fall, Christopher Queen Galleries has been featuring a showcase of the timeless majesty of Yosemite through O Yosemite, a group exhibition honoring one of America’s most iconic landscapes.

The show brings together contemporary voices and historic works, bridging a gap between the past and the present that celebrates Yosemite’s power to inspire artists across generations.

Each piece reflects my ongoing exploration of light, atmosphere, and the emotional resonance of place. Yosemite has granite and waterfalls, sure. Beyond that, it is a living stage where seasons shift, moods deepen, and stories unfold in color and shadow.

My Yosemite Series

This body of work moves through grove, granite, river, and vista. Each painting is a contemplation of the quiet drama of nature.

“The Dead Giant of Tuolumne Grove”

Gouache on toned paper. 4x9 inches.

Vanessa and I hiked our way down to the hidden grove of Tuolumne. Among the sequoias we explored was this behemoth of a stump that had been hollowed out. A quiet homage to Yosemite’s layered history, this small gouache painting captures the solemn grandeur of a fallen sequoia. Its hollowed trunk was once a tourist attraction to drive cars through. Tuolumne Grove holds stories in its bark and shadows, and this piece invites viewers to pause, reflect, and walk through the threshold of time.

“Stone Chorus”

Oil on panel. 6.5 x 8 inches.

As we strolled around the magnificent Tuolumne Grove, we took in many lovely vignettes like this one. A symphony of granite and pine, this small oil painting captures the rhythmic interplay of boulders and trees on a sunlit hillside. Each stone sings in its own register: warm, angular, resonant. The vertical rise of evergreens offers a counterpoint of stillness. Yosemite’s terrain becomes music here, composed in color and form.

“Good Evening, Captain”

Oil on panel, 9 × 12 inches.

El Capitan catches the last light of day, its granite face glowing with quiet authority. In this small oil painting, the mountain becomes a sentinel: steadfast, golden, and contemplative. A portrait of Yosemite’s most recognizable icons, held in color and form.

“Glowing Granite”

Oil on panel, 10 × 7 inches.

Yosemite’s cliffs catch fire with the last light of day, reflected in still water, framed by pine. Glowing Granite is a meditation on contrast: warmth and coolness, stillness and verticality, fleeting light and enduring stone. Though this painting depicts a still and quiet moment, actually capturing it was anything but. I had to scramble via foot and car from spot to spot before I finally found a good view of the light striking one of the giant cliffs surrounding the valley.

“Quiet Between The Pines”

Oil on panel, 12 × 12 inches

Another scene from the Tuolumne Meadows where water mirrors sky, and pines stand in quiet communion. A moment of stillness in Yosemite’s heart.  We were struck by the quiet unspoiled beauty of this particular area.

“Drifting Through The Meadow”

Oil on panel, 12 × 19 inches

You can tell I was really awestruck by the Tuolumne Meadows at this point, right? The Tuolumne River winds through the meadow, its surface catching fragments of sky, stone, and pine. This painting invites the eye to follow the water’s path, pause at the boulder’s stillness, and rise toward the distant peaks.

“Bridalveil Descent”

Oil on panel, 40 × 12 inches

A ribbon of water falls from granite heights, framed by trees and sky. This painting really captures Yosemite’s elemental grace: where motion becomes meditation, and the sheer drop of Bridalveil Fall becomes a testament to gravity and grandeur through the reflection of light .

“Yosemite Valley Vista”

Oil on panel, 22 × 28 inches

A sweeping view of Yosemite Valley from Big Oak Flat Road unfolds in this painting where granite cliffs, forested slopes, and glowing sky converge in quiet majesty. The warm evening light bathes the peaks in rose and gold, inviting the viewer to stand still and take in the vastness.

Visit the Exhibition

O Yosemite runs through the remainder of 2025 at Christopher Queen Galleries in Duncans Mills, California, so be sure to visit before it ends.

You can explore the exhibition online at Christopher Queen Galleries.

Closing Reflection

Yosemite is not just a place; it’s a presence. Through paint, I’ve tried to honor its peacefulness, its grandeur, and its invitation to discover our place in the world reflected in its vastness. These paintings are not just landscapes; they are emotional waypoints, each one a quiet conversation between light and the natural world it illuminates.

I hope they offer you a moment of reverence. I hope they inspired you to pause. And I hope you will share in the experience at "O Yosemite."