As an artist and Spokane native, I am endlessly inspired by the beauty of our local landscapes. To sit beside an alpine lake and watch the sunbeams kiss the mountains, to slumber amongst giants in an old growth forest . . . such places, just beyond our doorstep, are breathtaking.

I was raised on the trails, mountains, and lakes of our surrounding area and took my son for his first backpacking trip at the age of seven. After my son graduated this year, being an empty-nester and not even 40 got my wheels turning. There’s a big old beautiful world out there waiting for me to explore and paint!

I converted an old Chevy van into an art studio on wheels and decided to immerse myself in the wild places that offer me such inspiration. I set out to explore every inch of the Northwest.

Admittedly, that’s an impossible task. With millions of acres of public lands, from state parks, national forests, and wilderness areas to BLM, DNR, and county and city park land, I feel like a kid in a candy store. The Northwest has it all: vibrant colors, moody atmosphere, rich textures, and curious wildlife. The opportunities for adventure and beauty are endless.

I strive to create works of art that capture the places I visit and people I meet. But my deepest goal is to capture that feeling of love for the great outdoors with my paintings.

I paint not with brushes like most artists but instead by using my fingers and hands. You will often find mountain landscapes, vibrant sunsets, hikers, bikers, paddleboarders, and wildlife in my paintings. These works, in which I’m literally elbow deep in paint, are expressions of pure love, passion, and admiration for the outdoors.

The trails and public lands I’ve been visiting offer me such inspiration that I decided it was time to give something back. I began doing volunteer trail work with Washington Trails Association, and then after riding the trails at Beacon/Camp Sekani, I knew I wanted to paint a mural there.

I worked with Evergreen East and Spokane Parks & Rec to get permission for the painting, which ended up being on the garage door at the entrance to the park. Inspired by an image by Spokane photographer Aaron Theisen, I painted a vibrant, explosive piece depicting one of our local riders, Alex Anderson, sending it into the sunset. [Editor’s note: Theisen is also an OTO contributor.]

The mural at Beacon was my first public work of art, and while there painting, I was inspired by all of the people out enjoying the trails. This 46-mile trail system is one of the largest in the state and has rides for all abilities.

Unfortunately, much of Beacon’s epic trail system is still on privately owned land. Evergreen East Mountain Bike Alliance has been working with the public lands agencies that manage the land as well as some private land owners to raise the funds needed to acquire some of the properties that many of the trails pass through.

If they succeed, their efforts will combine what are now four separate chunks of park land into one large park and trail system that will be protected for generations of riders and trail users.

To learn more about Evergreen’s efforts to make Beacon public or to make a donation, visit www.evergreeneast.org/trails/campsekanibeaconhill.

The author’s backpacking gear, new mural at Camp Sekani, and mobile art studio. // Photos courtesy Christina Deubel.

Christina Deubel is a Spokane artist currently traveling around the Northwest in her van. You can find more of her work by following her on social media at @mnttidings or on her website Mountaintidings.com.

For more art-related stories, visit the OTO archives.

The post Spokane Artist Inspired By Northwest Public Lands appeared first on Out There Venture.

October 26th Agenda:

• Introduction (11:00 – 11:30 AM)
• Group Rides & Bike Safety Check (11:30 – 12:30 PM)
• MTB Skill Games(12:30 – 1:00 PM)
• Chili Pot Luck (1:00 – 1:45 PM)
• Clean-up/Q&A (1:45 – 2:00 PM)

Contact: spokanevalleymoose@gmail.com, or youthmtbspokane@gmail.com

The post Washington Student Cycling League: Team Orientation & Ride appeared first on Out There Venture.

October 5th Agenda:

• Introduction (11:00 – 11:30 AM)
• Group Rides & Bike Safety Check (11:30 – 12:30 PM)
• MTB Skill Olympics (12:30 – 1:00 PM)
• Taco Bar Pot Luck (1:00 – 1:45 PM)
• Clean-up/Q&A (1:45 – 2:00 PM)

Contact: spokanevalleymoose@gmail.com, or youthmtbspokane@gmail.com

The post Youth Mountain Bike Team Orientation appeared first on Out There Venture.

The Fat Tire Trail Riders Club will be building intermediate-level wood features for the Beacon Hill skills park this week. Help ’em out!

Wed. August 26, 10AM – 2PM
Saturday August 29, 8AM – 1PM
Sunday August 30, 1PM- 6PM

Meet at the Skills Park in Camp Sekani.
Bring work gloves and tools (shovel, Hammer/small sledge, post hole digger, chainsaw) if you have them. Drinks/snacks will be provided.

The post Beacon Hill Work Days appeared first on Out There Venture.

Double Down Hoe Down, March 2009. // Photo Jon Synder

Another great downhill race takes place at Beacon Hill this weekend. If you missed the Double Down Hoe Down now is your chance to make amends. Bicycle Butler will present the Beacon Blowout this Sunday, April 26. These races are almost as fun to watch as to participate in. Full face helmet required.

The post Get Ready To Blowout Beacon Hill appeared first on Out There Venture.

I know it’s hard to believe, but someday soon there will actually be dust on mountain bike trails in our area–not just wet, muddy, slime. To help hasten that day we present this freeride video shot at Beacon Hill. This is one of the videos mentioned in our current cover story. Read it here if you haven’t already. And please send more YouTube videos of cool outdoor stuff in Spokane. I promise we’ll post them.

The post Imagine Actual Dust: Spokane Freeride Video appeared first on Out There Venture.

The Double Down Hoe Down is coming to Beacon Hill this weekend, with races on both Saturday and Sunday. Each day will also have a kids downhill race. Why not lube the chain and give it go? Tell ’em OTM sent ya.

The post First Downhill Race of the Season appeared first on Out There Venture.

This just in from the Fat Tire Trail Riders. They have been doing some awesome work on the Beacon Hill Mountain Bike trails and now they need some map help:

GPS-ers wanted for Beacon Help
Posted by: “konagal77” konagal77@yahoo.com konagal77
Wed Dec 3, 2008 6:41 pm (PST)

Looking for a couple of folks who like to GPS to ground check some
more trails on Beacon for us. We’ve done a lot of our inventory and
map development through aerial photos, but as we get more and more
permissions from landowners that give us the OK to ground check
data…well, we need some folks to do it.

GPX format is acceptable, then our GIS whiz can get the trails into
the data base.

We need a good accurate track of the Esmerelda trail,Shields Park and
a few other select parcels outside of Camp Sekani. If you want to
help, let me know and I’ll send you a marked parcel map.

Jon our GIS map genius guy, has tips for data collection here
http://www.switchbacks.com/maps/NW_Trails.html#support

thanks,
Penny S (and the Beacon Project folks)

The post Want to Work on a Cool GPS Project? appeared first on Out There Venture.