Dominik wants to reach out and share this experience with collectors and admirers. This page shows images and text from Dominik as he ventures through extreme conditions. Check back daily for updates and enjoy his latest creations on his page.

TRAVEL BLOG:

September 13, 2009   KENAI PENINSULA

  Rain, rain and more rain. Trying to do some work under the tarp. Tomorrow I am picking my friend Jon at the airport in Anchorage. I am looking forward to some company. He and I will travel east along the Chugach mountains and maybe down south towards Vadlez. It all depends on the weather.

September 12, 2009   KENAI PENINSULA

  I left my camp spot and moved slightly north towards Anchorage in hope to see some glaciers around W but no such luck. It totally overcast and pouring rain. I used the occasion to stop at W where you have to drive through enormous long tunnel which you share with the train. Since there was not much there besides a huge cruise-ship and railway station I returned through the tunnel and set camp along the river. I am not too inspired by all the clouds but work has to continue and I always find something unique in each environment.

September 11, 2009   KENAI PENINSULA

 I painted intensively in and around Granite Creek which gave me good views of the surrounding mountains. Today for a change I have some sun so it is easy to work outside.

September 10, 2009   KENAI PENINSULA

 I left Anchorage already tired by its hustle and bustle and drove along the coast towards Kenai Peninsula. The coast was covered by low hanging clouds and it began to rain. As I entered the mountains, I soon found beautiful campground near Granite Creek. The colours are just beginning to turn here and exiting to witness it all over again. I set the camp in the pouring rain and since I had few hours of light left, I stretched my gray tarp and created a painting shelter. The night brought strong winds and heavy downpour. I hope tomorrow will be a better day.

September 9, 2009   ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

 It was nice and relaxing day. In the morning I got some spare parts for the trailer and changed a worn out bearing on one of the trailer's hubs. In the afternoon I stocked up on supplies and read for the rest of the day. Sometimes it is important to do absolutely nothing to recharge the creative energy which I noticed was going low after so many days of intense painting. Tomorrow I will go south to Kenai Peninsula and explore some of the colours there.

September 8, 2009   ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

  I woke up around 3 AM from being cold; it was well below zero. I found my wool hat and was able to fall asleep again. It is never easy to get up in the morning when your shoes and water bottle are frozen. But once you get moving your body adjusts, warms up and is ready to face other day. After a pancake breakfast I painted the wetlands below my campsite, one of my favorite subjects.  At lunch time I returned and took the camp down and returned to Denali Park Road and headed to Anchorage. It was a time for a hot shower and some well deserved rest. Anchorage is a very large city beautifully positioned along the Gulf of Alaska with the surrounding Chugach Mountains. I will stay here through tomorrow, relax and get some new supplies for the new adventure.

September 7, 2009   DENALI HWY

  I spent my day painting the tundra focusing on multilayered compositions. The mornings are cold and frosty but it warms up to a comfortable temperature during the day. I feel again such strange pull from this landscape, somehow it overtakes me, engulfs me, lures me in. It is comfortable but at the same time very unsettling.

September 6, 2009   DENALI HWY

  Another beautiful day on the tundra. I spent the morning and early afternoon painting the view of Nenana River with beautiful yellow poplars framing its banks. But as much as it is a painters’ paradise, it is a hard existence on the body and mind. I think at times I don't give myself enough credit for the type of painting I am doing. It is not easy to be alone among this great landscape and maintain focus of painting and photographing everyday, day after day. I think the First Nations people were weary, rightly so, of some places around them. It can alter your mind and you can lose yourself in it. This great expanse of tundra has an addictive quality to it. It is overwhelming but so compelling. I feel I should stay here and never come out.

September 5, 2009   DENALI HWY

  This morning I left Denali N.P. and after catching up with email I headed out to Denali Hwy about 50 km from the junction. The weather is fantastic although in the mornings we already have frost. I arrived at the spot that I memorized on the way in, a beautiful outcrop of rock overlooking huge vista of the Alaska Range. In the afternoon it was so warm that I actually was working on my tan while painting (if you can call this a tan). This is my kind of landscape with lots of foreground, interesting middle-ground and endless background. Towards the evening, I drove to other vista view to wait for appropriate light and took some half decent images. All I can say I am very happy to be here, it is a trip that I wanted to do for over 15 years. I hope in next few years to bring my son Alexander here and share some adventures together. The night was filled with beautiful moonlight and it was a perfect day in a life of this painter.