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David Quammen: Cardiologist
Published
7 years agoon
Posted By
Outlaw PartnersBy Doug Hare EBS Staff
If Yellowstone National Park is the “beating heart” of America, than you might say that David Quammen is one of our preeminent cardiologists. Quammen has a feel for the pulse of the park and his writing has a perspicuity that clearly maps out the circulatory system of the complex, untamed plateau.
When National Geographic decided to dedicate an entire issue to Yellowstone in honor of our National Park Service centennial, Quammen was asked to write the entire thing. While Quammen is a contributing editor to National Geographic and an author of numerous books including “The Song of the Dodo,” “The Boilerplate Rhino,” and most recently “The Spillover,” this was the first time in the magazine’s 128-year history that only had one author for an entire issue.
Quammen was the perfect fit. He is equally adept at science, nature and travel writing. His previous assignments have taken him to some of the most remote places on earth. Trips to the Russian Artic, the Congo or the Serengeti have given him a unique perspective on his own back yard.
Quammen lives in Bozeman and has called Montana home for more than 40 years. In his most recent book, in response to Wallace Stegner’s famous comment that national parks are the “best idea we ever had,” Quammen contends, “this ‘best’ idea had mixed origins and … it has always been a work in progress, initially vague, unforeseeably complex, continually evolving, more contentious today than ever.”
“Yellowstone: A Journey through America’s Wild Heart” is a coffee table book. It’s oversized, hard-covered and packed with images from the world’s most renowned nature photographers. While the written content of the book, mostly adapted from the National Geographic special issue, could stand alone, the interplay between stunning images of nature in abundance and Quammen’s careful dissection of issues shaping the park today are mutually reinforcing.
At once, the book celebrates the raw beauty of the dynamic landscape and digs into the conservation challenges still facing the park today.
When it was established in 1872, the idea of Yellowstone National Park was indeed a confused, somewhat inchoate, attempt to frame nature in a giant rectangle. National parks were undeniably a good idea, but we still find ourselves in a paradoxical situation of deliberately preserving nature—what Quammen calls the “the paradox of the cultivated wild”: wilderness contained, nature under management, wild animals obliged to abide by human rules.
Whether he is discussing the science behind brucellosis, the effects of reintroducing wolves, the logic behind slaughtering bison, or the unique geographic features of remote places in the park, Quammen offers us an informative, scholarly perspective while never coming across as being pedantic.
In the end, this book convincingly argues that the name “Yellowstone” refers to more than just a place where Idaho, Wyoming and Montana meet. Throughout the world, the iconic name conjures not just yellowish sandstone bluffs, geysers or a specific bounded region, but a “wild idea in the American mind, a wild place in the American West, a wild heart in the American breast, still beating after 144 years.”
Doug Hare is the Distribution Coordinator for Outlaw Partners. He studied philosophy and American literature at Princeton and Harvard universities.
The Outlaw Partners is a creative marketing, media and events company based in Big Sky, Montana.
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april, 2024
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We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a
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Event Details
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a limited palette to create different color combinations? Are you tired of carrying around 15-20 different tubes when you paint plein air? Have you ever wanted to create a certain “mood” in a painting but failed? Do you create a lot of mud? Do you struggle to achieve color harmony? All these problems are addressed in John’s workbook in clear and concise language!
Based on the bestselling “Limited Palatte, Unlimited Color” workbook written by John Pototschnik, the workshop is run by Maggie Shane and Annie McCoy, accomplished landscape (acrylic) and plein air (oil) artists,exhibitors at the Big Sky Artists’ Studio & Gallery and members of the Big Sky Artists Collective.
Each student will receive a copy of “Limited Palette, Unlimited Color” to keep and take home to continue your limited palette journey. We will show you how to use the color wheel and mix your own clean mixtures to successfully create a mood for your paintings.
Each day, we will create a different limited palette color chart and paint a version of a simple landscape using John’s directives. You will then be able to go home and paint more schemes using the book for guidance.
Workshop is open to painters (oil or acrylic) of any level although students must have some basic knowledge of the medium he or she uses. Students will be provided the book ($92 value), color wheel, value scale and canvas papers to complete the daily exercises.
Sundays, April 14, 21 and 28, 2024
Noon until 6PM.
$170.
Time
14 (Sunday) 12:00 pm - 28 (Sunday) 6:00 pm
Event Details
Trivia from 7 to 9 p.m. at The Waypoint in Town Center. Participation is free, food and beverages available.
Event Details
Trivia from 7 to 9 p.m. at The Waypoint in Town Center. Participation is free, food and beverages available.
Time
(Wednesday) 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location
The Waypoint
50 Ousel Falls Rd