In national parks, Petaluma painter draws inspiration

Artist Mary Fassbinder plans to visit all of the nation’s 59 parks in three years, capturing their splendor with plein air paintings that will be compiled into a book to promote conservation.|

Generations of photographers have sought to document the rugged beauty of America’s national parks by capturing the unparalleled panoramas that abound in the untouched wilds.

Petaluman Mary Fassbinder also aspires to depict the wonders of the 59 national parks, but with more unconventional means – plein air painting.

Her journey began in August 2014, when she decided to take three years to explore each park in the expansive national system, setting up her easel to paint in the open air at each of the unique venues.

“I’m 57 and friends have passed and people get sick and life keeps you from doing what you might even conceive having a dream of doing,” the Illinois native said. “Something happens and you get sick and you can’t do it ... I thought I better do something big, something you can’t get done in a week.”

Fassbinder, who taught herself to paint more than two decades ago and owns a frame shop and gallery in downtown Petaluma, traveled to Ohio to buy a 1984 Westfalia van, a journey that marked the first large-scale trip she’d undertaken alone.

She started her trek at Isle Royale National Park, a remote island cluster in Michigan bordered by the brilliant blue waters of Lake Superior, before traveling on to seven other parks in two weeks, arriving back in Petaluma 4,100 miles later.

Armed with a 40 pound backpack filled with paints and supplies, she’s since traveled to a total of 35 national parks in nearly 20 states.

At each park, she seeks the recommendations of those with an intimate knowledge of the terrain, with the hope that she will discover a magical spot that strikes her with inspiration.

“I go to the ranger station or the visitor’s center and I pick out a ranger or a docent and ask where their favorite place in the park is, and I put my blinders on and I try to go there. There’s so much to see in each park - each one could take me a year to get through,” she said.

She’s painted hidden rivers in Michigan, trees towering above murky water in South Carolina swamp lands, and daunting caverns in Mammoth Cave National Park, spending about two hours in each location to complete a painting.

“I’m looking for that little light that goes off in the back of my head and that connects me to feeling like ‘Yep, this is it,’?” she said. “You feel it in your tummy and you’re nervous and excited and it’s a good feeling. I immediately connect and I have to work on getting rid of the outside world and hone in on my work.”

She’s been met with challenges - ferocious bouts of thunder and lightning at Rocky Mountain National Park, precarious scrambles up icy cliff faces and unfavorable conditions that have driven her out of the park lands, but nature’s defiance hasn’t slowed her down. She’s aiming to visit 24 more parks by October 2017, with plans to compile her works into a book to bolster appreciation for the century-old parks system and promote the continued conservation of the lands and their resources.

“It’s about the big picture, no pun intended, of making sure these beauties are preserved,” she said. “If people don’t see them, if it doesn’t get out there, enough people won’t care.”

Though part of her mission has been to increase the visibility of the natural beauty in the parks, it’s also been a process of self discovery, she said.

“I’ve discovered that I actually have faith,” she said. “People have faith in different ways - religion, church and god - mine is general faith. I’ve made a decision to do something and I have the faith that it will all be taken care of. It totally changed my life.”

She’s offset her traveling expenses with sales of her work from her Fassbinder Picture Framing and Gallery, where she offers paintings from her time on the road, portraits and local landscapes.

A map with pins marking the parks she’s already visited hangs on the wall of the 900 Western Ave. shop, and she described the process of charting her course as “serendipitous.”

“I’ll finish a project, come back to the shop, work for a few weeks, and one day I’ll think, ‘The weather’s looking good in Washington, let’s go to Washington next week,’?” she said. “And inevitably, someone will come into my shop buy enough of my plein air paintings that it will allow me to take the trip - it’s happened every time.”

She’s logged 20,000 miles in planes and behind the wheel of her Westfalia, and her next trip to Kings Canyon National Park is already planned, she said.

“The more I’m out there, the more intrigued people are,” she said. “I’m getting comments on Facebook from people that I met in Isle Royale and people that I’ve met through the parks are following me and they think it’s very intriguing that a painter is doing this work. Photography has been done and will continue to be done, and it’s a great medium for sure, but this just adds a little more complexity.”

Fassbinder’s national park plein air paintings will be displayed at Ice House Gallery from Oct. 22 to Nov. 2. More information about her work can be found online at maryfassbinder.com.

(Contact Hannah Beausang at hannah.beausang@arguscourier.com. On Twitter @hannahbeausang.)

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