What is Rock Writing?
The petroglyphs are rock carved designs by ancient man onto canyon walls or rock surfaces. These were created by pecking, scratching, abrading or incising the surface of a dark patinated rock surface so that the pattern would stand out as light on dark: a negative effect. The ancients chiseled the petroglyphs very deeply so that they would be visible despite minimal contrast, sometimes as deep as an inch or more. Paintings or pictographs were executed on light-colored rock in sheltered locations, such as a cave or shallow overhang, where the effect of wind and rain was minimal or non-existant. Given a choice, primitive man probably preferred to paint. Painting was far easier and faster than the tedious pecking of a design into hard rock, and much greater detail was possible. After much research into the rock writing areas of New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado, I found to my dismay, the rapid destruction of these precious petroglyphs and pictographs, which were left for us as a record of a life lived hundreds of years in the past.

These ancient art images are disappearing due to erosion, looting, man's pollution and vandalism.Once these petroglyphs and pictographs are wiped out, they will be gone forever. It is through my paintings of these recorded ancient images that I hope to make the public aware of these precious endangered art forms.