Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

Artist Ane Carla Rovetta’s recent open house at the Mono Lake Committee

Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

This post was written by Barbara Ball, 2014 Information Center & Bookstore Manager.

Did you have a chance to come to artist Ane Carla Rovetta’s open house and demonstration this past weekend at our Lee Vining store?

Artist Ane Carla Rovetta captures the Mono Basin landscape using pastels she makes herself from soil and clay. Photo courtesy of Ane Carla Rovetta.

Watching her demonstrate how she harvests soils and clays and creates her own pastels was fascinating. Learning the history behind this method of painting was also eye-opening. For example, she mentioned that barns in Pennsylvania are painted red because the original paint was created from clay and milk—both abundantly found in that area. Who knew?

Ane Carla prepares to make a brick-red pastel chalk with a young fan. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.

If you didn’t get the chance to meet Ane Carla and witness her creative process, there is still time to come in, view her amazing paintings, and maybe even purchase one as a gift or for yourself. You can also register for her pastel painting seminar, coming up June 27–29, for a chance to learn directly from her. Hope to see you here soon!

Making pastels during the weekend’s demonstration. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.
Ane Carla’s shades of paint created with soil and clay. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.