John Muir

By Brian DeYoung

Piece description from the artist

I was able to catch a glimpse of the reason John Muir HAD to return to the Sierras so much during his life over this past summer. I love that I was able to use one of my photos from that trip as the background for such a great man. It's also nearly overwhelming to know that, because of the National Parks Service, the area has been protected since Mr. Muir explored there, so the scenery is almost exactly what he was looking at. I hadn't read any of his books before the trip, but I am in the middle of 'My First Summer in the Sierras', and every day in his journal sounds like the few I had there as well, a truly magical feeling!
"The most extravagant description I might give of this view to anyone who has not seen similar landscapes with his own eyes would not so much as hint its grandeur and the spiritual glow that covered it."