The background moves to the foreground
The white in the background at the top of yesterday’s photograph came from the rocky cliffs along Capital of Texas Highway north of FM 2222. The most recent cliff faces were formed about 40 years ago when the roadbed was cut through for the highway.
In the four decades since then, the forces of rain, seep water, gravity, wind, sun, bacteria, and no doubt other things have been at work in some places to alter the vertical face of the exposed rocks. This post shows three of those textured areas as they looked on June 19th.
© 2017 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Especially in the upper left quadrant of the first photo, the impression of sags really caught my eye. I’ve been fussing all week over a large vertical surface, trying to get my varnish to stop sagging. It’s been a little rocky, but I’m hoping that today will be the day.
The crack in the second image brought to mind a petroglyph of a person running.
shoreacres
June 30, 2017 at 7:23 AM
Ah, conditioning: your work gives you an impression of sags, while I think more about Impressionism. Let’s hope today proves to be an anti-sag Friday for you. And now I have to wonder if you’ve been rushing around; if so, it could have conditioned your reaction to the crack in the second image.
Speaking of petroglyphs, we saw just a few on our most recent trip. Too bad the closest ones to Austin are hours away.
Steve Schwartzman
June 30, 2017 at 8:02 AM
Interesting textures, the last shot would could pass for an abstract expressionist painting. I had much the same reaction to the 2nd shot as ShoreAcres, a figure leaping about, dancing along with Kokopelli. Maybe listening to “Gonna take a sedimental journey”
Robert Parker Teel
June 30, 2017 at 7:56 AM
That’s an excellent play on words: sedimental journey. I’m sorry to have to tell you that geologists have beaten you to it:
http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/eij/article/sedimental_journey/
Like you, I thought about abstract art. Now I wonder if any gallery owners have cut out panels of rock like these and passed them off—at exorbitant prices, of course—as works of abstract art.
Steve Schwartzman
June 30, 2017 at 8:27 AM
Yeah, I know the sedimental journey is an old gag, but a good one. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if a gallery could get away with that, like prehistoric Jackson Pollock.
Robert Parker Teel
June 30, 2017 at 9:03 AM
Or, to continue with terminology from the humanities, postmodern Jackson Pollock.
Steve Schwartzman
June 30, 2017 at 9:11 AM