 |
||||
 |
||||
 |
||||
 |
|
|
|
|
Tuzigoot Project
Get To Know This Site!
Table of Contents!
This online gallery was started by Mr. Thomas as a place to display his early and current work. At the time he was doing oil painting demonstrations in the lobby of the Old Town Gallery in Flagstaff, Arizona. As webmaster, it is now my assignment to keep it organized and connected to sources where his work is being published. Enjoy, John Vroom
These LINKS take you to various publishing sources where you can view many reproductions and gift items from Mr. Thomas' originals. Any purchase supports this web site's development.
Rebuilding Tuzigoot - Verde Valley Sinagua Archaeological Ruin
Photo ŠJHThomas... Today Tuzigoot is a rebuilt system of pueblo room blocks situated on a hilltop running on a north south alignment, in a wonderful proximity of the Verde River.
~~~~~~~~
April 12, 2002... the beginning
Dear Reader, I've accepted a commission to interpret the local Tuzigoot Prehistoric Sinagua Ruin into an original oil painting which will represent (to the best of my ability) how it appeared near the end of its greatest development, somewhere in the early part of the thirteenth century, just prior to the generally accepted abandonment. I will use this page to record my research, input from my consultants, my digital experiments, my drawings and my working steps of the final oil painting. I believe that this will be educational and entertaining on several levels, different for each person. Feel free to look in throughout the project.
This oil painting assignment follows the same work recently done for Wupatki National Monument, for the same client.
Step by step research and painting...
Tuzigoot TODAY
The Tuzigoot Ruin is found in the Verde Valley of central Arizona.
The lower red dot on this relif map of the Southwest indicates the Verde Valley region. The upper small red dot indicates the location of the Wupatki National Monument. This shows the distance and relationship between these two pueblos.
This photo, by Tom Danielson, is featured on the cover of the Tuzigoot guide book published by SPMA.
I've discovered that the ruin is nearly impossible to photograph in a way that captures every room block. I've decided to be heavily influenced in my painting by this perspective, from the hills to the east of the Verde River, even though it doesn't show the room cluster at the bottom of the hill near the farming fields.
Geographic Reference
You may find this interesting! This is the Tuzigoot National Monument as it appears TODAY from space, this is a satellite photo, courtesy of USGS. Again this verifies that the pueblo is perfectly aligned north and south, important for various purposes in Sinagua life.
Compare its features with the scale map below:
This map really shows how river erosion created and provided the perfect home for the people of Tuzigoot. At one time the river flowed around the north and eastern side of the Tuzigoot Pueblo which was built on top of this 150 feet high remaining ridge of limestone and sandstone. Hundreds of acres of river bottom flatland was available right at the base of their residence, plus a spring fed marsh was to the north.
(from original map from Museum of Northern Arizona Reseach Paper: Tuzigoot- An Archaeological Overview by Dana Hartmann, 1977)
I've added shades of gray in 5% increments to help you visualize how steep and organized this old limestone knob really is. This is a scale drawing of the stabelized room walls and visitor paths as they appear today. You can see how the rooms actually stair step their way down the slopes. Of particular interest are the additional rooms at the bottom of the hill, on the east side, located adjacent to what was apparently well developed farming areas a thousand years ago.
Snapshots of Public Version Today:
This photo, taken in April 2002, really shows how the rooms were perched on top of this hill, perhaps as a fortress, certainly for the commanding view. You also can see how this vicinity looks during a drought, compared to the more lush photos taken during the rainy season, featured in the publications.
Same slope looking back down the hill. The current half finished room walls look like a pyramid shaped egg carton.
Here's a slightly closer view of the rebuilt walls, making it apparent that the stones used were collected local limestone and miscellaneous river rock.
This is, I'm sure, an effort by the National Park Service to interpret how the outside walls probably looked when "stucco-like" wall mud was plastered over the surface of the finished walls.
The next page features my extrusion experiments, prior to actually painting.
Information YOU can USE
The connection between your success and your command of the English language is well known. Be a better writer.
Self Improvement
that PAYS OFF !!!