This is an original oil painting by Ruth Housley.  My husband and I took a trip through the Caprock Canyon area.  We traveled on Route 207 from Chrildress  where we stayed, then went to Memphis, Silverton and Claude which was a very pretty scenic drive.  We did see some bison in the Caprock Canyon State Park but with the high fences, we could not get close enough to take photos.  The scenic drive between Silverton and Claude crosses both Tule and Palo Duro Canyon area.  this dramatic change in scenery marks the eastern edge of the Great Plains and the Prarie Dog Twin Fork If The Red River.  It threads among the jumbled, broken remants of the plains of the United States.  From Memphis on Route 256 West traverses rolling country often cut by tributaries, plains, and then ascends the Caprock in a spectacular drive and colorful cliffs and canyons.  Cayrock Canyon is near Turkey and Quitaque which is pronounced (Kitty Quay) which is an Indian name.  On Route 256 we seen wild turkeys standing on the road and I did get a photo of them.  Caprock Canyon State Park covers 13,950 acres and is one of the state's  most scenic regions.  The erosion  has carved spectacular landscapes at the edge of the Caprock with colorful cliffs and canyons as well as abundant wildlife in the park.  Some of the canyons are rugged and the Caprock escarpment winds down into the famous Red River Valley. 

I took photos of Caprock Canyon, Texas and the ruggedness of the canyon and plains were interesting to paint.  The sun shining on the canyon rocks was very inspiring to put on canvas.  I also wanted to put some wildflowers in the painting for added interest. 

This was done on a 16x20 linen canvas.