71 of 80

|

Oregon is blessed with an array of topography, with a distinct dividing line separating its east from its west. The Cascade Range proudly delineates the fertile and lush terrain of Western Oregon from the mostly barren and arid landscape of Central and Eastern Oregon.

East of the Cascades is the "High Desert", a land sparse with vegetation but not devoid of it, where hot summers are starkly contrasted with bitter winters. Both regions share the frequent presence of crisp blue skies. Clouds greet the High Desert regularly but not with the consistency west of the mountains.

Descending into Central Oregon from Portland along Highway 26 brings visitors into the area of Warm Springs. As a child, my family frequented Warm Springs annually. Each July we would spend a week at The Cove Palisades State Park, a small enclave of Round Butte Overlook Park, where hundreds of acres of massive, craggy cliffs and dry, rock-strewn ground surrounds the majestic azure water of Lake...

At 15, Scott suffered a spinal cord injury while playing ice hockey, a sport he’d played since he was five. This left him “medically defined” as a c4 quadriplegic. Scott admits he can be a bit bull-headed at times. He refused to paint following his accident, because he didn’t want to hold the brushes using his mouth. To him, painting without using his hands would be as if he’d given in to being a quadriplegic. He didn’t want that! Unless he could paint like “normal” people, he didn’t want to paint at all. And so he didn’t. Finally, in 2003, after much prodding from family and friends, he decided to swallow his pride and try painting. Of course, he first tried holding the brush with his hands. But it didn’t work; the brush...