A project of Plumas Arts and the Plumas National Forest, the Artist in the Lookout Residency 2017 was awarded to writer Margaret Elysia Garcia (left) and painter Sally Yost (right).  The Artist in Residence program provides a unique opportunity for an artist to spend four nights at the Black Mountain Lookout to draw upon the breathtaking landscapes of the Plumas National Forest for inspiration.
Paintings by Sally Yost © 2017. Above "Butterflies, Black Mountain Lookout," oil on canvas. Right, "Lazuli Bunting and Honey Lake from Black Mountain Lookout," oil on canvas.
Writer Margaret Garcia will be presenting a chap book of poems and prose inspired by her time at Black Mountain entititled "What the Wind Brought Me." All photos by Maggie Wells, ©2017.
"Day 2. If Inuit have 50 words for snow, I’m pretty sure I now have 100 descriptives for wind. There’s rattle the windows wind. There’s feels like the Look Out will slide down the hillside wind. There’s slight breeze through the Manzanita bushes. There’s okay, this building was built in 1937 with single paned windows. What are the odds they’d all break now on my watch wind. There’s billowing. There’s roaring. I’ll save you from any more description now."       – Margaret Elysia Garcia