The Art of Geology: Seeing the Wallowas with New Eyes

The Wallowa Mountains' rugged yet serene landscapes are among Nature's finest sculptures. This photo-rich talk, invited by Sharol Chandler to complement her exquisite art, will explore how geology has guided Nature's hand, at scales from minute to majestic, to create the mountains we love and cherish. You'll discover landscapes within landscapes: how swirling patterns in stone reveal processes that birthed the Wallowa's granites, how the huge dark red "stripes" that cut through Eagle Cap formed, and most importantly, how to find and interpret geology's art on your sojourns into our mountains.

Ellen Morris Bishop is a geologist, and an award-winning photographer and writer, who has studied and explored Eastern Oregon's landscapes and now lives in Halfway. She holds a PhD in geology, and is the author of In Search of Ancient Oregon. Her latest book, Living with Thunder: Exploring the Geologic Past, Present, and Future of the Pacific Northwest, was published by Oregon State University Press in Sept. 2025.