High Rise Adventures

When I first saw Darrell's "High Rise Adventures" book I was excited to work in the vertical format.  We had recently returned from a trip to wine country where we went on a hot air balloon ride.  That would be the inspiration for my pages in his book.

I took my first hot air balloon ride over twenty years ago in New Mexico.  Even though I am afraid of heights, I enjoyed the balloon ride.  The fact that we reached heights of 1500 feet did not really alarm me.  i was much more taken by how peaceful the ride is--once you get used to the deafening sound of the burners.  Since then, despite my on-going fear of heights, I have taken two flights in Napa Valley.
For my background, I used a map which I muted with gesso.  To honor my inaugural flight, I positioned the large balloon to take off from Albuquerque, New Mexico (revealing a picture taken on our recent balloon ride) and the smaller balloon originates in Napa.  I used a penny slide mechanism to mimic the movement of a balloon--up and across the page.

To complete this page, I gathered a few "fun facts" about hot air balloons which I thought Darrell would enjoy.  The page pops open to reveal the list of fun facts.