This is Throwback Thursday #295. In these, we look back into the past at ESCONI specifically and Earth Science in general. If you have any contributions, (science, pictures, stories, etc …), please send them to esconi.info@gmail.com. Thanks!   email:esconi.info@gmail.com.

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Don Auler and his wife Dorothy were very active with ESCONI from 1967 until 2002, when Don passed away at the age of 84.  Both of them served on the board of ESCONI in various capacities.  They were a fixture at the annual ESCONI shows.

Don was a very good artist. He did the artwork for the “Creature Corner” and ESCONI “Keys” books. He also was known for doing little painting on various mineral slabs. His paintings were integrated will the mineral colors and grain. In Throwback Thursday #211, we highlighted his painting of a freighter on a slab of Kona dolomite from the Upper Penninsula of Michigan. Kona dolomite is between 2.1 and 2.8 billion years old and is made up of fossil stromatolite, which are blue-green algae fossils. The rock is pink due to iron pigmentation from the surrounding rock and can also be found in shades of brown, yellow, cream, red, and orange.  It’s highly sought by collectors and stone workers for it’s beauty and workability.  Here it is again.

This week, while organizing items for the live auction at the ESCONI show on March 21st and 22nd, 2026, we ran across a couple more of his slab paintings. Both appear to be a desert scenes on Kona dolomite.

Here is a nice owl.

And, here is the desert sunset.