Near Rain Valley Ranch - and Two Mountain Towns

Near Rain Valley Ranch

Oil on canvas, 10x10

When you are a painter, everyone has an idea about where you should go. I love hearing the ideas, and I almost always take people up on their ideas, if I can. 

This week, because people told me I should, I visited Bisbee and Jerome, small Arizona towns. Bisbee is somewhat near Tubac, and Jerome is sort of close to Sedona. 

I think that people sent me to these places not because they thought I'd like to paint them, but just because they thought I would enjoy seeing them. And I did. But in both cases, I was glad to leave. 

Maybe it was just me, maybe it's the effect of doing a lot of standing alone out in beautiful fields, or maybe it's just a mood, but Bisbee and Jerome both seemed just a little too cute for their own good. I had a similar - but much stronger - feeling about Key West. 

I was intrigued by the architecture of Bisbee and Jerome - and by the incredible challenges that builders must have found in those places, building houses up and down steep hillsides - and in the case of Jerome, frighteningly steep hillsides! 

Beyond that, both towns were so geared for tourism that it made me sort of sad. There were great stores in both towns, and excellent stuff for sale - but I felt the lack of "real town." It's a disheartening shift I know well, having watched Stonington Borough, in Connecticut, go from being a real town to being a tourist town. It's not that I don't like what's there - it's just that I miss what is no longer there. 

Also, it is sometimes difficult to remember, on these trips, that I am an artist - not a tourist! The pull to be a tourist is nearly overwhelming at times, especially in places like Bisbee and Jerome, where the focus is on Stuff to Buy. I am not here to visit and see and buy. I am here to paint, to see the soul of the place, the feel the bones of the earth, to find the rhythm of the heartbeat of the land. 

I made this painting on the way from Bisbee back to Tubac. There was a nice overcast to the day, which softened the shadows and enriched the deep colors of the grassland. The wind picked up just as I stopped painting. 

Here's my painting in the landscape

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In Bisbee, in addition to a few great trucks, houses are built up into the sides of the mountains. 

Downtown Bisbee has tons of shops, restaurants and galleries, galleries, galleries. The town was jammed when I was there, on Presidents Day. 

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Jerome is also built into the side of a mountain - a much steeper mountain. And the road to Jerome - and from Jerome to Prescott - is pretty terrifying. I liked both towns, and felt lucky to get out of them without spending all my money.  

Many of the homes in Jerome are perched on the edges of cliffs. I asked one woman if she was scared - and she said that after 11 years there, she'd gotten used to it. 

Fighting fires in Jerome must be quite a job. I saw the trash guys, and let me tell you, getting a big trash truck up and down those steep and narrow streets requires some real skills. 

There was still snow at the edges of the road from Jerome to Prescott! 

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One of you wonderful sponsors sent me to the Granite Dells - which looked like another planet! 

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Dog of the Day

I met this cutie in Bisbee. His human said he was half boxer and "half handsome stranger." 

Afternoon in Madera Canyon

Afternoon in Madera Canyon
Oil on canvas, 10x10

I had never really thought of Arizona as being mountainous. When I had a picture of the state in my head, it was a picture of a flat place, with red rocks and sagebrush and cactis - not amazing, craggy mountains with ragged rocks and bald tops. 

So I have learned a lot. There are plenty of those big, flat open spaces - but at least down here, in southern Arizona, the mountains dominate. And they are gorgeous. 

They capture the light and shadows in wonderful, moving ways, and it is a challenge to paint them - especially on a small canvas! But I like a challenge, and have set out to try to get the feeling of mountains, their bulk and their presence, in my paintings, and especially into these smaller paintings. 

Madera Canyon is a mountainous area just north of here. I imagine it would be pretty spectacular for hiking, as it overlooks more mountains, and to the west, a broad, flat expanse covered with that beautiful yellow grass. 

I painted off the main road on a quite cul-de-sac with no cars whipping by, honking, spewing dust. When I drove up, two deer in the grass bounded away. The rest of the time, I painted undisturbed in the beautiful, warm Arizona afternoon. 

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Madera Canyon is a gorgeous place, with mountains and beautiful yellow grass and great long views. 

When I pulled in to paint, I saw two deer running across the field. 

Ocotillo, the long wavy plants here, get bright red blossoms at their tips in the spring. 

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Dad and I visited a friend of his who lives in the mountains. She's an excellent painter, and her studio looks over parts of her beautiful garden. 

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Dogs of the Day

George (left) and Zack are best of friends. They came to Tubac with their humans, Cynthia and Kevin. Zack and George were such great dogs that they deserve to be the Dogs of the Day. 

Mountain Sunrise

Mountain Sunrise

Oil on canvas, 10x10

It's been great to have time to paint here - and to teach a couple workshops. 

I had three workshops scheduled, and for a while, it looked like lots of folks had signed up. But in the end, I taught, essentially, two private lessons with two lovely women who both wanted to learn to use the palette knife. And they both did great. 

I've been experimenting with color this week, and I am loving the life that these experiments are bringing to my paintings. At first glance, you might think that these Arizona landscapes are brown and brown and more brown. But when you look closely, you see there are tons of colors - in the earth, in the grasses, reflected from the sky, and in the sky itself. 

So I've been pushing myself to see more, and to let my paintings rise up with color. I like them, and hope you do, too. 

My painting in the landscape

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Here's Lois with her first palette knife painting. Lois, who lives in Green Valley, is a fan of the rodeo, especially of bull riding. She wanted to paint Bushwacker, who she says is one of the most famous bulls of all time - only successfully ridden one time. Bushwacker is retiring at the end of the year.

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This saguaro stands in the yard of the house across the street from my dad's. Birds nest in these cacti, in holes that they make - or that something makes. It takes a saguaro 15-25 years to grow its first arm. The cacti can live to be 70 years old!

Isn't this a lovely tree? I could see it from my booth in the Tubac Arts Festival, and I came to admire its shape, the lightness of its leaves, the pretty shadows at its heart. 

Here's Donna, who bought "Kathryn's Brothers." She has a great store in Tubac, and is a delightful person, with lots of energy and good spirit.

He's not the Dog of the Day, just a funny, goofy-looking dog I saw in Tubac. 

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On the final day of the show, one man brought his parrot. The bird didn't seem to mind 

the people or the art.

 

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 Kevin Ireton and I tried on hats while Cynthia Battista, 

his wife and my friend, tried on clothes. 

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Dog of the Day

Cynthia and Kevin stayed in a great place, just down the road in Tumacacari. The woman who owns the place has a gallery in town, and she makes and sells amazing mesquite furniture there and elsewhere. Apparently, there are often cracks and gaps in the grain in mesquite wood. She fills these with turquoise chips, or, if the gaps are wider, with river stones, then covers the whole piece with polyurethene. Jack lives at her place, and is about the sweetest dog you'd ever want to meet. 

Near Rio Rico - and It's Time to Paint!

Near Rio Rico

Oil on canvas, 10x10

The Tubac Arts Festival went on for five days, and I have to say, I am glad it's over. That's just tooooo looooong, at least for me. Someone said that it's a good two-day show that takes five days, and I'd have to agree. 

I sold three paintings during those five days, and I was happy to sell them. Also, I am now represented by a gallery in Tubac, Art Gallery H,  and this is very, very exciting. 

One thing I'm learning about my paintings and art shows is that I don't do well in places where there are lots of retirees. My stuff doesn't appeal to them, perhaps, or maybe it's that they just have enough art already. 

I do believe that if you fall in love with a piece, you'll make room for it no matter what - but first, you have to fall in love. My loud, heavily surfaced, bright pieces are not for everyone, and I know this - and perhaps retired folks are a large part of "everyone." 

A great thing about this show was that Cynthia Battista, my friend from New Milford, CT, had gotten in, and our tents were side by side. We shared a lot of laughs, a lot of gripes, a lot of too bads, too. Being next to a good friend truly does halve the pain and double the happiness. 

This week, I am painting around here. I've been invited to a show near Phoenix this weekend, and am considering it. This morning, I feel that if I never do another art show, that will be well and good. But by this afternoon, who knows. 

My little painting in the big Arizona landscape

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Sonoita Hills

Oil on canvas, 30x30

A number of you who have sponsored me for paintings larger than 10x10, and here's one of the ones I've done so far. It is 30x30, and I painted it standing on the side of the road in Sonoita. I love the yellow grass there, and the ragged mountains, and the feeling of the huge, arching sky. 

While I was painting, a local came along and told me I was painting The Biscuit - that rounded peak over on the right-hand side. 

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This lovely couple bought "Through the River," the lower painting on the wall behind them. 

They're going to repaint the room where it will hang, to make it stand out more. 

They were so nice, and so excited. I was, too.

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This is Charles, who belongs to a friend of my dad's and Paula's. The friend adopted Charles a few years ago at the Tubac Arts Festival. The local Humane Society brings adoptable dogs to the fair! I am not 100 percent convinced that this is a great idea, but it does seem to find homes for some of the dogs. I met a woman at the fair over the weekend who had just adopted a great dog. And Charles and his human are as happy as they could be. 

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Al Topping took my parking money every morning of the show, and made me laugh with his wry humor and dry good will. He was a cameraman for ABC news for 40 years, and told me that he was parking cars because his wife, who runs the Arts Center that received the parking money, was "a tall, mean brunette," and he didn't want  to cross her. 

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Here's my friend Cynthia Battista, a great jeweler, in her tent during the Tubac show. It was wonderful to have a good friend in the adjoining booth! 

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These horses were dragging a wagon that served as a free trolley during the show. I felt kind of sorry for them, but they seemed OK.

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Dog of the Day

I was about to pull into the driveway of my dad's house on the first night of the show when I saw a big, goofy-looking red dog walking up the road. I stopped the van and got out to see, and the dog came right up. 

A tag on his collar read "Barkley," and gave a phone number, so I called, got voice mail and left a message. Meantime, we were making friends. He was happy to see me, and wagged and leaned against me the way dogs do. I put him in the back of the van and started knocking on doors. Eventually, someone directed me to his home. By this time, Barkley had galumphed into the front seat. 

I couldn't rouse anyone at the house, so I left him in a gated front porch area. A voice mail when I got back to the car said that indeed, that was his right home. The family had adopted him a couple weeks earlier, and he was a runner. A young child in the home had left the entryway gate open. 

  

Near Rio Rico

Near Rio Rico

Oil on canvas, 10x10

The Tubac Arts Festival went on for five days, and I have to say, I am glad it's over. That's just tooooo looooong, at least for me. Someone said that it's a good two-day show that takes five days, and I'd have to agree. 

I sold three paintings during those five days, and I was happy to sell them. Also, I am now represented by a gallery in Tubac, Art Gallery H,  and this is very, very exciting. 

One thing I'm learning about my paintings and art shows is that I don't do well in places where there are lots of retirees. My stuff doesn't appeal to them, perhaps, or maybe it's that they just have enough art already. 

I do believe that if you fall in love with a piece, you'll make room for it no matter what - but first, you have to fall in love. My loud, heavily surfaced, bright pieces are not for everyone, and I know this - and perhaps retired folks are a large part of "everyone." 

A great thing about this show was that Cynthia Battista, my friend from New Milford, CT, had gotten in, and our tents were side by side. We shared a lot of laughs, a lot of gripes, a lot of too bads, too. Being next to a good friend truly does halve the pain and double the happiness. 

This week, I am painting around here. I've been invited to a show near Phoenix this weekend, and am considering it. This morning, I feel that if I never do another art show, that will be well and good. But by this afternoon, who knows. 

My little painting in the big Arizona landscape

***

Grasslands, Sonoita

Oil on canvas, 30x30

A NUMBER OF YOU who have sponsored me for paintings larger than 10x10, and here's one of the ones I've done so far. It is 30x30, and I painted it standing on the side of the road in Sonoita. I love the yellow grass there, and the ragged mountains, and the feeling of the huge, arching sky. 

While I was painting, a local came along and told me I was painting The Biscuit - that rounded peak over on the right-hand side. 

***

My dad, who is an excellent painter, had never painted with a palette knife, but wants to learn. I made the painting of the dog, and Dad put in the background - and did a great job! 

Throughout the length of the show, people brought their dogs - and quite a few were in strollers. 

What a face! You'll see this one in a painting soon. 

This sweet couple bought "Through the River," the lower painting on the wall. We were all pretty excited about it. They are going to repaint the room where the piece will hang - the new color will highlight my painting! 

One of the very best things about this show was that my friend, jeweler Cynthia Battista, got in and we had booths side by each. This was a long and trying show, and it was wonderful to share the ups and downs with a good friend. 

These horses pulled a free trolley up and down the streets during the event. I felt a little sorry for them, but someone who knows horses said they were fine, and that they like to work. They didn't look unhappy, I can say that. 

Each day of the festival began with this guy, Al Topping, who took my parking money (yes, they charged the artists to park). Al has a great, dry sense of humor, and he made me laugh every morning. And he spent 40 years as a cameraman for ABC news! When I asked him why he was working the parking lot from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., he said that fees from the lot benefit the Center of the Arts in Tubac, and his wife is the head of it. "She's a mean brunette," he said, "And I do whatever she tells me."