NEW EXPLORATIONS

Taking a break from realistic watercolors and delving into acrylic/mixed media/collage. Lots of fun! There's metallics and stones in this piece, including copper stones found in the parking lot outside our trailer. Ajo AZ, where we're spending a good part of the winter, is an old copper mining town.

Copper Canyon Too

Fond memories of Venice Italy

I started this painting 18-20 months ago and then we got busy with the 'liquidation' and selling the house . . . . It's really big for our 5th-wheel, but I brought it along anyway with hopes of finishing it and subsequently discovered there's a perfect spot -- in the bathroom! So last week I dug it out and got to it. I'm pleased with the final product. It was Sunday afternoon, families strolling the neighborhoods as were we. This lovely lady was taking it all in from her second floor window. Any suggestions for a title?

REMEMBER THIS?

A while back I asked for input on which scene to paint from our Zion National Park canyon hikes and #3 was the overwhelming winner.  I finished this last month and never got around to posting it.  It's a nice size piece, 10" wide X 22" high, and we have a great place for it in our 5th-wheel trailer.  I'm pleased with this painting; I really should do the other 4 scenes I captured 'on film' as I love the canyon landscape.

 

Catching Up!

I've been remiss in posting to my blog.  We're having a wonderful time in Ajo, Arizona -- 100 miles SW of Phoenix in the heart of the Sonoran Desert and about 40 miles north of the Lukeville crossing into Mexico.  We've done lots of exploring around here; this is the most biodiverse desert in the World and it's pretty darn amazing.  Great hiking & nice biking; Jamie's been riding in the desert some and has 2 flat tires to show for it -- I prefer to stay on asphalt so I don't get hammered to pieces ;-).  The folks who winter here in the Ajo Heights RV Park are delightful, and people passing through on their way to MX add diversity to the daily 'wine time' (which we attend rather sporadically).  The RV park is one of the nicest we've stayed in, but we still like to 'boondock' in the desert for a dose of solitude now & then.  Our recent 9 days in desert camp rewarded us with incredible sunrises and sunsets.  I captured the intense colors with watercolor on YUPO, which is a polypropylene surface -- imagine water on oil . . .  It's so fun to paint on and great to get me to loosen up and just let the paint do what it does best.  Here's a little piece I did of the desert landscape at sunset.

HANGIN' in the DESERT

January 7, 2014:
We're currently parked in a lovely spot in the Sonoran Desert north of Organ Pipe NM in SW Arizona.  Sleepyhead me, I just missed getting pictures of an incredible sunrise today but got these shots as the sun was bouncing off the hills around us -- I'll be ready for tomorrow's sunrise, you can count on it.  There's also our view from the 'office' window. 

We paid our RV park rent for another month so we have a spot in Ajo when we run out of water or maybe the weather will turn chilly (70s expected today).  We do well without hookups; solar + generators provide all the comforts of home.

It's awesome here, painting scenes everywhere I look, very quiet, secluded from the road but easy access.  We're lovin' it!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS from AJO ARIZONA!

Wishing you all the most wonderful Holiday, however you celebrate, surrounded by those you hold dear.

LIVIN' OFF the GRID

Greetings from the desert just south of Quartzsite AZ. The last 10 days we've parked on free BLM land, livin' 'off the grid'. It's been a great opportunity to check out our systems for 'boondocking', that is relying on our solar, generators, fresh water storage, and MiFi & satellite internet. The solitude has been most welcome after spending most of our time in RV parks -- we have NO neighbors visible from our trailer! The sights from here are low mountains on 3 sides, and desert vegetation including sagauro and other cactus, and incredible sunrises and sunsets.

Every day we've taken long hikes in the desert, and in the gold-mining foothills to the west. Evenings have been cozy, reading [no TV for Jamie!], and enjoying our propane furnace & the heat it puts out. It's been chilly the past couple days, lows in the low-30s and highs in the 50s (my apologies to those of you who are living in the icebox!). Right now, at 5:00 pm I'm sitting outside with a glass of wine and doing my last little computer work before stowing my laptop for the journey to Ajo AZ tomorrow.