Plein Air Tuesday - 3/31/26 - M's Secret Spot - Day 1

 

I arrived the same time as Dona & Jim.

Dona

Jim

As you can see, Jim is all ready to do his hike while Dona paints.  But, who's this coming down the road?

Red Jeep

Hmmm, Red Jeep, that can only mean ...

Mike's Mug

Yes the Mug has RETURNED, haven't seen it in a while.  Oh, and that is Mike holding THE Mug.  Good of Mike to chauffeur the Mug around.

Next to pull in was James.

James

Ok, I'm going to say something here that might strike you all as a bit silly, but yesterday was actually the first time I sort of realized that we had 2 James' in the group.  Just never think of Jim as being a James.  

As we were setting up by the river another familiar face started walking towards us.

Nori

It was Nori, she's been busy doing APAA related stuff since she's their President:

https://apaa.wildapricot.org/

Please do click on the link, it'll take you to the Arizona Pastel Artists Association website -- I know, Wildapricot sounds odd, but it's the Organization Management Platform they use for their website which incorporates and organizes all the things that the association has going on.

Oh, don't forget to come back here though if you do click on the link.

Here's the spot James found, gee, looks like he's off in the weeds.

James

But, it's not quite as bad as it looks -- see

James, not really in the weeds

Here comes someone else -- I think it's another artist

Another artist

Let's see if they come closer, maybe we'll figure out who they are.

Kirsten

It's Kirsten, looks like she's doing a balancing act with her paints.  She's also another one that always seems to be smiling.  Speaking of which ...

LeAnne

That's right, it's Smiling LeAnne.  I know hard to tell since her head is down, but I'd bet anything she has a smile on her face!  Unfortunately, I didn't get another pic of her until the end.

Oh, look at this, here's yet another artist wandering on over.

Gail

Yes, Gail found her way to the water too.  Looks like she's going to head over to where Dona's spot is.

Gail -- in the background is Dona with her back to us

Nori also found a spot right on the edge of the water.

Nori in her spot

Oh, look, wait  a second let me check the time -- 8:58:25, gee less than 1/2 hour late, it's (drum roll) our favorite late comer...

(L to R) Nita, Kirsten in her spot (behind me)

Yes, Timestamp Nita arrived, and like always, winds up with a great drawing/painting in the  shortest amount of time.

So, once again Nita found a comfy rock to sit on and used her little bench to hold her paint. 

Nita

I'll have you know, she spent the entire time doing that very involved  painting while holding that phone and talking to someone.  The girl is good!!  

We had a group of high school students show up with their teacher.  They were working on collecting data about the river in different locations as a science experiment, last week they were over by TuziRAP (Tuzigoot River Access Point).     What a fun and interesting way to learn and something I'm sure they'll always remember.

As it got close to wrap up time, some artists started to appear wandering over from their spots, one or two I hadn't seen until this point.

LeAnne

She almost looks like she should be doing some bushwhacking!

Oh my, I didn't realize this guy joined us.

(L to R) Pete, Dona

At this point I checked my phone and realized I had received a text from him asking where we were - Sorry I missed that, Pete.   Thankfully, he did eventually find us before we all left.

So, turns out Eileen was another one I didn't see until the end.  I want you to look at this next picture very closely, don't worry, I'll explain why.

Eileen

Ok, so, see that BIG BAG on her shoulder, how about that box behind her and the bag to the side of her.   Now, see the little tiny, itty bitty painting she's holding!!  Yup, all that gear for that little painting.  I should mention though, it was a very good painting AND there's even a person in it.

Alright, now let's have a look at the gallery whose photo I had to keep retaking as more and more artists showed up with their paintings.  But, here's the end result and it's quite impressive!

Now for them all to show off.

Then, finally got everyone to stop chatting long enough so that we could give it a shake and smile on 2.

Back Row - Mike, Pete
Middle Row - Gail, Eileen, Kirsten, Dona, Nita
Front Row - Me, LeAnne, James, Nori, Jim

Well, that's it for our day in the shade.  As Mike mentioned when we got there, this is normally the spot we go to when it's sunny and hot -- this day it was cloudy and a little chilly to start.   That's ok though, we still all had fun.  'Till next time!

Cecilia

Plein Air Tuesday - 3/24/26 - Community Library Sedona

There she is, Sedona Schnebly, the iconic statue at the entrance to the library in Sedona.  Yet, I don't think any of us painted her.  Afraid, I guess, that we wouldn't do her justice.

I arrived there just as David was LEAVING.  

David

He said he wanted the early light -- so much for joining in on the camaraderie.  That's ok, there were others who pulled in shortly after me, Dona and Jimmie being one duo.

Dona

Sure was good to see her, I already missed Jim as he promptly started off for his walk as he usually does while Dona paints.

I looked around and found that Barbra, who thought she was going to be late, was the first person there with a prime spot under a tree for shade.

Barbra

And, here's this person who seems to be studying his options for a spot by wandering down the parking lot.

Mike

Guess he didn't want to waste any time once he left the parking lot in trying to find a spot.

The next person to come along was Janel, and this is a little funny - look at the next 2 pics of her

Janel

Doesn't she look like she's taking a drag on a cigarette in the first one and exhaling in the second.  I'm sure the poor girl is now horrified that I said such a thing.  But, what I suspect was really happening was that she was looking around and thinking "Oh dear, what am I going to paint???"  

Well, I'll give you a hint, it turns out there are MULTIPLE statues in that area, I honestly had no idea.  Always thought there was just the one.  Anyway, she decided on another one of the many out there.

Another person who joined us was Tecla and here she is sitting on a bench across from someone else who is sitting on a bench.  Oh, wait, never mind, that someone else is just another statue.  But they both look pretty comfortable.

Tecla

Let's see, our meetup time was 9:00 am, who else might still be coming as now it's 9:19:54 

Nita

Right, it's "Life Is Good" Nita, she could've sworn she left her house in time.   Well, let's face it, this post wouldn't have been complete without a timestamp.

Let's see what happened to Janel, what spot did she find.

Janel

She looks like she's thinking about ordering something from a menu.  Guess she was really just getting her paints set up.    I found a spot right near her, I may have even made use of the shade her umbrella gave.

Since the primary reason for selecting this location was because of the NAWS Library Show, we had a lot of visitors.   Also, a  well known artist was going to be set up and  painting right there at the library who would be willing and ready to answer all painting questions.   Who was this well known artist -- let's see if I can provide a pic.

Here she is:

Betty Carr

Betty had on display a painting done "in process".  Meaning she went through the effort of starting a painting, stopping, starting the same painting again but taking it a little further and so on.   A lot of work as each time she was showing you how a painting evolves and having to recreate what she had just painted.    She also has some workshops planned.

That's Betty, showing us the info on the upcoming workshop she's holding.  Oh, you can't read that -- well, perhaps I can help you out.

Sounds like a course well worth taking -- so those of you interested in learning more about working with watercolor or enhancing your skills, take note.  Here is a link to the Sedona Arts Center where the class is being held.

https://sedonaartscenter.org/product/watercolor-crash-course-26-0406c-bc/

Oh, I was going to tell you about some of the visitors we had stop by, I didn't get pics of all, but here are a few.

Linda

Do you all remember her, she used to paint with us.  In fact, she had a doppelgänger - sounding familiar?   Yes, it was Miley & Caden's grandma, they would join us a lot when we would go to the river in the Summer to paint.

Here's another one of those visitors who can be seen whizzing past -- she was in and around all the artists here, inside and out and was the primary organizer for the NAWS Library Show which caused us to paint there.

Denise

Ok, not the greatest or clearest picture of her.  But, in my defense, I did say she was whizzing around.

There were more visitors to us and the library and some of them you know since they do paint with us.  Don't have their pics, but they were Lauren & Eileen (separately).  And, strangers who kept coming over to see what we were doing, including someone from the newspaper who was there to take  photos of Betty I believe.  We all have become quite adept at talking to strangers, guess we look approachable.

You may have wondered if Tecla had that comfy spot all to herself, well here's the answer to that question.

(L to R) Linda, Tecla, Mike, Nita

As for my spot, as I mentioned earlier it was near Janel.  You'll see we were in clear viewing distance of Nita.

And, my friends, that brings us to the gallery.

And because some of them really need a closer look - here you go...

As usual, my watch was up to its old tricks.  This time, it said "the heck with getting her in the photo, I'm just going to take it without her, and it looks like the whole group went along with it.

It did a really good job too!

But, I couldn't let it get away with that, especially since it forgot to include Jim and Barbra.   So, here's my version:

Hiding in the Back - Jim
(L to R) Barbra, Me, Tecla, Janel, Mike, Dona, Nita

We all took a few minutes then to go and say hi to Betty, oh and one of those visitors I mentioned earlier was there too.

(L to R) Lauren, Betty, Sedona Schnebly, Nita, Mike

Well, that's it for our visit to the Library.   Hope to see you next time at another location!

Cecilia