Before I get into the details of the morning though, I'd like to share with you a little bit of news. Another one of our artists has been honored. It's Gretchen Lopez, she has been selected to be the Juror for the Arizona Plein Air Painters. The show runs from 8/17 - 9/14/2023 down in Phoenix. So, if you're down that way, stop in. Here is a link to info about the show and if you scroll you'll be able to read all the info on Gretchen including some exciting workshops she's planning. Congratulations Gretchen! https://arizonapleinair.com/mood-room
When Suzette and I arrived, I was confused by what I saw because it looked so different -- see
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| Suzette |
See what I mean, you walk into the area and instead of seeing the river, you're hit in the face with overgrown shrubs totally changing the look of things. I almost didn't know where to go.
Now, I knew from the parking lot that we weren't the only ones there, and as we traversed the shrubs I finally spotted Mike who looked like he was looking for a spot.
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| Suzette, Mike (the man in black) |
It was early enough for the Datura to still be strutting their stuff.
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| Show offs |
Cathy apparently had arrived just a little ahead of us too and was getting set up in her spot.
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| Cathy (with her shoes still on - bet that changes) |
It looked like Cathy was talking to someone - so let's look over to the left.
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| Bob |
It was Bob, also just getting set up in his spot. Then I looked over to Bob's left and found another artist, also just getting set up in their spot -- looks like we all arrived right on time.
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| Tecla in her spot |
Here's a different angle of those two.
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| (L to R and front to back) Tecla, Bob |
Suzette decided she was going to tackle the Datura as they strutted their stuff -- but, as we all know the Datura only show off at certain times of the day and we were just lucky to get there while they were still doing their thing.
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| Suzette |
Yes, Suzette started her painting with them really showing off and just as we deal with the ever changing shadows as the morning progresses, she wound up having her focal point continuously getting smaller and smaller till it completely closed up and you couldn't see anything -- talk about a challenge!!
I had picked a spot behind the shrub that is foremost in the above photo.
We seemed to have lost Mike, so I decided to venture out to see if I could locate him. AND, while doing that, look at who I encountered.
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| Nita (better known as Timestamp Nita) in her spot |
Look at that, she snuck in. It turns out she really did "sneak" in. She saw me and Suzette then quickly and quietly snuck past us. It clearly was well beyond the 7:45 meet up time. After a short inquiry (I promise you, no torture was involved), she owned up to it maybe having been about 8:15 when she got there. She had thought maybe I wouldn't realize that she wasn't there all along, now that's funny.
Ok, back to Mike. I had to wander on down through a lot loose rock, some of which went a bit down a slope that nearly got the better of me. That's right, nearly took a sliding fall onto my butt. Thankfully I was able to defy gravity and stayed standing. But, I did find Mike.
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| Mike |
As usual, there he is tucked behind shrubs and under trees. See all those loose rocks in the foreground -- those were the culprits that nearly took me down.
As I very carefully made my way back from that search for Mike, I was looking at all the little rocks and discovered that there really are a lot of little shells mixed in. See
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| Shells |
You just don't expect to see them or so many of them. But, when you start looking, you realize they're all over the place.
Oh, I also passed Cathy again -- check this out
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| "Barefoot Cathy" - See, I told you so 😊 |
Well, 2 hours goes by quickly and before we all knew it, it was time to wrap up. Here's when I discovered that there was one more artist among us.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of her but Tecla has provided one of Betty and I talking about something and it almost looks like it's serious, perhaps it has something to do with next week.
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| Me & Betty discussing something (Photo by Tecla) |
Well, thankfully Betty did make it back to us for the photo and she made it in plenty of time for setup of the gallery. Turns out that she rode with Bob, but he failed to mention it. Good thing she got back before he left!!!
Oh, It turns out Betty's spot was Tecla's spot from last week. I never did see that spot, not this week or last. But the swing that hangs from the tree is still there.
We resorted to a gallery built from backpacks as all roots were not cooperating this time and none of us were inclined to drag some very dirty branches around to create a space.
I did do a split on them, so you can see them bigger. And, as proof that I did take photos breaking the Gallery down to 3 photos for your enjoyment, here I am; with again thanks to Tecla, taking a pic of the first group of paintings as I worked from left to right.
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| That's me, gee wonder whose sunglasses those were (Photo by Tecla) |
We did it again -- we all smiled on 2!!
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| Back Row (L to R) Bob, Mike, Suzette Front Row - Betty, Tecla, Nita, Me (straddling rows again) & Cathy |
Oh, in case you can't tell, a breeze did pick up (see some wind blown hair) while we were there.
Well, if you're on the list, that means you got the email and know what's happening for the next 2 weeks. So unless something changes, we'll be at it again at the end of the month!
Have a fun one!
Cecilia