Plein Air Tuesday - 10/31/23 - L'Auberge Duck Pond

 

Plaque on a tree by the creek near the Duck Pond

I realize now that I should've taken a picture of exactly where that tree and plaque was, but, I think it was right after you step down toward the Duck Pond area.  But, still an interesting bit of info.

Suzette and I arrived at the meet up spot in Tlaquepaque and found that Lisa and Joani were there (I'm surprised she came because the last time ducks were involved it kept nipping her fingers as she valiantly tried to keep him in our group photo by giving him bits of food) -- Here's a reminder of that.

Joani's in the light orange behind the duck. You can see it looks like she has something in her hands

Ok, back to the present. Suzette went over to greet Lisa and Joani, but Joani apparently already went off to greet someone else.  Also a little side note there is some NEWS after the final photo, so please remember to keep reading after the photos.

(L to R) Lisa, Suzette

Oh, and here's who Joani went over to greet

(L to R) Joani, Betty, Bob

Yes, Betty & Bob arrived then too.  Bob was the orchestrator for that day's event at L'Auberge - thanks Bob!!

Pat showed up next and then Chris.  I knew Christine (not Chris) was there someplace because I saw her car but she was nowhere to be found.  But here are all 3 as Christine did show up right on time - she was wandering around and checking out all the altars that were around Tlaquepaque for Dia de los Muertos.

(L to R) Suzette, Pat (just FYI I think Suzettes hands were cold)

Chris with her pumpkin 😉

Christine - I believe on the left is Suzette's arm

But, there was still one more person to arrive, and arrive she did with 2 minutes to spare - it was 8:43

Lisa (now in camouflage and cold hands), Wiley - the last arrival

Just a side note - Wiley really is visiting and will be heading back home, however, Wiley please know that we were really glad you decided to join us for this short time.  Stay in touch and let us know when you're coming back.  Ok, Now that everyone had arrived,  we knew that we needed 3 cars since there was 10 of us.  So with who would go with who settled, we piled into the various vehicles and headed around the corner.  Bob coordinated with Linda and she was there waiting for us on arrival.

I didn't get a pic of Linda with our arrival but here she is leading the way over to the Duck Pond.

(L to R) Linda, Chris

And, here they are - all in their spot!

The Ducks in their Spot - there's still a few in the water, look close

The first artist to find a spot was Bob, you'll see that Chris is there checking things out, but that's the spot that Bob walked up to and stayed at -- he's very quick and decisive!

(L to R) Guests enjoying the area, Bob, Chris

Here's Christine, I quickly took this pic because it looked like this was going to be her spot -- it ultimately wasn't.  But to the far right you'll see Wiley and the picture after this upcoming one will show who she's talking to.

(L to R) Christine in the shade, Wiley in the green

(L to R) Wiley, Lisa in black, Linda in Blue

Linda wanted to know if Wiley by any chance had an update on the woman that Suzette resuscitated the previous week when she fell unconscious.  Those on the mailing list know the story.  It was extremely fortunate for the woman that Suzette, Denise & Wiley were there.  While Suzette performed CPR, Wiley ran for help and Denise assisted the woman's husband.  Wiley had no further info than that the woman did survive thankfully.  I'm sure we've all thought of her often during the past week and hope and pray that she continues to do well.

Well, as we all took a look around the Duck Pond area and shivered since it was in the shade.  I'm hoping you all picked up on the fact that since everyone was tucking their hands and piling on whatever clothing they had with them that the morning started out COLD.  While we knew that the sun would eventually appear over in the duck pond and the water did have a beautiful glisten to it because of the angle of the sun -- we were really just a bunch of wimps.  So, most of us opted to go back to the rocks which we knew would be in the sun already.

(L to R and in an S shape) Lisa, Betty, the SUN, Chris, Joani

See how the sun was already finding spots on the rocks -- we decided to join It.  This next one is a nice view of some more of that rocky area as Linda checked out something on her phone.

Linda on the Rocks

Oh, remember how I said it turned out that wasn't Christine's spot after all, well look at what we have here.

That's Christine heading on over to the rocks in the Sun

Here's something interesting -

Pink Box - that's Lisa's paints and also how we know she's in the area 

She painted it that bright pink to make it easier to find and less apt to be left behind -- what a great idea!

Well, here are some of the spots that were found.

(L to R) Christine, Chris, Lisa, Betty

The ducks even joined us for a brief point in time - well, sort of joined us.

On top of the rock walking down to jump in the water

Look at the far right

I know it's grainy but I had to zoom in a lot  and since I wasn't really fast enough to catch them all jumping in we only have these 2, I think it was 6 or more from the duck pond.

Ok, back to people in their spots -- Joani had a super comfortable one, it'll make you smile, check it out.

Joani in her spot - I told you it would make you smile!

Betty in her spot and on the Left edge is Lisa

You're probably thinking I got that wrong, that it wasn't Lisa - where's all the black, well folks it warmed up quite a bit and daredevil that she is, Lisa started stripping.  

Some visiting took place on the rock side, oh we also had some visitors stop by.  One set was a couple from Belgium celebrating their 10th anniversary.  They looked so young, I thought they were newlyweds and asked them if they just got married.  In addition the artists did their visiting, both Chris and Joani ventured around on the rocks the most.  Here's one of Chris and Joani having a chuckle about something.

(L to R) Joani, Chris

Well, once I did what I could do, I packed up my stuff and headed over to the Duck Pond to see if I could catch a few more spots and I did.

Wiley in her spot

Suzette in her spot

We eventually all gathered back at the Duck Pond and after a lot of deliberating and moving some chairs, deliberating some more, etc.  We built our gallery by the trees away from the water.  There were so many I had to resort to splitting it in two so you could actually see them.  Everyone did a fantastic job, no surprise there!

So, here goes, we did actually debate about which way to face for our group photo.  Turns out we didn't get it quite right or maybe it was just perfect so Everyone could be included.  You'll see why, but we did all smile on 2.

Back Row (L to R) Betty, Suzette, Bob, Wiley, Chris, Lisa, Christine
Front Row (L to R) Joani, Me, Pat

So, before you close this I have some news, but first a little funny about the group pic.  Ok, so we all wanted the Sun to come out to warm us up and as you saw, It made itself visible when we went to find It on the rocks (see the photo above closer to the top when we first got to the rocks, you'll find It's listed in line with the artists).  Well, apparently It decided it was supposed to participate in the group photo too.  So, it sent down its' rays and shined on us all.   Oh, one other thing, Bob was standing way downhill, so much so that when Joani was standing up she looked taller than him.  She's actually more my height and we know that I'm not 6' 2".

Now on to the news.

Last weekend Sedona Arts Center held their Plein Air Arts Festival and opened it to local artists on Saturday,  10/28.  3 from our group once again showed the world what great artists they are.  Chris won 2nd Place and both Nita and Mike got Honorable Mentions.  I also understand that Mike sold his painting right there.  So everyone, join me in CONGRATULATING Chris, Nita and Mike.

Ok, that's it till next week -- have fun and I hope I'll see you in Clarkdale!

Cecilia