Thursday, January 4, 2024

Plein Air Tuesday - 1/2/24 - Yavapai Vista - Day 1

 


Arrived early enough to find that David hadn't set up yet -- just saying that every time David has joined us, he seems to arrive early and be all set up and painting (usually by the parking lot) by the time I arrive.  He also has been among the missing for a few months.  Ask him about his travels the next time you see him -- just fyi, he had a good time and did a lot of painting.

Oh, that also reminds me, I first saw David the second time I walked from my car to the "bench".  Yes, I did the brilliant thing that I always warn you all about, I forgot to hang up my Red Rock Pass.  Got to the bench and no one was there and then realized it, this meant I had to lug my stuff back down to my car and back up again.   Then I finally saw people.

(L to R) David, Pat (walking), LeAnne

Oops, forgot to mention this (sorry, the writing of this seems to be falling right in line with the way I went about taking pics that day too) -- before I left my house I received a call from Nori.  You see, she was in need of assistance as two of our usual Plein Air Tuesday group were not where she expected them to be, or at least their paintings weren't.   Yes, Nori was helping with El Valle's hanging of paintings at the Cottonwood library and both Nita & Mike's paintings were missing.  Thankfully the artists were contact and I'm sure brought their paintings there promptly.   BUT, what this also means is that now you can see their paintings hanging at the Cottonwood Library for this month.

Ok, back to the great outdoors.  Did I mention what a beautiful morning it was?  Truly, while it may have been a bit cold, it wasn't too cold to paint and enjoy being at this location.  

As it turns out there weren't a whole lot of us that showed up, yet I still missed getting photos of everyone  as they arrived.  You see, Kris (Kristine with a K - so not a misspelling) was also there (by the way, she's still the New Girl).  She bought a whole new setup for her pastels specifically for plein air painting with us.  It's quite nice and a lot more portable than her table and chair.

Well, we all went off on our merry way wandering to different locations sort of.  I did find most of them but David proved to be elusive.  I do know he had a great view though as you'll see from his oil painting in the gallery below.

The first person I saw after I finished my painting when I went hunting for the group was Pat.

Pat in her spot

She opted for a Cathedral Rock View -- it's amazing the choices you have at this location.

Here's Kris in her spot - good thing she was wearing red!

Dead tree - twigs, Kris behind it all

Kris smiling in her spot and look in the distance - it's LeAnne

I did walk up closer to where LeAnne was, and if I didn't know better I'd swear she was dancing.

LeAnne - dancing in her spot (also painting)

Ok, so I don't have a photo of my spot and I mean, how about I never even took a picture of my view - really, 2 weeks off and I forget everything!!  I did take a walk up to the Vista just in case there were some other artists hiding out, but I didn't see anyone except for people hiking.  Oh, also forgot to mention this.  I was just off the trail and it turned out to be a really "positive" experience as a lot of the hikers who walked past complimented my painting - it does make you feel good when that happens!

A view on my way up to the Vista

One part of the view from the Vista

We met at the bench at noon, but Pat was among the missing.  LeAnne went up to find her but couldn't find her, however, thankfully she did finally come wandering down.  She said she got a little lost and wasn't sure where the path was.

So her painting was added to the gallery and we all took the time to admire everyone's work, and now you get to too.


We all tried to smile on 2 - I may have missed the mark a bit, but there's something of a smile there.

(L to R) LeAnne, Kris, David, Me, Pat

Well, I know I'm looking forward to a Day 2 at this location, hope more of you are able to join us.

Cecilia