Plein Air Tuesday - 3/26/24 - A Place by Lisa's

Quite the view and that's only part of it.  It was a bit chilly this day, but a few of us were glad we made the effort to join Lisa in her neighborhood.  I arrived and found her already set up and working away.

Lisa and all her "stuff" all over the ground

It didn't take long before Pat joined us and she found a spot across the street from Lisa's.

Pat

I know, that picture isn't the best but it's really a person and that person is Pat.   Then, Nita showed up at 9:46:57 (only 16 minutes and 57 seconds late).

Nita

She was quickly followed by Carolyn.

Carolyn

Pat, Nita and Carolyn opted for the other side of the road from Lisa and I was positioned near Lisa.

Pat (once again just her back) & Nita

Then over just a bit from them is Carolyn in her spot.

Carolyn

Oh, I didn't realize it, but I also included one of the bottles on the branch (look at the upper left corner), looks like it's pointing to the crane in the background or perhaps it's pointing at Carolyn.

As I mentioned, my spot was near Lisa's.

Lisa in her spot and My spot

As you saw from the very first picture, our side of the street had the blue skies.  The rest of the group went for the dark and stormy skies.

Our gallery was built on something of a curve, so I'll give it to you in parts, which means a repeat or two.

We were all so busy talking that we almost forgot that we still didn't gather together to smile on 2 -
so we did.

(L to R) Me, Nita, Lisa, Carolyn, Pat

  

Thanks Lisa for coming up with this gorgeous location with spectacular views for us!!

Cecilia

Plein Air Tuesday - 3/19/24 - Tlaquepaque - Day 2 and "Last Time"

Yes, sad to say but you read the Title correctly.  After many, many, many years that I've painted there, this was the last time that we will be going to Tlaquepaque.  Unfortunately, an incident occurred with a store owner and an artist this morning.  While the artist was positioned at a fountain and not in front of or blocking any store, the store owner was very unhappy to see the presence of an artist in the mall.  The store owner went to the Tlaquepaque management to complain and as the "organizer" of the group, I was approached about the incident and our presence in Tlaquepaque.  I was informed that should we ever want to paint there, we must first receive approval as it is "private property".   Thankfully, we were allowed to stay for the remainder of our time there that morning.  Now while prior approval along with giving the number of people attending could be a possibility, what that means is that we would always have to have an "alternate" location selected just in case we don't get that approval.  Since we have to go through the effort of picking an "alternate", we might just as well go to the alternate and make our lives easier.  It's just too much effort and quite frankly "aggravation" for our little 2 hour weekly morning excursions.

Ok, now that we have that explained away, let's get on to the fun stuff.

I arrived with Suzette and we found Mike wandering around looking for an "ideal spot".

Suzette, Mike (no mug)

Hey Mike, what's up with that -- no mug!!!

Next I saw Kris pull in, looking very Spring like with just a puffer vest on (by the way - it was cold).

Kris

We were standing around chatting when Carolyn & Tecla pulled in.

Carolyn

Tecla

See the pretty tree in front of Carolyn's car, here it is from another angle

While we were trying to decide where to paint Mike was staring at the tree, we had a little discussion and decided that while it's really pretty, its location was less than ideal.  I did look around while I was looking for my spot and never did see another one that looked like it -- too bad.

I actually never had the opportunity to go around and get photos of artists in their spots, a couple of others did come and find me.  First we had Timestamp Nita.

Nita -- Timestamp 9:56

Now while that is quite a late arrival time (even for Nita) she showed me proof that she had been there for a while as she already did a drawing at the entrance.  I know it's hard to tell but that's what's in that book she's showing me.  Oh, just realized my palette knife and brushes upstaged her.  That also explains why she's a little blurry too, but boy are my brushes in focus (Thanks to automation)! 🙄

I saw someone wandering around that looked like they were carrying art supplies, but I didn't know her.  Turns out she was told about us by Cynde her name is Deanne and she's from NM I think she said.  Anyway, she was told where we would be and decided to join us that day.  Unfortunately I didn't get a separate photo of her, however, she plans on returning again some day and will be in touch.

Robin also arrived with our little buddy Hamilton.

Hamilton, Robin

Isn't that a cute picture of Hamilton (ok Robin too) - oh later on I got puppy kisses 😍  Also, as you can see, Robin was already finished with her painting, guess that means it was time to wrap things up. 

Front - Kris
Off to the left- Hamilton
Robin in front of Kris and watching Hamilton
Now (L to R) Tecla, Deanne, Nita

So, while we gathered together and waited for the remainder to appear, we all got to chat.  Kris mentioned how she had been to the "poetry reading" in Tlaquepaque the evening before and where she bought stones  there from a store in Tlaquepaque to go along with the Meditation sayings she was given during that event.  Here's a photo of them.

And, in case you were wondering who Thich Nhat Hanh was, he was a Buddhist Monk and peace activist from the 60's born Nguyễn Xuân Bảo; 11 (October 1926 – 22 January 2022) from Vietnam.

I told Kris, I should've done that after being informed of the "incident".  Ahhh, "Breathing in I see myself as still water.  Breathing out, I reflect things as they truly are."  😉

Ok, instead of one lineup of the paintings, I'm just going to give you a few separate shots, there are several and it ain't over till you get to the bottom  ...

And, as the clouds rolled in we stamped our feet to warm our toes before all smiling on 2!

ZigZag & L to R
Mike, Carolyn Kris, Me, Robin, Hamilton, Tecla, Nita, Suzette, Deanne

So that's all I've got for that day.   As we bid farewell to Tlaquepaque as a painting location (or maybe just in general - perhaps we should leave it to the tourists) we'll all have to keep a lookout for a replacement since it was always a fall back for when we couldn't come up with something.  Onward to better locations!

Cecilia

Plein Air Tuesday - 3/12/24 - Tlaquepaque - Day 1

 

Lonely Pot in Tlaquepaque

I arrived and already there were visitors wandering around, it was going to be a busy morning.  Kris pulled in right behind me and since it was early the two of us went off to scout out possible spots.

Kris with her colorful bag

As we were wandering around I spotted this person -- I recognize that hat and that walk 

Lisa

That's right it was Lisa, you can pick her out in a crowd anytime!  They apparently were working on stringing lights in this area while we were there, so that's what all those lines are.

At this point we were walking back to the parking area to get our stuff and see if anyone else was there.  We weren't disappointed, look at this smiling duo.

Betty, Mike

Yep, that's Betty and Mike.  It turns out that Betty arrived with Lisa, Bob & Pat - well, that's a carload of artists with all their stuff!  As we were all discussing where we might want to go, we all pretty much decided that a place in the sun might be in order as it was feeling a little chilly still.  Then this red car drove by with a smiling face.

LeAnne

Unlike last week when she went zooming past and saying "Hi, I'm late", this week she was right on time it was 9:14:42 - pretty darn close to 9:15.

I almost considered this spot - but it actually looked better in person then when I took a picture of it.  Here's where the moving of some mountains would've been helpful.

Oh, here's a better picture of Lisa with Betty walking behind her.

(L to R) Betty, Lisa with her identifiable hat

They were walking back to Lisa's car to get their stuff and had a chance to stop and talk with LeAnne.

(L to R) Betty, LeAnne

As I continued to wander to find my spot, I found Bob in his spot.  He got to painting right away and even had a destination in mind apparently before he got there.

Bob in his spot

You have to look for that striped shirt in the shadows - that's Bob!

Now, I didn't get everyone in their spots but I did find a few others besides Bob.  Here's Betty setting up and if you look over to her right and peaking out from that that shrub you'll see Lisa (that wasn't her spot).

Betty, Lisa

Oh check this one out, a bunch of undecideds wandering around, plus Betty now all set up in her spot.

(L to R & Far Back to Front)
LeAnne, Mike, Betty, Lisa

I know it looks like Lisa is just playing with her phone BUT what I suspect she's really doing is checking out the photos she just took to see if she does want that to be her spot (she didn't).  Well, clearly I was still undecided as well as I was still wandering.  But, it's a good thing I did otherwise I might not have caught Pat in her spot.

Pat

I'm not sure who took more time to find a spot, Mike or Me, but while we were both still looking, we came across Kris in her spot.

(L to R) Stranger, Mike, Stranger, Betty, Kris in her spot

Following the names in that photo did you feel your eyes making that zigzag pattern🤪.  Makes you wonder what Mike & Kris were looking at -- wonder if there was a show going on over there.  Oh my, I just realized something -- Kris's spot wound up being the spot that looked at that lonely pot (go back and look at the picture at the beginning of this post - I promise not to go anywhere).  Oops, I still have one more person in their spot (never did get a pic of Mike in his), it's LeAnne.

LeAnne

As you can see, it got warmer out than when we first started as LeAnne wasn't the only one to strip down, I had to take my hoodie off too.  

Well, before I knew it, it was time to wrap up.  Headed back to the parking area and I found one of the group talking to someone I'd never seen before.  Her name is Barbra AND it turns out she was really there looking for us.  She learned about our group at the Monday VOCA class but didn't know when or exactly where to find us, but told me she wanted to be on the list.   

The bench we were going to use became occupied so we had to resort to our alternate which is the curb under the tree at the beginning of the lane off the parking area.  But, we managed quite nicely and a lot of passers by found our "pop up" gallery quite fun to look at.  It turns out that Mike did the most heavy lifting on this day - he moved everything, the building, the fountain, the bell tower and he even planted some trees - quite an impressive feat in probably less then 1 1/2 hours,  it certainly made for a great painting.

Boy, 2 hours goes by fast, especially when there are so many undecideds.  Well we're all getting pretty good at creating our little masterpieces in that amount of time though besides having fun while we do it.  As always we all managed to squeeze together and smile on 2 and we even had the New "New Girl" join us -- everyone say Hello to Barbra in the front row.  She'll be skiing next week but hopefully we'll see her the following one.  

(L to R - Back Row) Kris, Mike, Pat, LeAnne, Bob, Lisa
(L to R - Front Row) Betty, Me, Barbra (New New Girl)

So, Barbra probably is wondering about that "New New" thing, well, hey the rest of us know what it means 😉.  Hope to see you next week!

Cecilia

Plein Air Tuesday - 3/5/24 - Ranger's Station - Day 2

 

Ok, I know it would appear that there was no Day 1, but there was and I learned from Mike that it was just a few people.  Apparently no pictures were taken but I'm sure they had plenty of fun.

Wasn't sure who was going to turn up for this Day 2 but I did have a surprise.  However, to start I arrived and walked up to the Visitor Center and saw Pat walking down.  I was quite early, so phone for pics wasn't ready.  Pat and I discussed where we should go, we had both parked at the upper lot closest to the Center.  However, we realized that people probably wanted to go down to the water, so we got back in our cars and drove down to the lower part of the lot.  This was when the surprise showed up.

Robin, Hamilton

Yes, Hamilton was there and all ready to greet and be greeted.  He brought Robin with him - wasn't that sweet of him.

Robin was concerned about going down to the water for a few reasons.  The first being she had just seen a coyote on the other side of the fence (not a situation that would be good for Hamilton) and the other was that the last time Hamilton went down that way, he wound up with all these nasty burrs in his fur and paws.

Now at this point, look who came swinging in

Mike - no mug

It was Mike who contributed to the discussion about perhaps just going back up to the Visitor's Center instead of down to the water, especially since it turns out there really wasn't any water in the Creek.  While we were discussing this, Pat and Hamilton had their own little conversation going on.  I think Hamilton said he wanted to go up to the Visitor's Center and he was looking in that direction.

Pat, Hamilton

One thing about Hamilton, he always makes everyone smile.  At this point Robin, Hamilton, Pat and I all got into our respective vehicles and drove back to the Visitor Center parking lot.  I'll have you know that it was now 9:29:33 and I found myself in my 3rd (that's right 3rd!!!) parking space this morning.  Our meet up time was supposed to be 9:30.  Oh but wait, there's more.  The particular time also happens to be the time that Timestamp Nita showed up.  Yikes, what's happening -- Nita was EARLY, whoa!!!

Mike, Nita

Boy, this morning was full of surprises!    So, we all went off and found our own spots.

Robin and Hamilton opted for the shade of the overhang on that patio.

Robin, Hamilton & Smokey in the background

This turned out to be Pat's spot.

Pat in her spot leisurely gazing into the distance

While it looks like it was empty, that was just at this moment.  It turned out that we had visitors, lots & lots of visitors.  Every single one felt compelled to comment on our paintings, they really all were very encouraging which was sweet.  A couple wanted photos, some with me  & them in it, at least that was my experience, I guess it made it more of the "Sedona Experience" for them, glad I could make it into someone's "book of memories".

And, while we were already set up, I head someone come up past me saying "Hi, I'm late"  She zoomed past me so fast I didn't get a chance to take a picture of her, but I did catch her in her spot.  It was LeAnne.

LeAnne, random visitors

She didn't waste any time, just went over towards Pat's spot, set up and started painting.  Oops, just realized I still didn't show you Mike & Nita's spot.   As Pat put it, they found the only patch of grass to sit themselves in.

(L to R) Nita, grassy area, Mike

Turned out that Nita had to leave early as she had a lunch to get to.  BUT, because she arrived so early, she managed to get not one or two but FIVE (5) paintings done.  She had her own little gallery.

Nita's Gallery

The rest of us finished working on our paintings, and visiting with visitors and a little bit with each other.  My spot was out in the sun not  far from where Nita & Mike were.  I was VERY overdressed for the day.  Multiple tops and a hoodie.  Finally took the hoodie off, but still overdressed.  Perhaps Robin and Hamilton had the right idea with a spot in the shade.

So, that left just the 5 of us for our gallery, gee the same number that Nita had in hers.

We started to get ready for our "line up" and there was activity coming from Hamilton -- looks like he was getting ready to jump out saying "hey wait for me, Robin you have to pick me up"!

Hamilton

Have no fear, he wasn't forgotten and he was even smart enough to look at the camera on 2 while we all smiled.

Front Row - Hamilton
Back Row (L to R) Me, Robin, LeAnne, Pat, Mike

That's it for this day.  Hopefully next week it'll bring more of you out.  I already know that Hamilton can't make it, darn, no nose bumps to the leg for me (he's such a cutie) - you'd think he was starved for attention 😊.

Cecilia