Plein Air Tuesday - 11/19/24 - Red Rock Crossing - Day 1

 

Well, it happened!  I was the one that needed a timestamp - arrival:  10:05.  Meet up time was 9:45 😔  Hey, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

But, as it turned out I still caught some people arriving, well sort of.  Here's Bob, he was actually just wandering around.

Bob

As you can see in the distance, while there's still some fall colors, a lot of trees have lost their leaves.

And, here's Mike not set up yet either.

Mike

And, Pat was also there.  She must've been on time.

Pat

So, it turns out that Bob brought another Pat with him, she was off in an area that Mike would usually go to that doesn't have Cathedral Rock views, but does face the creek.  Anyway, 2 Pats, guess you know what that means.  Above is Pat1.  And, I have a little funny story about there being 2 Pats that happened as we were setting up our gallery.

Off in the distance I saw there was another artist already set up and painting.

See the black dot on the left -- I said it was in the distance!

So, I had to go find out who that was,  as I got closer, recognition started setting in.

Betty

It was Betty in her spot!  After greeting and chatting, I turned back to go find my spot and found that Mike for a change decided to face Cathedral Rock.

Mike in his spot

Now, if you look at the photo you'll see a black bag on the right side and to Mike's real left -- that's my spot, BUT, on the other side we have someone just setting up that wasn't there before.

A scrambler and Nita

That's right, that other person was Timestamp Nita (aka Nita1), oh, and the actual time 10:15.  Now as to that scrambler, well it was David who had informed me beforehand he'd be arriving late.  Between what he's carrying and what he has on his back, you'd think he would have taken the easier way down -- guess he was just following Nita as that's always her preferred arrival point.

Oh good, he made it down.

David

David decided his spot should also be facing the rocks - hey, join the crowd!

David's back and view of the rocks

You can see that there was also someone else that showed up, as off in the distance near where Betty was is another artist.  Let's see who it is.

(L to R) Spencer, Jeanne

Yes, that's a slightly better view of Jeanne and a very, very friendly and curious Spencer.  I was very well greeted when I went over to say hello to Jeanne 😊

Here's a view of the group that went the "extra distance"

(L to R) Betty, Jeanne, Stranger hiking, another stranger hiking

Oh my, this was a surprise, with thanks to Jeanne - she caught me 😉

(L to R) Me, Betty

How about that, Jeanne had time to do a great painting and sneak in a picture of me too -- thanks Jeanne!

After visiting here with Betty and others dispersed around,  I went  to find who we'll now refer to as Pat2.  I finally found her somewhere near where Mike would usually set up but didn't this day.  Only thing is, I was so intent on finding her that I forgot to get a picture of her -- I'm sorry.  But, have no fear, she made it into the group photo and perhaps some of you will recognize her from NAWS.

Speaking of the group photo which means we had a gallery, when we were starting to set up our gallery I saw Pat2 over near Bob's spot which was on your out to the road.  I didn't want her to leave before the photos were taken so I yelled "Pat, you're not leaving are you?"  and in response I heard a very distinctly different voice respond but from the same area, it was Pat1.  Which was when I realized, oh no, we have 2 Pats.  It did make me laugh when Pat1 replied.

Anyway, as usual we gathered together to build the gallery and I tried to get a picture of it all.  As proof of that, Jeanne once again grabbed her phone and took a picture of this endeavor.

Me and all the great paintings with thanks to Jeanne

Have no fear -- I'll show you what the photo I took looked like, well sort of -- I did have to add a slow poke's painting in after the fact, but I'm not saying whose.  Although, I did just give you something to search for - as in "what's different between the two photos".  Now you have to study all the paintings - have fun!

Wow, quite the display

If you're doing a count, you'll find that our Timestamp painter as usual did multiple and because she always arrives so late, she does it in record time.  There's 4 contributions to the gallery from Nita1.

Then as timing would have it, we had a visitor show up who had offered to take the photo, but we thanked her and told her we had it set up, HOWEVER, she said ok well let me know when you're ready and then I'll make you smile.  Well, she was quite the character and had us all outright laughing.  That explains why I'm doing something weird in the photo (like looking at my wrist), I was so distracted I looked in the wrong direction on 2 while everyone else was still smiling.

(L to R) Bob, Me, David, Mike, Pat2, Nita1, Pat1, Betty, Jeanne, Spencer

It was a very pretty morning and a fun one too.  Thanks to all who attended (including Spencer).  Oh, forgot to mention, Spencer felt compelled to give all the paintings a thorough inspection - Jeanne stopped him before he got to the oil though, didn't wan that on his nose.  So folks, the paintings were Spencer Approved!

Till next week for Day 2!

Cecilia

Plein Air Tuesday - Dead Horse Ranch State Park - 11/12/24 - Day 2

Arrived at the Ball Field early, really early.  Nita2 was kind enough to pick up Kris near her home, then Suzette & Me at Clark's.  It turned out traffic was light which meant that there was a lot of just hanging out at the Ball Field parking lot waiting for 10:00 to roll around.

Suzette, Nita2 (the driver)

Smiling Kris 

People started to arrive and I managed to NOT get everyone's picture.  Sorry about that.  I'll tell you who arrived at the Ball Field and left for the park on their own though.  It was Jeanne & Gail - separate cars and separate times.  They both wanted to stick around for more than the 2 hours so figured they should drive themselves.

But, the ones that came along and left with us all at the same time were:

Her Back to us is Carolyn
David, Betty & Lisa

Yes, you read and saw that correctly -- Lisa is back!!!  She had a long term volunteer commitment which she completed and now will have time to come back and join us.  So good to see her and she even recognized all of us!  But that wasn't all of them, still more arrived.

Bob

Nita1

and

Mike

We all stood there and talked as it was STILL early - had a few people hamming it up for this photo.

(L to R) David, Nita1, Betty & Lisa (the hams) Bob & Carolyn

Finally, after standing around for a bit, we determined it was safe to head over to the park because anyone who was joining us already did.

Before we get started though, I need to ask you to keep reading after what would normally be the final photo.  There's just a little bit about some of our artists.

We arrived at the 3rd Pond and the first creatures I see are our buddies from last week.

The Duck Family

See the way they're all huddled up -- there's a reason for that, it was cold!!!  Not only that, it was also a bit breezy.

There were even more fishermen than the previous week, although I didn't get pics of all of them.  However, they were busy pulling live ones out of the water.

Fishermen

If you look closely at the photo above, you can see more fishermen seated way in the background.

As always, it took some of us more time than others to find our spots.   Here are 2 decideds and one deliberator.

Way in the background on the left is Nita2 (a decided)
Front (L to R) Kris (the deliberator) and Lisa another decided.

Well, will you look at that, as I wandered around trying to find a spot, off in the distance I saw someone who wasn't at the Ball Field but was definitely part of our group.  It was Pat, the early arriver from last week.

(L to R)  Person with a Big Lens and Pat

Bet the person with the Big Lens got some good photos.  Too bad we don't know her.

It looks like Pat decided on a spot in the shade for her inspiration -- guess she felt that she was dressed warm enough.  Me, I had to find a spot in the sun.

Pat in her spot

So, while I was looking I found Suzette hiking down a hill to the pond over precarious terrain.  Her reason -- she had to find a spot out of the wind.  Ok, so I may have fibbed earlier when I said it was breezy, well not really a fib but a bit of an understatement -- it was Windy.  

Suzette trekking down to her spot

Good thing this wasn't hunting territory, will you look at how she blends in to her surroundings - except for her little Dakota Pastel small travel box and it only stands out because of its rectangular shape as the color goes with the background.

There were a lot of people whose spots I didn't see.  But, I still had to keep looking for them.  While on that search I found this fisherman holding the reel deal - that wasn't a typo 😊!

That's a fish flopping in front of his shirt, and not his first one either

Oh, here comes Betty with all her stuff, walking past one of the decided (Lisa) and the deliberator who has now decided, Kris.

Betty sashaying along, Lisa and Kris

Betty really does have a fun looking swing in her step there and she's smiling too.

Nita1 came to find me to tell me that both she and Mike were going to hop in a car, hopefully one owned by one of them (I don't ask questions) and they were going to go over to the other side of the pond for a different view.  So, in other words yellow trees across the pond from the other side 😜 - oh but, you know what, they did have views of US.  I didn't get them in their spots.  I learned later from Mike that Nori wound up in that spot too.

Here's Bob in his spot and if you look close (so I wonder, every time I say that, do you all lean closer to your computer?), anyway if you look close you'll see going down the line artists in a row.

(Front to Back) Bob setting up, Nita2, Carolyn at the bench

Oh look, we have some more of the same visitors from last week.  It's Jette & Jim out for their morning walk in the park.

Kris, Jim (hidden behind Kris), Jette & Lisa, sorry caught in an awkward position

That person that you actually can see way back to the left of Kris is Bob.  And, yes, I know that's really Kris's right shoulder but I'm trying to keep things simple in describing things as you look at it.

I shared this spot at the bench with Betty.  So, here she is in her spot.

Betty in her spot

While I was there we did have some people stop by.   One of them was a watercolorist who lives in Prescott but visits this area frequently.  Her name is Michelle and she didn't know anything about the terrific organizations we have here.  So, Michelle, this is for you.  

The Watercolor Association is called Norther Arizona Watercolor Society, better known as NAWS.  This is their website:

https://www.naws-az.org/

And another really great organization that is open to ALL media types is El Valle Artists Association, EVAA for short.  Jette is the current president of this organization.

https://www.elvalleartists.org/

There is a 3rd organization that you may or may not be interested in but if I don't mention it, Nori might feel a bit left out besides the fact that it deserves mentioning.  You see, Nori is the current president of the Arizona Pastel Artists Association and their website is:

https://apaa.wildapricot.org/

All of the artists that were at this paint out are members of one, two or maybe even all three of these organizations.  They are terrific and each offer different opportunities for workshops, demos, and for showing your own work.  Not to mention the chance to meet a whole group of friendly and helpful artists.

Ok, I got a little side tracked.  That's what happens when you wind up talking to visitors.  Here we go, back to our day.    I have a couple of more spots to show you because I know you want to know where people were when they were creating their masterpieces and just what they may have been looking at.

This is a better pic of Nita2 in her spot

Notice that Nita2 is looking away from the pond -- don't you wonder what she was painting -- we'll have to wait till the end to see.

Carolyn in her spot

David, the one in red, in his spot at Pond 2

Don't know who he was taking to, it wasn't one of us - just another visitor.  I know I've said this before, but it's been a while.  It really is funny how when you're out plein air painting, complete strangers will come right up to you and start talking.  Now, you know they wouldn't do that normally.  But, I always feel like it adds to the fun of being out there and we frequently wind up meeting some very nice people.

I went around and tried to capture the rest, but as I was doing so I caught this person in the distance.

Who was it you ask?  Well, it was Suzette and she was heading back to the area where most of us were, her completed painting in hand and all packed up.  Guess that means it's time for me to head back and pack up too.

I'm sorry if I didn't find you in your spot this day and I'm also sorry I never saw Gail again, because she didn't even show up for the final photo.  

At this point in time, that wind decided it was time to start doing some heavy gusting.  Ugh, you know that meant we couldn't build a gallery.  We tried with a few but that lasted for about 2 seconds.  So, it was decided that we would all just have to gather around and hold up our paintings as we smiled on 2.

Back row - 2 people, mostly hidden (L to R) Bob, Mike (you only see his painting)
Mid Row (L to R) Nita1, Carolyn, Lisa, David Suzette, Nori, Liz(under Mike's painting),  Kris
Front Row (L to R) Me (Cecilia), Jeanne, Betty, Nita2, Pat
Most of us look windblown!

Oh, dear, I have a confession.  See Liz hiding back there between Nita2 & Pat.  David gave me her info quite a while ago and while I put her in my contacts, I forgot to add her to the all important "List".  So sorry Liz, but you're on it now!!

I think this may have been a record setting day - there were really 16 of us.  Let's see what we can manage to do next week.  Hope to see you then!

-------------

Alright, so the following photos are courtesy of Carolyn.  She participated in Cottonwood's Walking on Main once again this year.  It was a shortened version this year, only 1 day, Saturday.  But, she wasn't the only one of our Plein Air Tuesday group to participate.  Here is what she sent me

Carolyn's Table (minus Carolyn) - Look CLOSE and you'll see some unique watch face earrings!

Sandy Beck's Table - also minus Sandy.

I think those 2 photos were taken after setup and before the actual opening of the event.  

But wait, there's more!!

Cindy Montgomery

And, last but not least!

Mike going incognito!

Well, I know that Carolyn had a successful day, hope all the others did too!  Next year I'll have to try to remember to put out an advance notice to all of you.

Till next week.

Cecilia

 

Plein Air Tuesday - 11/5/24 - Dead Horse Ranch

 

The meet up time was 9:00 am at the "Ball Field" apparently also by some considered a dog park??  Anyway I arrived about 8:50 to find Mike already there talking with Carolyn.

Mike, Carolyn
Hint:  Don't take photos into the sun 

Yes, I really should've known better, but I went to stand in the sun because it was much warmer where I was standing than where they were standing.  So, yes, it was cold at that hour.  In fact, Mike's first words to me were, "I think we need to start meeting at 10".  😊

Next David, who last week said he'd be back, arrived.

David a "Returner"

Tecla then joined us along with Roxy.

Tecla and the short one is Roxy

I know, when she drove past us to park I almost didn't recognize her either with her hair down.  According to Carolyn she had it cut short -- boy, I didn't know it was that long.  Oh, by the way -- this Sunday is Tecla's birthday.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TECLA!!

We decided to wait for Pat who said she'd be joining us, but after standing around shivering till 9:05, we piled into 2 vehicles and headed to the park.  Most of us decided to spend time in the sun.  That big round ball in the sky shining on you really does make a difference.

Get to the 3rd pond (our usual spot) and I see walking around in the distance a person that looked like an artist carrying their stuff.  As I looked closer, I realized it was Pat.

Pat

Turns out that while we were waiting for her at the Ball Field, she had already come and gone and was at the park.  She thought I meant for us to meet before 9 at the Ball Field and 9 at the park.  So, she made up her own meet up time - she figured that perhaps I meant for us to meet at 8:45 at the Ball Field so she went there and no one was there 😟.  So she drove from pond to pond and then just figured she stay at the third pond like we normally do.   Turns out that Mike probably arrived maybe only a minute or two after she had left.  But, she was gone thinking that we had already left without her.

Carolyn and I picked a bench that had been warming in the sun for our spots.

Carolyn and the warm bench

That spot was also located next to a few fowl creatures.

Mr. and Mrs. Duck

You know how their feathers glisten in the sun, well when we first got there it looked like they had solid black heads and not that gorgeous green.  Nature really is amazing and beautiful.  You can't make up colors like that.

Mike picked a spot in the shade????

Mike

David went up to Pond 2 and Pat wandered around in the distance.

Tecla decided she wanted to be comfortable.

Tecla

She did some sketching from her trunk.  Not sure where Roxy was hiding at that point but I think it was on a comfy back seat.

Here's another view of Carolyn and Mike in their spots.  I think that's the same spot Mike's painted from before too.

(L to R) Some person fishing, Carolyn standing, Mike sitting

We had a surprise visitor.

Carolyn, Mike, Nori

Nori stopped by after picking up paintings from a show.  She had hoped to be able to give Nita hers but due to unforeseen circumstances, Nita couldn't join us.  I think Tecla relieved her of the painting though since she and Nita frequently walk together early mornings in this same park.  Oh, in case you were wondering, Carolyn was admiring Mike's painting.

Nori did some exploring and found Pat.

Pat, Nori

I found David after he had just packed up.

David looking down the hill 

As we were building our gallery we had a few more friendly artists come by.

Jim and Jette

While Jette didn't join us for the painting part of things, she did stop by to chat with all of us for a bit.  It's a walk the two of them do nearly every day, what a really pretty place to go.

I know the artwork to artist count is a bit off, between visitors and me not actually painting.  But, still a really nice gallery was built.

We all joined in the fun of smiling on 2 though.

(L to R Middle & Back Rows) Pat, Carolyn, Jim, David, Jette, Mike, Nori
(L to R Front Row) Tecla, Me

I think Roxy was down there too, but I didn't get her in the photo.  What a beautiful background, look at that reflection!

Gee, so pretty, I think we need to do a Day 2 -- so hope to see you next week!

Cecilia