Plein Air Tuesday - Rangers' Station on 179 - Day 1

 

That's just one of many views!

Arrived to find Dona & Jim getting themselves organized with Jim all set to head out on his hike.

(L to R) Dona, Jim

Dona let me know that Barb and Bonny were already up at the building.

Bonny

Barb

I saw Pat had pulled in right after me, was trying to get a picture of her leaving the vehicle, but she was taking her time.   Instead here she is walking up to where I was with Bonny and Barb (who chatted between each other the whole 2 hours by the way - not that I was listening 😉 )

Pat - watching her step!

Then, the next thing I know I see 1/2 of the Prescott contingent heading towards us too!

Karel

Oh, and here she is doing the "artist thing"

Karel - framing it!

Mike returned from visiting family in the rainy part of the country.   He said, while it was good to see them, the RAIN is really a bit, well, rainy and continuous!

Mike

Several more joined the group, all mostly lining up along the fence by the parking area that overlooks the creek.

Dona, Anna

Anna showed up with her chair and desk setup.  Hard to tell who this next one is since I missed getting her pic with her head up.  But, that's ok, I know who she is.

Janel

It's Janel who was busy getting ready to paint. -- Then this person came whizzing past.

That's Pete and front and center is my brush

I wasn't quick enough to get a good pic of him, so I tried when he went back down to his spot.

Pete

I had to call over to him to get him to turn my way, that worked!  

Sarah who only joins us intermittently when she's visiting stopped by to say hi before she set up in her spot.

Sarah

And, here she is -- stuff all over the ground.  I guess when you become inspired by a spot, you just drop everything and get to it!

Sarah in her spot on the ground

Oh, here's the other half of the Prescott duo.

on the right -- John
over on the left -- Mike 

Did I mention there were a TON of visitors -- wow, here's just a sampling.

See the crowd in the background- that continued throughout the morning.

So, earlier in the post I mentioned how everyone seemed to line up along the rail by the parking lot.  Well, here they are.

(L to R) Mike, Pete, John, Dona's SPOT, Anna, Karel, Janel 

I know you can't see them all and most look like little dots. So, here they are from the other angle.

(L toR) Mike (see the red chair), Pete, John, Dona (now in her spot), Anna, Karel, Janel

This, line up as it was, caused many visitors to comment -- wow, look at all the artists!  Yes, we were quite the group and all managed to create some really great  paintings.

And here are some close ups --

And, as we all gathered while waiting for the last few to show up, we all stood back and admired everyone's work.  Questions were asked "how did you mix that green", "what did you use for the red rocks" & "oh, someone painted the cows"!  We all decided it was a fun morning.  That, of course, all led to us smiling on 2!

Back (L to R) - Mike, Dona, Barb, John, Bonny, Pat, Pete, Karel
Front (L to R) - Anna, Janel, Me, Sarah, Jim

And, so we ended 2025 with smiles and well wishes for the year ahead!

Happy New Year all!

Cecilia

Plein Air Tuesday - 12/15/25 - Tlaquepaque - Day 2

 

I arrived a little early, as did Mike & Betty and also Janelle (she hasn't been with us for quite some time).

Mike

Betty

As you can see, Betty decided to get a move on pretty quickly.  By the time I caught up with her she was already in her spot.

I was trying to get a pic of Janelle, but once again, I wasn't quick enough and this is what I got 😟

Janel

She's behind that car door.  Perhaps we'll be able to identify her by her feet later on.

Janelle's feet

Then I saw Pat, and I knew immediately it was her because she was wearing her familiar Pink Hat -- you remember, she's Pink Hat Pat!

Pat with her Pink Hat

LeAnne joined us - and she smiled!!

Smiling LeAnne

So, this guy pulled in to drive over to the recycle dumpster (didn't know there was one there until he went to it).  But, the reason why I noticed him was because of the bright shiny copper color of his car and it's unusual look.  I hadn't see one before.

Look at the color reflection on the ground!!

So, turns out it was a 2018 BMW I8, it's unusual looking.  He said that they didn't make a whole lot of them.

The other thing I noticed this time were the life size female statues that were all around.  They were all John Waddell's.  Many of you will remember the couple of times we went to Ruth Waddell's home to paint the statues that were placed all around on the grounds.   John had already passed and Ruth was happy to have us come and enjoy the sculptures.   She since has passed as well but those sculptures are now for sale through one of the art galleries in Tlaquepaque.  Here is a link to an  article that was in Phoenix Home & Garden on September 25, 2025.  It shows the various sculptures that can be found displayed throughout Tlaquepaque and tells John's story as told by his daughter Amy.

https://www.phgmag.com/john-henry-waddells-sculptures-find-new-life-at-sedonas-tlaquepaque/

Here's a photo from The Waddell property with one of the sculptures and a couple of our well known artists from when we had visited there.

Sculpture, Nita, Mike

Looks like the sculpture was trying to join in on the conversation.

A couple of our artists decided to try and paint the ones in Tlaquepaque.

Pat 

Pat was just setting up at this point.  But, others came to join her.

Carolyn

Boy, Carolyn packs a lot of stuff in her very little carrier.  Notice, not one but TWO stools and 3 things of water (one for drinking).

And, while Nita & Mike picked spots right by those sculptures, they're not what they painted.

Mike, Nita
Behind them 2 of 3 sculptures that were dancing

Tecla also joined the group.

Tecla

As did Anna - oh dear I can't believe this is the only photo I got of her -- you have to look in the shadows as she's walking towards us.

Anna

I just realized I never took a picture of Nori, and she was standing right near me 😳, sorry Nori.  I was in a little courtyard just over from her while she was in an outer walkway. I kept hearing all these people stopping to talk to her and her continually saying "Thank you, yes, it's such a lovely place to paint".  Clearly she was continually being complimented on her painting.

Janelle found a bench in one of the alleyways.  She had an Elf or some equivalent come to visit her.

Janel and the Elf

Wonder if that means Janelle can expect to see something special from Santa.

Eileen was also there today and I believe her spot was pretty close to where she was last week.  But, here she is walking with her painting to the "gallery" area.

Eileen

Well, time passed rapidly, especially since it's such a difficult place to find your spot -- too many choices and crazy angles to deal with.   But, we did all manage to gather at the appointed time with a few paintings still being in process, but that's ok as they were shared anyway.

After having a chance to admire everyone's work, we did get together to fit into a picture where we could all smile on 2.

Back Row 3 - Eileen, Mike
Middle Row - Carolyn, Pat, Anna, Tecla, Janel, Nita
Front Row - Nori, LeAnne, Betty, Me

It'll be 2 weeks before we see you all again.  Have a Very 🎄 Merry Christmas 🎄and see you in 2.

Cecilia

Plein Air Tuesday - Tlaquepaque - Day 1

 

Ok, so, clearly I forgot to take a lead in photo.  So, instead we have the worker cleaning a fountain.  I'm sure we all wondered how they did it!

Meet up time was 10:00 am and I arrived there just about 10:00 am.  At least I figured I wouldn't be stuck waiting in the parking lot for anyone to show up.   When I arrived, Mike, Tecla & Carolyn were there.  Yes, you read that right, Tecla & Carolyn!!  Haven't seen them in a while so was happy they made it.

Carolyn, Tecla

So, just a little note here.  Carolyn decided to travel very light this day -- now, we all know what happens when we change our routine or sequence in leaving the house with our painting stuff right??  How about she left it all at home 😢 (oh noooo!)  As it turned out I had stuff she could use, I threw something extra in my bag last minute.  Funny how things work out.

Mike - chair & table over his shoulder - he obviously didn't forget his stuff!

It was looking like it was going to be a pretty light group.  But, LeAnne showed up.

LeAnne

Tamara

Above is Tamara, she is part of the Arizona Pastel Artists Association  from Phoenix and knows Nori (who happens to be President of that organization).  She told Nori she'd be in Sedona this day and wondered about someplace to paint.

I kept taking pics into the sun -- so, if they're looking a little off, that's why.

As I wandered around looking for my spot, I heard familiar voices and saw what looked like artists set up.  Hmm, perhaps there are a few more of us.

Artists in the distance

I'll just get a little closer, here we go.

(L to R) Nori, Pat

Ok, still not the best pics, but a bit more identifiable-- Nori's trying to throw us off by wearing a different hat, but we know it's her!

Hmmm, this looks like yet another artist's spot.

Artist's spot -- I recognize some of that stuff too

Betty

Turns out it was Betty's spot.    I see the number of artists is starting to increase from the original 4 of us.

I still don't know where my spot is -- too much to choose from.  But, oh look, there's someone else.

Eileen

Yes, it's Eileen, also haven't seen her for a while.  But, wait, there's more...

Tecla

Tecla found her spot on a fountain edge -- looks like she has her hands in gloves -- don't worry the sun will warm her up.

Oh here's our new girl from last week ...

Bonny (with a "y")

All decked out in her version of a Santa shirt -- oh and I checked with her and that is how she spells it!

Whose that -- I think it's some more from the group.

Dona & Jim

Yes, Dona & Jim made it today too, haven't seen them in a bit either.  Oh look, someone ventured upstairs for the grand view.

Carolyn waving from up top!

Oh, I told you there was more -- here's (Timestamp:  10:32) Nita 1, and she found someone's value thingee - what do you call them - oh perhaps it's just value finder? 

Dona & Nita with the Value Finders

Not sure if she found the owner, I think she tried when we met up later, if not and you lost yours, you now know where to find them.

Oh yes, here's someone we haven't seen in a while -- Anna has returned for her winter stay.

Anna

I don't know about you, but I've lost count -- we'll have to wait until the end to find our how many really showed up.

Mike found his spot down one of the alleyways between buildings.

Mike

Nita said she knew just where she wanted to go -- and had headed off to her spot pretty quickly.  Ok, I won't state the obvious, but with the ambitious painting/sketch she wanted to do and considering that Timestamp, speed was essential!

Nita in her Spot

If you're wondering where exactly that spot was, how about it was right behind Eileen.

Back to Front - Eileen, Nita

You now also probably recognize the location.  Dona picked a spot where they put that stuff out in front of the store on the ground.

Dona in her spot

I found Nori & Pat's spot -- they were next to one another and when I found them I also learned that Gail was there too, she was just walking around at this point.

(L to R) Nori, Pat's hat, Gail walking and smiling

Speaking of smiling - here's Smiling LeAnne, although she's looking quite serious at the moment.

LeAnne

Bonny found a spot in one of the courtyards.

Bonny

And, remember Tamara from the beginning of this -- well I found her finally.  She was in the area where the new walkway was created to go under the road.

Tamara

We do all tend to look so serious when we're painting, but honest, we're having fun!

Ok, now for all the great paintings and sketches that were created on this very pretty morning.   I didn't get the single shot of all of them, as I couldn't step away far enough.  So here they are in small groups, and yes, there are some repeats but I wanted to make sure I got them all and it's easy to lose track where you start and stop as you click across.

Here's one more item that was given as a wish to all of us from Dona and Jim.

This was Jim's contribution

Aww, come on Jim, it doesn't get that hot -- at least not this time of year!  

I believe that's all of them -- so if you think that was difficult, try herding this group to get together to smile on 2!

(L to R) - Back Row - Carolyn, Gail, Dona, Tecla, Nori, Mike, Bonny, Eileen, Tamara, Jim
In front of Jim is Pat creating her own row as did Mike in the back
Front Row - Betty, LeAnne, Anna, Me, Nita 1

16 of us - definitely more than the 4 I thought it was going to be when we started out.  How nice to see everyone!!

Till next week where we'll do a Day 2 -- once again with thanks to Nita 1 for arranging this with the powers that be!

Cecilia