Shown here left to right: Kaia Thomas, Don Dean, Clement Scott, Lili Laurin, Cynthia Rosen and Glenn Renell. Not shown: Harry & Linda Stacy, Susan Akridge and Sarah Thomson. Back in February I created a Facebook group called the Cochise County Plein Air Painters. My intention was to provide artists and art lovers in our area, along with artists who enjoy painting and exploring in our area, a place to come together and share art, photos, paint out opportunities, pretty much anything related to our beautiful Cochise County and painting outdoors. After inviting those who I thought would appreciate the group, it quickly sprang to life with enthusiasm - paintings and photos of loved locations were shared, and an interest in Portal, Arizona arose. In a very short amount of time a paint out had been planned and reservations were made for the first weekend of April to paint in Portal! Located on the extreme eastern edge of Cochise County, onl...
Over the weekend, Luke and I took a camping trip atop Mt. Graham. It's a little piece of heaven for us desert floor dwellers in the middle of the hottest month of the Arizona year. Mt. Graham is located in Southeastern Arizona just a few miles outside of Safford, AZ. Ascending Mt. Graham takes you through 8 botanical zones before reaching the top. Needless to say, I brought my plein air painting gear with! The beauty was astounding... The vegetation was so powerful, being used to the desert flora . We were fortunate to find a camp spot right next to a creek. Another treat for us - water!! There was much inspiration here, I was seeing the colors in nature so differently and I did my best to absorb all that I was seeing in hopes to bring it to future paintings. I did manage to produce a plein air painting and some sketches in pencil and watercolor. I still feel I am very much in the learning phase with this style of painting but it is such a pleasure to do!
So I received a special order for a gourd birdhouse before the holidays - it was intended to be a Christmas gift. It was one of three birdhouse commissions I received at the same time! They are a lot of fun to make and I continue to expand the creative possibilities with each one! This one was actually inspired by a new found love - Moroccan folk art! I love discovering new cultural designs and I'm amazed that I had not stumbled upon their art before. Here I have a step by step look at the making of the birdhouse - although I was told I should call them birdpalaces:) Here was the start - cleaned and holes drilled ready for painting.... I did a quick sketch to work out the general idea...the actual design changed along the way. Drawing in the front design... Front design painted! Drawing in the rest of the design... Body design nearly completed... Ta da!! We have a birdhouse! As my friend said " That's one lucky bird." :)) Hope you enj...
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