I have returned from an enjoyable trip to the desert southwest: Tucson, Green Valley, and Tubac Arizona. I visited with my friends, Kari and Dave, and we squeezed in as many art activities as we could handle! It was a great time, with wonderful weather (80′s and 90′s felt so good after all the below zero’s we’ve had this winter!) delicious food, and great conversations.
I flew down with a turtle in my suitcase — a welded metal “Painted Turtle” to be exact. I brought it to the Feminine Mystique Art Gallery in Tubac, where it will reside for a while, looking for a new family to take it home.
Here is "Painted Turtle" at the gallery in Tubac
Also on site at the FM Gallery is my large gecko sculpture titled “Ancient Messenger”. It is on the exterior wall of the gallery.
"Ancient Messenger" at the Feminine Mystique gallery
We visited several galleries in Tubac, and also attended the Festival of arts, which is when visiting artists fill the town with their tent/booths up and down the streets, rather like the Art-in-the-Park festival we have here in Bemidji. A great chance to see a wide variety of arts and crafts.
Kari took me to her critique group meetings, where I met lots of friendly artists, and admired their works in progress. We spent part of one afternoon at the SRAL abstract competition exhibit, and a full day up in Tucson visiting the San Xavier mission and several more galleries.
I really enjoyed the visit to the mission. It was built in the early 1700′s, and is still active after all this time. There is a small museum on site which tells the history of the church and mission. I enjoyed seeing the elaborate carvings in the church as well as the beautiful buildings.
The San Xavier Mission
Interior of the San Xavier Church at the mission
A pyrrhuloxia
Other highlights of the trip included seeing the great variety of cacti and
unique plants that live in the desert areas, watching the wildlife and birds in Kari and Dave’s yard, (javelina, desert cottontail, quail, hawks, roadrunners, cardinals, pyrrhuloxia, and several other birds species.) and soaking up a bit of sunshine.
I had two works accepted into the “Art Show at the Dog Show” exhibit in Wichita, Kansas. I shipped them last week. Then I got word that I had a painting accepted into the International “Animals in Art” Exhibit in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I will be shipping that one tomorrow. (I hope) I am excited about getting my work into some juried shows!
Now it’s back to real life … Hope to start work on a cat commission soon.
Congratulations on getting your paintings into the shows. That is so exciting!!! Good luck on both endeavors!!