Blue Vase Of Daisies

I was inspired to paint this vase after visiting DeGrazia's Gallery.  I saw a pot of flowers that made me paint this one even though it isn't anything like I saw.

The yellow daisies are painted with acrylic while the vase is watercolor and the whole page was prepainted with coffee.  Talk about multi-media!

Happy Blooming Tuesday

Crested Saguaro Cactus

We found this 'Crested Saguaro Cactus' when hiking on the cowboy ranch.  They are always a source of fascination because of the odd shape.
This mutation happens about one in every 10,000 for reasons not fully identified.


Thanks to my SIL for all the views.  He was also fascinated.


Happy Cactus Monday everyone.

Redhead In Church

This redhead sat in front of us and I giggled because it was obviously a 'bottled' red and then I giggled some more because I could not get that orange-red color on my sketch.

Happy Sunday

HAPPY ST. PAT'S DAY!

Hope your day is full of fun and Irish green.

Kitt Peak Observatory

When my daughter and SIL were here we spent one day at Kitt Peak Observatory.  It is 50 miles from Tucson and sits on top of a mountain.

Altitude of 6,785 ft.

Beautiful drive and beautiful view all around.

This is an ideal location because the sky is so clear here and Tucson has an ordinance that all streets lights must be directed downward which reduces the light pollution.

Another reason Tucson is a good place for an observatory is the year round good weather, sunny days and clear nights.

Welcoming sign and mission statement.

Panoramic view of the top with all the observatories.

Taken by my SIL.

Photo taken from the road below.  This gives you a hint of the height and bare rock it sits on.
Kitt peak is located in the Schuk Toak District on the Tohono O'odham Nation.

Rose and Tim are enjoying the colorful Visitor Center sign.

This is the observatory that we toured.

A view of the telescope in this building.  What you are looking at is the mirror.  Our docent was a retired science writer that did a fabulous job of explaining everything in layman's terms.

There were photos of nebula in the building and you know that was going to inspire me to create one.  They are so beautiful.

This is a view on white paper and...

this is a view surrounded by black which makes it more real to me.

It was a wonderful day.

Vacation Animals

Animals we saw on vacation.

Baby donkey at 'Old Tucson" studios.

Horses pulling the hay wagon we rode on to our 'cowboy' dinner at a ranch.

Our real cowboy driver.  Those horses were rather feisty so he had his hands full.

This friendly cat took a nap while we ate our cowboy dinner at a picnic table, then came to visit (looking for scraps).

Can you see the gecko we found hiding in the agave?  This was at Tohono Chul park.

And my personal favorite are these "Gray-breasted Jays" while we were at Kitts Peak for an astronomy tour.

These jays came to our picnic and were aggressively looking for handouts.  My daughter had a peanut in her hand and a bird came and took it right out of her hand.

We had a wonderful busy vacation with my daughter and SIL.  Busy every day doing something fun.  Now I need a vacation to recover.  lol

Now that they are gone, the house is WAY too quiet.

Happy Animal Wednesday

A Few Vacation Flowers

 We found this flower created from aluminum cans, painted and nailed to the entry fence at DeGrazia's Gallery.  

 DeGrazia was the impressionist painter of the southwest.  He frequently painted the Indians with this kind of love.  This is one of my favorites of the little girl carrying a wreath of flowers.

The entry gate at the gallery is filled with flowers, both real and aluminum.

Close up of the real ones.

 We found these flowers growing wild on the hillside and between the rocks at Tucson Mountain Park.

Close up.

All these yellow flowers are wild and called Brittle Bush.  They are in bloom everywhere right now.  From the daisy family of course.

These orange flowers (globe mallow) are also in bloom right now and usually in settings with purple lupines (not pictured). 

Happy Blooming Tuesday in the desert. 

Cactus Monday - Vacation Cactus

Various cacti that we found at DeGrazia's gallery on the outside grounds.

Rose and Tim hiking among the cacti at Tucson Mountain Park.

We found this grouping of cacti at "Old Tucson", a town where many of the old western movies were filmed.  Spending the day here is very fun and educational.

Happy Cactus Monday

Visitors Coming Today

My daughter Rosemary and SIL Tim are arriving today for a 5 day visit.  They like to be busy and we have so many things planned they may have to stay longer.

I'm so excited to see them!!!

Maxwell The Geico Pig

Have you seen the commercial of the Geico pig riding down a zipline?  He is sliding  down the zipline saying, "Weeeee, weeeee, weeeeeeee" and his feet are moving back and forth in enjoyment.  When he sees a human he says, "Pure.  Adrenalin" and keeps sliding.

This is my very favorite commercial!!  I will stop whatever I am doing to watch it.  Took me awhile to figure out it was for Geico.  lol

So, being the silly person I am, I just had to paint Maxwell in my sketchbook.  This is a pre-painted page also that kind of didn't work this time.


Maxwell cracks me up!!!!


Click here to see the commercial.


Happy Animal Wednesday!