Sedona

A couple of weeks ago we ran up to Sedona and stayed a night- It was beautiful, not to mention it being 20 degrees cooler than Phoenix. We did a lot of really fun things- one was an African park where they have all the large animals. But our favorite was this spot- an information worker gave us the idea to come check this area out and it is one in a million. Cool water and soft stone with breathtaking views. We are gonna go back here again just to picnic along this river.

2 New Paintings

24"x 48's

These are so fresh off the easel they may change some yet but I wanted to post them so Amy could see what I was up to while she is in Idaho. I am really excited cause these are my first water paintings and I think they are great- but there are so many places to go from here. Some places are kinda flat like the blue shadows look chalky but once they get dry and jessoed they are gonna pop- hopefully right off the wall and into someone's home. I am painting like mad cause I had applied for art shows in Colorado through July and felt rather prepared and took some vacation time while Dad maned the gallery and before I knew it all my large paintings were sold and I feel some serious pressure- I think that is one reason I went so loose with the water which helped me fall into this look that I am loving.

Back at the Lake

Stratton posing.

Matt, Amy, Stratton, Lorin and Andy- posing.

We really love this lake, probably because we grew up with Rigby Lake- YEAH! Arizona gets kinda ridiculous in the summer and you have to find ways to keep cool- this trip was a lot nicer then last too. Last time Nathan my bro in law and I collided our rentals and had to pay through the nose to get them fixed. This time we just unloaded them and took a photo and then put them back on the trailer- so fun! Actually we tried to get dangerous but it is hard to compete with a south boy.

The Botanical Garden

We were able to go to the Botanical Garden a few weeks ago and it was amazing!  It has blown glass structures from the artist Chihuly that are arranged throughout the Arizona scenery with crazy shapes and colors.  

This blue chandelier and this massive curly tree are so tightly pieced together and so well done.  You can't see any armature, it looks like one solid piece of glass that lights up at night.