The Rite of the First Saguaro: A Weekend in the Valley of the Sun - Day 1

  We're back from an inspirational and rejuvenating hegira into the Valley of the Sun. I wouldn't want to live there by any stretch of the imagination; I'm more a "small town girl" at heart. But you know, toward the end of a long cold winter it's soooo nice to take a break, to get a taste of what's moving slowly up the hill: warm summer days and nighttime lows above freezing. Stocking up at Trader Joe's and shopping for new tools and toys at Frenzy Stamper only sweetens the pot. 

  The REAL action takes place when we drop our art supplies on the table to play with Kelly. Kelly Kilmer is my favorite art instructor of all time. Seriously. Take classes with her whenever you have the opportunity. They're both fun and full of innovative ideas and techniques, and Kelly is a fun-loving, laid-back, fabulously talented and enthusiastic teacher.

  On Friday evening we took her "Metamorphosis" class, and with gesso, gel medium and a little paint, learned to transform ordinary, everyday scrapbook paper into fabulous background paper. How cool is that? And who doesn't have a pile of ho-hum paper lying around just waiting to be transformed?

  Here's a small sampling of the papers we came home with:

Can you see how the original printed design just b-a-r-e-l-y shows through the layers of paint (above)? Such richness of color and texture!

There's not so much of the original paper to be seen at first glance in this next piece, but if you look closely at the edges you can see how the original color contributes overall to the finished paper.

The above piece is what we like to call a "happy accident." Unplanned and entirely spontaneous, it was painted by fiat. I used it to clean off stencils and brushes, to sop up excess paint on other papers, and clean my palette at the end of the evening. 

I love the depth in this piece. Can you see the original text?

  This last piece is one of Kris' creations. Although I couldn't say why, it speaks to me at some deep level;  I love the layers of color, and how she used her fingers to move paint around in the top layer. A bold and beautiful transformation. Gel medium, gesso and acrylic paint. Fabulous class!

  At some point between classes I mentioned to Kelly that I couldn't find deli wrap in Flagstaff. We'd used it as substrate material in a prior class, and I had been trying in vain ever since to secure a supply. And you know, I was really just thinking she could point me to a website or someplace I could find it online, but we went straight out to her car, and she gave me an entire box that just happened to be in the trunk. How generous is that? This is just one of the many things I appreciate about her so... Thanks Kelly!

  Kris and I have this little ritual we do on the way to and from Phoenix. Maybe it seems a little, well, childish, but it gives us much pleasure and anticipation. To Phoenix from home is a two-and-a-half hour drive, and we know we're halfway there, either coming or going, when we sight the first/last saguaro. It sits just past the Sunset Point rest stop on I-17, visible from either direction at the top of the mesa, just as it descends into Black Canyon City and the Sonora Desert. Ordinarily it's starkly visible, standing tall and green against the varied browns, pinks, reds, muted yellows, and greys of the Arizona landscape. This time, though, we almost missed it. You see, we've never driven down the hill during April when everything is green and the wildflowers are in full bloom. It was pleasantly disorienting to see lush waysides and the normally dry stream beds and washes full to brimming. A very different sort of beauty which, within a month or so, will revert to the beauty we are used to seeing along that stretch of highway. We almost missed the first saguaro among the greenery...

  Thanks for visiting; come again soon!

Comments

[kelly]

Awwwwwwwww shucks. Thanks Ladies for the kind words. What you both did in classes this weekend was AMAZING. Fabulously cool. It was great to see you both!! Hope the ride home was great. Oooh your picture of the desert is gorgeous! What I saw was nothing compared to what it looks like you both saw!

[sharon]

Awwwww shucks back at you Kelly! The drive home was a bit challenging this trip and took waaay longer than usual due to an unexpected highway closure...which (to think of it in a positive light) gave us more time to eyeball and enjoy the beautiful scenery and, despite the delay, still make Sunset Point in time to see the Last Saguaro.

Thanks for kudos on the photo...when there's good material to work with yada-yada...And while you had an entirely different set of flora, I'm sure it had a beauty all it's own. On my list of places to shoot one spring is the part of the desert you drive through. There's a window of just a few days in which to get down there, though, and the peak dates change from year to year, depending on the snowfall. I think maybe the Arizona Highways website posts a "desert blooms" advisory, but haven't checked it out yet. Maybe next spring...

So much beauty, so little time...

Good to see you, as always! Safe journeys!