I’ve had a fun-filled couple of months. Time for an update!

In early October, Aaron and I took a trip up to the White Mountains in northern Arizona. We stayed in Show Low and ventured up to the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert, one of my favorite places in the state. On our final day there, we awoke to SNOW! I thought I’d left all that behind in Kentuckiana, but higher elevations in the mountains help create that white stuff here, too. The drive to and from Show Low was just gorgeous, winding through mountains, cactus forests, ponderosa pines, and the Salt River Canyon, which reminded me of a miniature Grand Canyon. I think that the drive from Tucson to Holbrook might just be one of the prettiest and most diverse stretches of scenery you could find almost anywhere.

We continued to get unseasonable rain in October, which made for some beautiful sunsets and a couple of spectacular rainbows. The temperatures dropped significantly at the beginning of October and it was apparent that summer was ending. We definitely began to remember why we chose to live in Tucson!

With the holiday season approaching, I created an opportunity to buy t-shirts, mugs, bags, clocks, notebooks, and other items featuring my artwork on Redbubble. I receive a portion of the sales and you get cool, unique, useable, giftable stuff! I loaded several images of my artwork to the site, but if you have an interest in me making other designs available, please feel free to contact me.

Also related to the holidays, I began working on some commissions that will be given as Christmas gifts. These are always more work than the art I create on my own, but it is also really fun and rewarding to see someone else’s vision take shape and to think about how much it will be enjoyed by the recipient.

I entered three of my paintings in a fundraiser/art show for a local non-profit, The Drawing Studio. The show, entitled “Small Wonders,” featured works that were all 12” in size or smaller. When we arrived at the opening reception, my work was nowhere to be found. I was confused, and for a moment I thought that my art had been deemed unworthy. It turned out that, unlike most art shows, purchases could be taken immediately and mine had already been sold. That was a fun boost!

I had a few other art successes in November. I created two of new lines of blank notecards (Sonoranscapes & Tour of Tucson), which are available on my website (please note that everything on my site is currently 20% off when you use the code HOLIDAY at checkout!). These new cards are also available in Tucson at a lovely shop called Creative Tribe in the La Encantada Mall. Additionally, I entered three paintings in a juried art show entitled “Tesoros Pequeños” (Little Treasures) at Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery & Workshop in downtown Tucson. The exhibition will open this Saturday, December 1, with a reception from 6-9 p.m. If you’re in Tucson, come on down!

I took a quick trip several hours north to Monument Valley in early November. It was a bit chilly, but the landscape was beautiful and I enjoyed getting away to some different scenery. During my trip there, I also visited Valley of the Gods, Bears Ears National Monument, and Mexican Hat in Utah. Gorgeous places!

We closed down November with a Thanksgiving visit from Aaron’s dad. It was a lovely visit and he certainly enjoyed the break from the Kentucky chill. We ventured around Tucson and took a trip up to Mt. Lemmon Sky Center, the University of Arizona’s observatory, where we nearly froze (9000+ feet above sea level = C.O.L.D.) and saw lots of interesting star formations and planets. Such a neat experience.

And now, the roundup of what I created, some of which is still available for purchase (and don’t forget - everything on my site is currently 20% off when you use the code HOLIDAY at checkout!

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