100 feet of Bubble Wrap

I’m looking at 100 feet of bubble wrap, 40 primed canvas, a towering stack of cardboard boxes, and a receipt from Uhaul.

If you drive Southeast of Vegas for about 4 hours on US 93 a miraculous thing happens. The shaggy limbs of the Joshua tree cactus transform to the statuesque arms of the Saguaro, then you know you’ve left the Mojave desert and entered the Sonoran. I want to paint that.

Mohave Desert of Southern Nevada

Sonoran Desert of Arizona

 

We’re moving….temporarily…..for six months……to Scottsdale, Arizona.

Why Scottsdale?  It’s a great central location to take day trips to other interesting cities like Sedona, Tucson and Tubac, where art galleries abound.

Sedona, Tubac, Tucson

Scottsdale itself has Historic Old Town with it’s vintage, western  feel. The heart of this area is Main St., where Every Thursday night  galleries open their doors for the Art walk.  Musicians play on the sidewalk as galleries  showcase new works by nationally known artists.

Did I mention the landscape? Plein air painting, hiking and biking.

The Phoenix Art Museum.

The Scottsdale Artists School, one of a handful of school in the US where nationally known artists teach intensive week-long workshops.

Scottsdale Artists School

Packing up 20 years worth of stuff from a five bedroom house to live for 6 months in a two bedroom unfurnished apartment has been interesting, but our house will not be empty as friends and relatives are taking advantage of our absence to have their own Las Vegas getaways.

I’m very excited at all the possibilities and will be blogging along the way about the experiences  and discoveries we find in our new Arizona home.