Desert Rainbow, somewhere in Arizona

 The short dark days of winter are helping me recall my days of living in Arizona (21 years ago!). While living in Phoenix wasn't my favorite place, the sunsets were amazing. Outside of the metro area, into the mountains is where the stark beauty really lies. Continuing with my admiration of cactus plants, this is a watercolor of what I would think the Santa Catalina mountain near Tucson would look like. Saguara National Park is on my list of National Parks to visit some day, and I also imagine the scenery to be similar. Painted on paper in watercolor.

Cactus series - Gouache on paper

 November in the Pacific Northwest means gray skies, golden leaves and mud. After the September wildfires, I'm certainly not complaining! Just a few years ago, the fall was my favorite season. As I've gotten older however, I have a lot more appreciation for the sun-especially after vacationing in Hawai'i twice in one year. 

In 1999, I moved to Phoenix,Arizona with my young daughter to find a new change in scenery. Back then, I had also longed for sunnier winters and that motivated the move. We lasted just over a year as I discovered how much I missed the trees and green in Oregon after visiting Flagstaff in northern Arizona. We came home with one more family member-my 2 month old son!

These cool damp days have me thinking about Arizona lately, so I browsed through some cactus photos to paint. Losing the moment in these paintings as I day dream about the desert was a brief respite from the rain. These are two small painting in gouache on paper.