Old Folks: Get America's Best Bargain NOW

The Senior Pass or former Golden Eagle (I miss that....) is going up at the end of August from $10 when you buy it from a ranger when you come into the park, to $80.  For the rest of your life, they smile and hand you the brochure and are thrilled you came to visit. 

Go see my man Jorge at the PEFO soon and be SURE to purchase it.

Or be more helpful and wait until the deadline and the money is used to help shore up the huge losses to every government penny sent to the park.

JUST DO IT!!!

Making Plans

I had thought of a really fast up and down to town today, but I got a sinus headache and thought about a possible income opportunity so I opted for Friday....
But when I woke, the sky was so amazing!  Contrails here are beautiful:

Waking up early is such a different way of life. I spend what seemed like a long time at my little desk, cleaning my pastels, as I am nearly ready for a try at them...

 And I had organized a lot of photos for subjects, thought about some more ideas and am going to be looking at Route 66 stuff. 

Went across the street to see my buddy Dennis. (HE is the guy who has never steered me wrong!  He knows where everything is and isn't) and he suggested a couple of spots in the park where the pavement still exists.

I must stay, it made me sad.  I can only imagine myself in a corvette (OF COURSE!) driving past the stunning view from this pile of torn up asphalt!

An afternoon of pretty windy weather, got me sitting on the patio in a break reading about  my possible BIRTHDAY celebration tomorrow as a jaunt to Gallup and a photo spree of great neon signage and remnants of the highway.  

As I sat, I realized I was upsetting my neighbors.

Two house finches (I am told... Or I think I was..) have built  lovely nest above my doorway.   They sat on various twigs and trees all around, waiting for me to vacate!

So I did.


Seems like Dad had a little look back as he went on a second run but mom's tail can be seen peeking out! I know these guys.  They are an honest to gosh couple.  They work as a team, looking for food, and they greet me with a loud WHOOOOSH when I go outside.  I can find them looking from the tops of the trees the whole time I am out.  They are pretty inspiring.  

He is happy to see me indoors.

Solo Adventures

I refuse to talk about how early I got up.
Last night was a novel and hysterical experience!  I had neighbors who broke the cardinal rule of WEAR YOUR KEYS around your neck. Dark sky photogs who wanted to photograph our partly cloudy blackness.  I can only say, that as the daughter of a boy scout, some of my being prepared was not used as intended....  Once inside and all put back together as it should be, I gave them the proper warnings and actually got to bed early... drapes pulled more than usual.

So today I braved the early park.
It was only 7, and although gates were closed on one side, they were open and I headed to Puerco to try to photograph the swifts.  I curse loudly here, as this cannot be done.  I will say I surrender and move on.

My boy the raven was there to say hi as I came into view of my destination.

I retraced the steps that Hallie has pointed me on yesterday and, all by myself, I walked the cliffs and petroglyphs (BE SURE TO ASK IF YOU TRY IT) going exactly to the spot I was told to not go beyond.

I did a lot more looking down than usual.  This hoof mark repeatedly kicked up something to the left.  I wondered if it was moving slowly and dragging one foot, as in an injury, or running quickly, although it was only on one side... I will see if I can find a biologist!

Also, there was a very large print that definitely had pads and claws.  Did not photograph well.  Did not look like they were at the same time either... ah the mysteries and stories in the mud! (In hindsight, I have realized that lots of my large mystery print PROBABLY are cattle... duh)




I want to show this.  My favorite petroglyph panel.  What is wonderful is that the very deep carving on the left is completely black.  It has grown a full, new desert varnish in the time it took to make the others on the right.  That circle is also split in half with pecks that indicate to me either half moon, or day and night split.  It fascinates me.

So I came home rather energetic!

looking down the hall, my boots beckoned.

About my boots.  I am nothing remotely like a cowboy, but I hang around with them a lot, so I needed boots.  I don't remember if my boyfriend found these or I dug them up, but they are my "welly" boots.  In England the boots are made for mucking about.  Good boots (and I could never afford GOOD ones) are pretty beautiful here and when facing muck, rapidly cease to be lovely.... so these are 100% Naugahyde!  A nearly extinct beast, formerly widely used for leather furnishings in the 70's and 80's.  I have no fear of ruining them and, although there are more poisonous snakes in the Phoenix area than here, if I will be wandering among nasty shrubs, I want a tall shoe.... so the boots...


I am going to either do some more birds (insert cursing) or perhaps a few botanical pieces...but I just got the urge to look down again, so I set off up my hillside behind the casita.

The seed was planted yesterday about tiny flowers. As I looked they seemed tinier and tinier.  These are my two tiniest candidates with boot toe for scale:

Then I did see a tiny cactus!



I had a piece of agate that I had found up the hill and went hunting for it again.  It is obviously not naturally occurring as this whole area was modeled and remodeled since the 20's but the litter on the hill is so wonderful.

As a former Archaeology Society member, my heart stopped seeing the white and black in my gaze!!!!  I regret to confirm it is NOT pottery.  A natural patina of some sort on a very conglomerate rock, but I can dream...

However this was an obvious piece to ponder. I did turn it over and it plainly bone, but I didn't pick it up.  The little round edges seem to be mineral.  I wonder if it is bone or stone.  Just wondering is enough for right now.


Then I came across a failed art project!  A highly polished piece of a beautiful cabochon of agate.  Sorry it did not make the silver setting it was bound for.

And then this eye-popping yellow agate!  Never have I seen anything like the colors in this!


I gathered a few strays up and will continue to photograph and enjoy before I toss them back for the next treasure hunter climbing up behind the casita.


(AND... now that I have come to the PDVC I hear the long awaited ICE CREAM at the Painted Desert Inn is doing sampling today!! Dang! I wish their wifi worked!!)

Time and Place

A little less bright and although the cat still believes in 5:30, by working later last night, he was a little more cooperative when bed rolled around so we slept the whole night!

The clouds were billowing and today promised real weather.  At different times it was bright and sunny, then gray again. The weather over the PD was long black and blue or soft white right from the edge!  And real rain.


I headed to the compound for the blog posting and had a very hard time resisting the smell of the Navajo tacos.  I started in the cafe, but there was no consistent service.  My friend Suzy, the girl who is everywhere, suggested the conference room in the offices.  Such a joy!  Just sitting at a table in a chair... I mean it was no McDonalds but much faster and no falling on my face or bouncing from signal to signal.  A definite possibility leaving longer time to myself!
From there I had a weird idea that the birds might be hanging out where more people drop food.  So I aimlessly wandered and found this sign... how could I resist!






Then this...



And this.

Behind the walk way is a row of offices with great big windows for eavesdropping on hard work.
I had a really nice chat with Cathy from the Paleo labs. She was one of the women who was carrying the plastered fossils yesterday and showed me the breaker box. I told her she could not miss my demo in Holbrook on Friday and should find me on Saturday and Sunday in the PDI.  We discussed the dangers of carting in my Flagstone blanks!  I mean it is precisely like the rocks just flaking off my wall outside!  No pilfering allowed! So when I do my demos, I might just put an ink disclaimer on the side so I can explain how these were from scraps and construction left overs in Denver and Phoenix and no IN SITU rocks were harmed in their construction.

I headed home and snapped this shot standing by my car and over the top.  Such an amazing gift to be here!!!

Went in, and promptly curled up for a sleepy, napping mid-day. And the Thing and I did some epic napping! In and out until almost 3.  The head was just low enough to need a cover to curl up under and the dark sky trickled down... not poured.  Over the canyon edge the Desert was cloudy white.  Tourists poured in, as it was one of the great view points without wet, but we caught up on the nights without sleep.  I have a piece of a little bird sketched and ready so I didn't feel guilty.  Just warm and cozy.

About closing time, the weather broke and the land was visible again. I could not resist a pre-sunset drive into the teepees.
This sight made me beam!

 Every car is stopped in its tracks gasping at the amazing scenes revealed by wet earth and migrating clouds!  I pulled over in the main teepee pullout, behind three or four cars and we would point back and forth across the road pointing how beautiful the changes were while watching the other.

I stood in ONE SPOT for about 10 minutes.  Just snapped as things changed.  I know I took over 13 shots but these groups explain what I cannot show, or actually paint.

The land is less for 2 dimensional art than dance or theater.  This is scenery that needs the element of time to understand how the eroding piles of basically colored mud, change from viewpoint and clouds and moisture.  To stop at a single scene does not do it justice.  I have found myself stopping dead on a turn I have gone over maybe 10 times already, too narrow to pull over, and seeing if I can snap a shot only to get home to see... well a scene.  It is the wonder of a mound of white and read suddenly exploding behind a wall of purple.

I have three weeks to load these moments of wonder into my head.


I raced home and worked on my bird picture.

This is something that I CAN do.
My art is about capturing a moment in time.
Small moments, these I can do, but the scenery is to monumental for me.!

One Week Down... Waaaa!

I know, I am being a whiner, but I am very upset that I am almost 1/4 done... One week?  Not cool. I really don't want to do art, I want to plan art and stare at things.

Managed to cover my head for about an hour!  Got up at 6 and am feeling better and better.  I don't seem to have any unexplained aches and today was promised horrific winds and cooler temps.  Not real weather, but "dry lightening" was forecast...OOOoooOOo. Felt almost jolly, having a painting under my belt and more ideas, I ran into the compound and loaded the blog.  Takes much longer than at RFM, but weather was nice.


Here is the main parking area and entry to the PD Visitor Center.

 You are looking at the gift store and the area where the offices and my area of contact are.  They have a library I was very interested in... but it is NOT my kind of library.  It is for research and has serious stuff in there.  I was hoping for a copy of Desert Solitaire as I don't seem to know how to download my library audio books.  They are all set to stream and won't store. Drat!

Here is the Ortega shop and best fry bread cafe in the park!! (only one, of course, but their "baby" is exactly right!  I always drown in Navajo Tacos but these are human sized!) To the right is the patio area and where the best wifi is available.





I don't like to admit how much time I spend there.  I MUST get my booty down at dawn's early break and learn how to unlock the gate so I can use that extra hour before things get hopping.


I know, I am supposed to use the lock-down time to commune with nature on my own, but I am only today starting to understand the ins and outs of how the park is available and NOT available to me.



A weaver and her daughter had set up camp in the PDI over weekend and there was a couple of tables of rugs and beads.  The stuff of Pow Wow wares and the loom with the framed samples of dyes.  I remember the display in Mesa Verde and seem to vaguely recall the weavers on the side of the road... Alice and Donna had introduced themselves to me on Friday and I got carried away yesterday so I stopped in again. The other artist had given them his space and I think we will need to coordinate.

I would have loved to paint them working!!!

Alice is 97 and you don't see her picture.

She is still debating whether I can take a photo to use for a painting.  I understand completely!  For decades Native American's images have made money in advertising and their snapshots have been turned into art by amateurs and PROFESSIONALS and they are still eeking out livings trying to keep the culture alive.  I totally honor that decision........but she will be back the last weekend.  I will clear out my Saturday to see if I can work from photos if she lets me snap her on Friday!

I had visited PDI twice and the first trip (wherein I planted the idea of photos... and would return) is where I chatted up Dennis.  He was a volunteer who I would have talked to all day.  He turned me on to his best thoughts about wildlife and explained a phenomenon that I had a hard time putting into words:

Some of the amazing area near the TeePees is much like the rest but less colorful and it looks dusted with espresso!  I didn't understand why it was coated with all this brown.  He explained that the layers erode in sequence too.  So this area had eroded to the brown and it was falling from the top, although it looked like it was being coated in it!  SOOO COOL!



The first trip in, Suzie the amazing woman who is EVERYWHERE, showed me that the flier is done for the demo in Holbrook on Friday.  Looks REALLY good!  I am going to demo a coffee stained drawing.  Always action packed!




Again I have two neighbors.  Just for one night and I have already forgotten their names but they are passing through and you could see it in their eyes, they felt so privileged.

I got brave and inspite of the storm blowing up around me I went hunting and FOUND two pronghorns, right where Dennis proposed!  Not best shooting conditions but babies with barely horns and new poses.
A great day all together!

Seriously, Getting Organized.

Woke up a little shaky but better than the day before.  I really was not able to BE HERE!  But I woke up to see the great view again and it got me going.

I had a project.  I decided it was out in the public time, so in spite of having a boatload of photos and design ideas, I took the 45- hour (I dawdle) drive to the Petrified Forest Museum to scout it out.  And I had heard there might be ice cream....

Okay, it was not as I expected.  A really nice Ortega concession and I spoke with April (probably wrong, as my new hobby is amnesia..) and am going to contact the Museum Assn to see if they like any of my more trinkety things for sale.  To my great disappointment, it was a cooler with bars in it.  I know if I were a family on the road, that would be plenty, but I was hoping for soda fountain etc...

At the end of the road is the museum.  This was cool.
They have great little exhibits explaining the paleontology and all the great petrified wood and the gang recognized me from the other end of the park!   We figured what and where the best set up would be and (as I mantra is "Never look like a dummy at a demo."  I took a lot of shots and decided, as much as plants are not any more cool than landscapes, I got a nice little grouping off a cholla and yucca and some stumps.   Voila:







I then headed down the road to see if I could spot the happy couple, as the PEFO FB page said there was a nesting family of ravens in the ONLY tree at the South Entrance.....
There was.  Nothing much to show... yet!

I actually went home energized! 

Tonight I will work on the design and sketch the composition so SATURDAY will be a full fledged demo.  The evening was even more excited, by the promise of WEATHER!!! I could not wait for the moving shadows of clouds on the scenery and possibility of rain to change the colors so dramatically.

Above is from when the clouds rolled in....  I thought you might want to see my neighbor across the road when the real clouds start at evening color:

And down the road, just a bit later...

I know, you all want to see the desert, but it changes second by second....

Plenty more of those to come too.