Field trip to Phoenix/Scottsdale

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind and I am just now getting my feet back on the ground.  Two weeks ago we had to organize, clean, and put some stuff in storage so we could get our house on the market.  The For Sale sign went in the yard last Tuesday (we are selling it by owner), then Wednesday morning, I frantically packed a bunch of art supplies and clothes in about an hour and a half and drove to the airport.

My long-awaited class with Cas Holmes was the end of last week at Frenzy Stamper in Scottsdale.  I was very unfocused when I arrived, since I had been dealing with so many things regarding the house before I left.  But over three days, I really left my comfort zone and worked with ideas, colors, and thought processes that were new to me.  I will do some other posts regarding things this, but they aren't posts I can just sit and whip out and will require some searching and time.

In the mean time, here are some photos from my trip.  The Chiluly exhibit at the Desert Botanical Garden was lovely, especially at dusk. A lot of the locals say the previous Chiluly exhibit here was better, with more pieces, but for this tourist, I thought there were a lot.

 These cactus flowers caught the last rays of sun before it set behind the hills.

 The other thing I wanted to do in Arizona is take a hike and get some pictures of Saguaro cacti. We don't have these where I live and I find them interesting.  My Dad did a lot of photography in the 70's and often took photos of driftwood and interesting dead trees, so I took this photo with him in mind.

 There were quite a few flowering cactus along the trail

I also wanted to go to Taliesen West, but it was Easter Sunday and they were closed. So I decided to go to the Heard Museum, their website did not say they were closed on Easter, but when I got there they were not open.  The Phoenix Art Museum was just down the street, so I went there instead. I found this piece very interesting. It is a (dead) avocado tree covered with black velvet. There were many glass birds perched in the tree. They were filled with blue liquid, and after reading the description for the piece, I found out they were filled with Windex, which was a statement about harsh chemicals and the environment.

But still, I find the chemical birds quite lovely.

There was another exhibit at the art museum that really made me think, but I will do another post regarding that.

In closing, here is a photo of the carriages in Old Town Scottsdale. It reminded me of the "Old West."