The Winter Floods in the Verde Valley, Arizona

People think of Arizona as the desert and it is usually sunny, but when it rains, it can really rain and in the Verde Valley that means flooding.  We have had quite a few days of rain so the creeks and rivers have risen.  This morning I took a picture of ducks in a tree above Oak Creek who are probably confused as to why the placid creek has become a torrent of muddy water and fast moving logs and other debris!

In our community we have two creeks, Oak and Spring Creeks which went way beyond their banks in the past few days.  Our hiking trails are flooded and even walking bridges have been relocated by the powerful rushing rivers!  It is a good reminder of how powerful water can be.

The following series were created from photos taken this morning.  Happy Holidays to All!  There is a surprising amount of color in nature for such a dreary rainy day.  Red or pinkish soils, brown water, green grasses, and many other colors shine through the kaleidoscopes!

ducks on a tree

The turtle made of debris

Above the flood waters

the poor bridge

floodwaters and winter's lack of foliage

Back in Sedona for the Winter

We've been home for a WEEK and I have managed to clean up the landscaping, take 2 hikes, put our furniture back in it's place as our first summer tenant decided to rearrange our house, and BUY another property!  This one is a good samaritan deal for Brian and Sharon Bieberle.  Brian has worked on the past two renovations I have done, one in Oak Creek Valley and one in Lubec, Maine, and he needs to be a homeowner again!  So we are working out a deal for him to buy this home from us and he will fix it up for himself and we get payments for the next 15 years(or less).  It's actually a great deal all around for him, us, and the community of Oak Creek Valley since it was a vacant foreclosure.

One of my two hikes was to Fay Canyon where the meetup group we created had a paintout:  http://www.meetup.com/Plein-Air-Landscape-Painters-of-Sedona-and-the-Verde-Valley/.  It was not very well attended, but we did have great weather.  Below are 4 kaleidoscopes I made of the Fay Canyon area.

View from the parking lot at Fay Canyon

Michael Chesley Johnson at his easel

Ancient Writing and Archeology in the Verde Valley

One of the things we like best about living in Red Rock country is not the rocks, although they are spectacular, but the river systems and riparian areas surrounding our valley.  We have Spring Creek, Oak Creek, Wet and Dry Beaver Creeks, the Verde River and many other streams.  The ancient peoples also lived in this area as they had water, access to good soils they could irrigate, plentiful game and rocks to build homes with.  There are so many wonderful archeological sites such as Montezuma's Castle and Well, Tuzigoot, as well as many other sites which are still being discovered.  In fact they created many room pueblos every 3 miles or so up and down all the waterways and throughout the region over hundreds of years.

"ancient writing" 

8 x 8 $50 framed

I had the good fortune to hike with a wonderful membership organization The Verde Valley Archeology Center on Saturday to a beautiful site made of odd limestone of a surprisingly large size.  We found many interesting pottery sherds.  Then to cap off the weekend Michael and I went on a hike on Sunday and found interesting petroglyphs and a large unmarked pueblo in a completely different location!

ancient homeland sycamore and water 

8x8 $50 framed

Nice links to the Verde Valley here:  http://verdevalleyarchaeology.com/TheVerdeValley

We still have space in our paint sedona weekly workshops this winter and spring.  We would love to share our knowledge of this wonderful area.

Mandalas and Kaleidoscopes--What is the Difference?

Others have written much more eloquently than I about the difference between the two:  http://www.intlnat.com/2010/11/is-it-a-kaleidoscope-or-a-mandala-its-both.html


First, take a look at this video about how to draw a mandala:
How to Draw a Mandala from Premaspace. To me, it is the spiritual intent that is the difference between the two.

I consider my work to be both since I often go into a zen like space in my head when I am creating and choosing kaleidoscopes for this blog.  It even extends to the time when I am taking photographs with the intention of creating images for the kaleidoscopes.

I am continually drawn to water and the amazing sycamores which grow here in the riparian zone.  Luckily, in the Verde Valley we have a large number of rivers and creeks, including Oak Creek, Spring Creek, Beaver Creek, and the Verde River.  The kaleidoscopes below were created from photos of the trees from a recent trip to Page Springs Fish Hatchery with the beautiful grays and brown of early winter vegetation.