The Colors of Spring

Yellow, purple, white, spring green--these are the colors of Spring.  It is a beautiful Spring now in Arizona.  The first kaleidoscope is created from a patch of London Rocket which is consider a weed, but I like to think of it as a native.

 Yellow flowers on the London Rocket

 This sweet white flower is encircled by a piece of sun weathered wood

 Spring Green is showing at the top of the cottonwood trees

 I believe the yellow flowers are oregon grape

We have begun the packing up process as we leave 2 weeks from tomorrow for the beginning of our cross country trip to Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada.

Spring has Definitely "Sprung"

Bees are active, the birds are chirping and pecking at the roof, the Canadian Geese are flying overhead in formations, the grass is greening and the weeds are being chocked off with pesticides which is the worst part of Spring in the Southwest.

Michael had a workshop this week and I tagged along the last day to see what signs of Spring I could find down by Oak Creek at Crescent Moon Ranch.  The tops of the cottonwood trees had a faint blush of green, but the sycamore trees has little evidence of the next season.  The grass was greening and the tourists from the North were out in their shorts and tee shirts.  I have adapted to the climate and am afraid of skin cancer so I generally wear at least 2 layers over all skin surfaces where practical.

Flowering Shrub amongst the Red Rocks

Subtle Greens at Crescent Moon Ranch

Perennial bunch grasses greening pp from the bottom up

From Melting Snow to Flowering Trees

What a difference a week makes.  Last Sunday, the snow was pinging off the trees and seven days later I am racing around taking pictures of flowering cherry, apricot and quinces in that brief window before the petals fall and the leaves come out.  The furnace went off this week which must sound pretty great to our northern friends and relatives and now the emphasis is on not getting warm so we installed a solar shade on our bedroom patio door this week.  The sun is so strong in Arizona that it isn't the temperature as much as the sun's relative strength that makes it seem warm.

Pretty in White

A Quince Explosion by the Porch

An Explosion of Cherry Blossoms

The "Sound" of Melting Snow

 

I promised some flood sculpture kaleidoscopes this week, but first some kaleidoscopes from photos taken in Sedona from the snowfall on the 9th and 10th of March.  Michael had a meetup with the http://www.meetup.com/Plein-Air-Painters-of-Sedona-and-the-Verde-Valley this morning so I went along to take photos and a hike.  It was beautiful with snow in the high country and just a dusting on the trails and hardly any mud!  The most remarkable thing was the constant ping of the snow in the trees dropping like a bomb.  In the west the sun is so strong that by 9AM on a sunny day after a snowfall the snow begins melting very quickly.

Snow on the Red Rock Pathways

Plein Air Painter of the Red Rocks!

A Beaver's Work is Never Done and Some "Flood Sculptures"

I was walking along Oak Creek looking for some flood sculptures when I came across some recent beaver activity.  I couldn't help making some kaleidoscopic photos from the picture below.

A Beaver's Work is Never Done!

They have almost killed this young cottonwood!

No it is not a large "bird's nest!"

The debris can weave an intricate pattern

Next week I will share with you some of my kaleidoscopes made from the "flood sculptures".

Five Kaleidoscopes from One Photo of Oak Creek

Oak Creek Blues

Reeds on Oak Creek

Today I was inspired by a photograph that I took of Oak Creek during my morning walk.  I planned to take photos of some of the recent "flood sculptures" which I will feature at a later time, but the blue reflected sky in the Creek was unusual today as it was prussian blue.  You can feel the chill in the air just looking at the photograph!  These all were done with the same shape which is a square with twelve wedges.

original photo of Oak Creek

The Color of the Sky in Arizona

Recently Sedona had a beautiful snowfall followed by a day with amazing clouds so I raced out and took photos so that I could created some kaleidoscopes which captured some of those amazing colors.

Clouds and Snow in Winter

The Many Colors of the Clouds

Snow and Clouds in Sedona

Cockscomb Mountain with Clouds

All kaleidoscopes are available for $50 framed in an 8" by 8" format or go to my web site for more size options:
http://trina-stephenson.artistwebsites.com/

It's not too late to sign up for Plein Air Painting Workshops in Sedona with Michael Chesley Johnson!  The weather is fantastic now.

The Color of Moss and Sky in Arizona

I took a great hike this week and found many clumps of incredible green moss in Sedona.  Arizona surprises me with it's large trees, moss, lichens, mushrooms and other things that grow here that I think of as belonging in a very wet environment, not one that only has 10 inches of precipitation per year.  Outside blizzard Orko is bringing "white out" conditions to AZ even at our house and I am nervous about the weight of snow on our roofs from Blizzard Nemo in Lubec and Campobello Island.  Winter has a long way from ending, but on days with clear blue skies in Arizona it seems far away!

The Colors of Sky in Arizona

The Colors of Moss in Arizona

Tree Forms

Michael and I have decided to focus on tree forms right now.  Once you start focusing on the trees, you begin to appreciate all the various forms.  We have huge trees down by our rivers here in Arizona.  My favorites are the ancient cottonwoods and sycamores.  With the recent flooding, it is easy to appreciate how the trees stabilize the river banks.

Sycamore Splendor

Ancient Cottonwood during the Flood

Sycamore Star Power

The Flooding of Oak Creek

Last week I blogged about the color of ice and this week we had flooding!  Fickle and wildly changing extreme weather is our plight during this period of global warming.  Both Spring and Oak Creeks jumped their banks with trees bravely hanging on as water streamed around them.  They were flowing very fast this morning and we took many videos and photographs.  The last time the water was this high in the winter was at least 3 years ago.

The photos became the inspiration for this weeks kaleidoscopes.

Mighty Warriors
8x8 $50 framed

Flooding in Winter
8x8 $50 framed

Here are some more of our flood pictures!

The Color of Ice in Arizona and the Granite Dells

After some very cold weather Willow Lake in Prescott was totally frozen.  In the first kaleidoscope you will see Canadian Geese sitting on top of the ice wondering what happened to their water.  Ice in AZ is blue since the skies are so blue and all the blue sunlight is reflected onto the ice.  The second kaleidoscope is of the Granite Dells in Prescott.  They are very ancient rounded granite formations which are wonderful to hike around.  I have included the original photos as well so you can see what I am describing.

We are enjoying a slightly slower pace this month which is very relaxing before the plein air season and my new renovation project in Lubec, Maine revs up.  Artist Retreat Studios and Gallery in Lubec, ME

all kaleidoscopes are for sale, please contact me

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.