Blog

After recently returning from a whirlwind excursion to southern Arizona, I realize I have the good fortune to “paint to my heArt's content.”  I fear making other artists jealous of my carefree opportunity.  I travel by camper van and have the ability to set up temporary roots in a variety of environments from classy RV parks (with clubhouse, pool and full hookups) to a dry camp experience in the middle of nowhere  (with no clubhouse, pool or hookups). Each place gives me unique moments to capture what I see by painting with acrylic paints on canvas. (I avoid crowds, wear a mask and keep my distance from others.  Traveling with a camper allows me the freedom to explore without presenting myself with dangers of the virus or of transmitting it to others.) 

It is an amazing time in Arizona.  I am challenged by new colors of the Sonoran desert, by the environs occupied with cacti I have never seen before in person and by the light of the sky at sunset and in the full moon light at night.  There are stately saguaros taller than a tall man can stand

These are saguaro cacti growing along the road 

close to the Saguaro National Park near Tucson. 

I pull off the side of the road and set up my easel to paint. 

Cars and trucks rush past me on the roadway. 

I hardly notice the noise and fleeting images of vehicles. 

Instead I become immersed in the act of painting 

and become awed by the structure and stateliness

of the saguaros.

In another place there are organ pipe cacti with its complicated array of cactus arms growing skyward from one central source. The ocotillos, another cactus form, pepper the landscape with eery rose colored flowers dotting the end of each tall, thin, tentacle-like branch. And a totally green tree, not just the leaves, but the trunk and branches, grows from the dusty soil. 

I am enamored by this green tree growing nearby me 

in my camp at Organ Pipe National Monument near Ajo and Why, AZ.

Not only are the wispy leaves green, 

but also the branches and trunk.  

It is void of bark and naked.

It is true that each of these kinds of plants have their own unique place to grow and survive.  In fact, they seem to thrive where they are.  Even though the air is dry and the temperatures are hot, these conditions seem to encourage, not discourage new growth. 

For now and in the future, these elements of the desert encourage me to try different approaches in my paintings, to readjust styles in how my paintings look and to mix colors on my palette never before considered.  Like my trips, my artistic adventures take me to so many creative places.  I need to try new things. My friends will agree with me when I say I am unable to stay in one artistic place for very long at all.  There is so much to see and to feel and to acknowledge.  How can I stay anywhere for very long when my palette and camper van are tugging on my arm?  I have the pleasure of painting to my heART’S content everywhere I go.

This is my home for several days

at the Twin Peaks Campground

 in Organ Pipe National Monument.

Cacti spring up all around me.

It is hot and sunny. 

The ceiling fan in my van is fueled by the sun’s

rays on the solar panels on top. It is a kind of symbiotic 

relationship between sun and electric demand.

I take cool breaks inside after painting outside in the heat.

I am thrilled.  I scream with delight at the sight

of all the colors in the sky at sunset.

It is truly a magical kingdom.

I dash from vantage point to vantage point, photographing

the light as it grows stronger and stronger.

Finally the sky has given me all the color it can give.  

Peacefully, it grows dimmer and dimmer.

Later in the evening the full moon rises

and illuminates the cacti. They cast moon shadows.

Nature has provided me with all the wonderful sensations

I can possibly see and feel.

I perceive beauty all around me.

By Helen Becker