High Noon, Patagonia

High Noon, Patagonia

Oil on canvas, 10x10

This post is a little out of order! I started the painting while I was still in Tubac, but didn't finish it until yesterday.

When I'm in southern Arizona, one of my favorite places to visit and to paint is Patagonia and the surrounding area. Patagonia is about an hour east of Tubac, through the mountains, and it's a pretty drive. So before I left last week, Dad and I set out to visit the town, to paint and sketch, and have lunch at the Gathering Spot, a fun little restaurant.

First, we drive around a little, imagining living here and there in zoning-free Patagonia. As of the 2010 census, Patagonia has a population of 913. It has the Gathering Spot and a couple other restaurants, a few very interesting shops, an arts center, the Politically Incorrect Gas Station (PIGS), a post office, a police station, a bakery, a nature preserve, a hummingbird sanctuary and who knows what else. Author Philip Caputo ("A Rumor of War," "Indian Country") lives there, and Jim Harrison ("Legends of the Fall,"  "The Big Leader") calls it a "preposterously beautiful" spot.

After our tour, we set up to paint - well, I paint and Dad sketches. We had such a fun time painting and sketching the San Xavier Mission the week before that we think we will try another building-painting. Dad has always been very good at buildings, and has loved sketching and painting them. For me, buildings are difficult, a real challenge.

So I have my issues, and we both struggle for a few hours before calling it quits and having lunch. I do like this painting!

I don't manage to shoot my painting in the landscape - but here's the landscape, or streetscape, 

as it were. Beautiful downtown Patagonia! 

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Patagonia Views

My fascination with small trailers continues. I think the people who own these two ham can campers are using them for storage. All around the area, however, people are pretty clearly living in campers. This little one to the left looked to be more of a vacation or weekend getaway, though who knows?  Someone might be living there. 

I've never seen a metal building like this!  

Rocks on the way back from Patagonia.

I saw this cow on the way from Tubac to Fort Defiance.

George, waiting for supper... 

Here's my stepmom, Paula, showing off jewelry she bought from Cynthia Battista,

 at the Tubac Arts Festival

Here's Dad, in front of their house, as I leave for Fort Defiance. 

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Dog of the Day

Don't know whether this guy is using the truck to walk the dog, or if he is retrieving his wandering dog, or if he's just driving along and the dog is running beside him. Neither is very young, but that dog is booking right along.