The Adobe Wall and Beyond

Adobe Wall Tucson Morning

I was last in Tucson sixteen years ago. I've been yearning to return. I was excited to draw saguaro cactuses and to cast my eyes on a landscape so different from the Midwest.

We stayed for a week in an adobe house. An adobe wall encircled the house and its cactus garden. I loved how that wall defined an intimate space within, while framing the vast desert landscape beyond. It became a new twist on my Inside/Outside exploration. I did this watercolor from the bedroom window, looking north across the Tucson Foothills neighborhood.

The adobe wall was interrupted, as it circled the house, by four blue wooden gates. Below, a mixed media, predominately Neocolor II water soluble wax pastel, in my pocket-size Moleskine. From the front screened porch looking to the side yard and the large mesquite tree outside the gate.  It was late afternoon; I loved how the wall and the dirt of the garden "floor" received the sprawling shadows.

       



Looking over the wall on the other side of the house, two totem pole cactuses, within the wall, frame a neighboring house:

 The same grouping of saguaro cactus pictured in the upper right above is drawn again below, showing its long-dead, nurse tree. To do this one, I sat on my folding stool, outside the wall, my back to the adobe. (I can't keep my hands out of the crayon box.)

Saguaro Family and Nurse Tree

One last one including the adobe wall: an octopus agave with its towering bloom:

To see more of my sketches while in Tucson. Go to my Flickr Photostream Tucson, Arizona set.  

An Iowa lowlander visits the Mojave High Desert of Joshua Tree, California: Part I

My husband and I had visited Joshua Tree National Park two years ago. Again for a week, we stayed near the  northern part of the park, which is the southern Mojave High Desert.  On the first trip we did lots of hiking; I took photographs, but did no drawing. I've been yearning to return. This time I drew.

Rocks--Joshua Tree

Our rental house was surrounded by a jumble of  rocks. Their forms are endlessly amazing. Late in the afternoon, I drew from inside the house. It was cold (40F-50F) the first several days.  Also, I was feeling the affects of the higher elevation. The older I get, the more sensitive I have become to changes in altitude (~3,800 feet compared to Iowa's 810 feet). The drawing above was done in a Canson, sand-colored, archival sketchbook (9" W x 8" H), using Derwent earth-tone colored pencils that I had acquired especially for the trip.  The photograph below, which included the house, shows the larger landscape.

Joshua Trees are another distinctive feature of the landscape. They are a form of yucca. They remind me of something from a Dr. Seuss storybook!  This is the time of  year that the Joshua Trees flower. If they do flower, which is not every year and dependent on rainfall. The average annual rainfall in the Mojave Desert is 4.5 inches (compared to Iowa's 33 inches!). There has been even less rain than usual, so unlike our previous visit, we saw few of the large gaudy, white flowers at the ends of the limbs.  I drew this in the Park from the protection of the car--again, too cold and also windy. The same Canson, sand-colored, archival sketchbook (9" W x 8" H), this time using a 9B water soluble graphite stick and a white, Derwent colored pencil.

There was fabulous landscaping close-in to the house--plants requiring some, but minimal watering. From the kitchen window, in the morning, looking west, the sun coming up over the roof of the house illuminated this paloverde tree.  The zingy, green bark against the blue sky and the distant mountain grabbed my attention. It also was an opportunity to add to my inside-outside series.

I used my Neocolor II water soluble wax pastels in a Canson, black, archival sketchbook (10" W x 12"H).

This is the first installment of my Joshua Tree adventure and set of drawings. More to come from the High Desert. Then, I'll show you what I drew while in Venice Beach, a quaint corner of the Los Angeles metropolis, for the second week away from Iowa winter.