Arizona's White Mountains

My husband and I ran away from home this weekend.  Bless him forever; he realized I needed to detox from the past few months of stress.  I didn't figure it out till I was swinging in my hammock under tall ponderosa pines in the cool breeze.

This guy wandered through our campsite, totally unconcerned about us.  

Tom played around the east fork of the Black River with his fishing pole while I climbed the hillsides and sat on a rock in the middle of the water watching the light play on the ripples. I took along my travel painting gear, but never even opened the bag.  It was enough just to soak up the quiet and see beauty everywhere I looked.

Now and then in the White Mountains you pass out of the pine and aspen forests into high meadows.  The antelope wander there while herons feed in the streams that cut through the grass. 

Although I know I need to have time in the wild places when I get out of balance, I can't put into words why that is.  I do know that by the time we got home last night I was chomping at the bit to get into the studio and begin to process what I was feeling.

Even the places where the fire burned here a few years ago have beauty to me.

While climbing around the rocks Monday I discovered a variety of cacti I had never noticed before and this weekend was the perfect time to see them in bloom.  A tender mercy meant just for me?  It felt like it.  Little round jewels of color placed right where we camped, set to catch my eye and water my dry creative spirit.  Today, while I work on lesson plans for the upcoming school year I will be drawn back to my art table to tweak my drawings, mix up reds and lay down masque in anticipation of the moment the creative energy is ripe and ready to take over the piece I am working on.

The best part? Finding these little beauties growing out of the rocks in out of the way places.  

It feels so good to be feeling the pull of my real self again, going to sleep with ideas swirling around and waking up with solutions ready to put into action.  I've missed myself terribly.  Thanks for stopping by Whatercolorit today!  Alice

Drawing of a blossom, getting a feel for the patterns the petals grow in and how I want to compose a painting.