Palm trees at Agua Caliente Park, Tucson

I recently got back from another trip to Tucson where I was doing a little house shopping. I've fallen in love with the Sonoran Desert with its gorgeous sunsets, cacti everywhere, and desert critters. 

I'm in the process of wrapping up the rest of my nature designs. I've been enjoying working with paper but am excited to explore different mediums in the future. Maybe painting on cut canvas or even painted wood. We'll see what happens next...

A work in progress inspired by spring blooms.

Another work in progress inspired by tree burs.

Another work in progress inspired by leaf edges.

• I saw an intriguing exhibit of Brad Kahlhamer's work at the Tucson Museum of Art, it included spooky paintings and tricky figures made out of wood and wire. 
• I'm loving Mary Lum's collages made from pieces of material picked up during her walks around London and other cities.
• I would love to see the Tauba Auerbach exhibit at SFMOMA but I probably won't make it in time. I especially like her work with type and dyed wrinkled canvas.
• The patterns and textures used on Jonas Wood's paintings really bring out his interior scenes, landscapes, and cute dogs.
• Because I mostly work with paper, I've been researching Matisse's paper cut-outs and I picked up an excellent book that discusses his process in detail: The Cut-Outs.
• I really enjoyed Nell Painter's Old in Art School. She went back to school to get her painting MFA after a successful career as a writer. I can't say it makes me want to go back to school (again). I prefer self learning these days. 
• If You Want to Write is probably the best book on writing I've read in a while. It's not a how-to book but more of an inspiration. Anyone can write well if you give yourself enough time and keep at it. 
• I'm Your Man was fun to watch even if the premise is a little creepy. The robot character is played by the actor who plays the "Russian" in Eurovision (Dan Stevens). 
• I've been watching the show Julia which led me to the excellent documentary also called Julia. It made me want to re-read one of my favorite books: My Life in France. 
  
  

The gift of time to concentrate on your own work, to try out new approaches, new techniques, new visual moods as unhurriedly as possible in American life.

—Nell Painter

You see the imagination needs moodling—long inefficient, happy idling, dawdling, and puttering.

—Brenda Ueland

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