And just like that - August is here!

As I mentioned last month, it’s been hot, hot, hot here in the Valley of the Sun. Honestly, though, I hadn’t realized just how hot it had been until I saw that we had hit 50 days of 110 degrees or above this year, obliterating the previous record of 33 days in 2011. Thank you, Willis Carrier, for the gift of cool indoor air!

We did finally get a monsoon storm this month, and it was pretty epic, with 60 mile per hour winds that nearly took out the large ash tree in my backyard and caused a couple of cactus casualties in my front yard. Cleanup was a bear.

Much like July, August was low-key due to heat and quarantine life. Lola and I enjoyed our early morning walks, and Aaron and I spent the month visiting a lake a weekend. We have now visited Lake Pleasant, Saguaro Lake, Canyon Lake, and Bartlett Lake, all of which are about an hour’s drive from our house. While I enjoyed them all in different ways, the gorgeous scenery at Bartlett Lake made it my favorite and I have officially given it the Best Lake Award.

I got a haircut for the first time since February, and sadly, that now seems like big news. I figured since it had been six months I should get at least that many inches cut off, and chop, chop, chop, I felt like a new woman.

The high temperature FINALLY dipped below 100 degrees and I went to Usery Mountain Regional Park for a little hike on the last day of August. It was still pretty warm, but nice to get out in the desert and see how my prickly friends were doing.

As for art, I had two paintings accepted into an upcoming online juried exhibition hosted by Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery & Workshop in Tucson. The show is entitled “Corozones Unidos” (Hearts United) and will run from Sept. 12 to Oct. 24 at raicestaller222.com. One of those paintings, Quarantine Queen, was reviewed by the Tucson Weekly and will be featured on the September 3, 2020, issue cover! I’m so grateful to the Tucson Weekly for the coverage and to Raices Taller for their continued hard work to represent local and regional artists. I’ve had the great fortune to show my work with them several times over the past couple of years.

I created five paintings this month, continuing to focus on desert creatures and my neighborhood surroundings. I’ve decided to include more of a description of each painting alongside each piece in this month’s blog, so please check them out below and learn more about the thought behind them. All of this month’s paintings remain for sale as of this blog posting.

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About this painting:

I spent some time this month admiring and learning about hummingbirds, and one of the fascinating things I discovered is that they require spiderwebs to build their nests. These cute little thieves would find their nests coming unglued and their precious TicTac-sized cargo tumbling to the ground if it wasn’t for the hard work of the arachnids around them.

As I put this scene together, I thought about how many ways that we are all networked - from the hummingbirds’ reliance on the spiderweb to the spiderweb itself to the tree roots and the antennae on the mountain in the distance, there’s a lot of give and take to this world. May we always remember that our actions always have impact beyond ourselves!

About this painting:

I recently discovered that a type of parrot, the rosy-faced lovebird, also known as the rosy-collared or peach-faced lovebird, lives in my neighborhood. I first spotted them at a bird feeder about a block from my house. Now that I’m tuned into them, I have seen them in trees and amongst the blooming Mexican sunflowers. I even counted 19 of them one recent morning!

These critters are native to southwestern Africa but flourish in the Phoenix climate. A sizable number of them apparently live wild in the city and surrounding area. Of course I had to pay tribute to these sweet little creatures in a painting, and dreamed up this scene located in the fictitious locale of “Love Street, Parrotzona.”

About this painting:

I have a pair of hummingbirds who camp out in the large ash tree in my backyard. They’re such amazing creatures, many of whom make huge migratory journeys. I couldn’t help but envision all that they must see along the way and how those sights have changed over the years, becoming more and more developed.

My tree (which is likely over 70 years old) took a beating in the monsoon storm we had during August and around a third of it either crashed to the ground or had to be removed, but thankfully these wee winged ones made it through just fine. They continue to party out there, getting drunk on sugar water and enjoying their redecorated space.

About this painting:

The rosy-faced lovebird, a type of parrot that is native to Africa, thrives in my Phoenix neighborhood. It’s thought that these brightly-colored birds found their way into the wild here as escaped pets. Ironically enough, they love the Mexican sunflowers that grow in abundance here; these same flowers were exported to Africa as an ornamental plant and fertilizer and are now found in abundance in many locales there. It’s a small world after all.

About this painting:

In April 2019, I said “hasta luego” to Tucson and moved up I-10 to the Phoenix metro. I knew I would miss the wildlife outside my door, stunning views, nice people, and amazing culinary scene. Apparently, the javelina decided they were going to miss the culinary scene of my porch and on my last evening in town they had a little adios fiesta and chowed down on my potted plants. This fun and “totally Tucson” memory inspired this painting, entitled Sonoran Salad Bar. I know that salad bars are a big no-no during this whole COVID situation, but I don’t think the javelina care about social distancing, hand washing, or much else other than filling their bellies.

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