July began with a Fourth of July trip to Page, Arizona, and the beautiful jewel that is Lake Powell. Aaron and I swam at Lone Rock beach, kayaked into Antelope Canyon, and ventured along with the hordes of other tourists to the Horseshoe Bend overlook. It’s a beautiful part of the state and a tiny bit cooler than the Phoenix metro thanks to its elevation. Plus… water!

Monsoon season continued through July, but was largely a bust. There were a couple of minor storms in the evening, but nothing compared to last year’s sky entertainment. I believe they have received a bit more monsoon action in Tucson, but it’s been less eventful there, too. Weather does what it wants.

I worked on two larger paintings this month with exhibitions in mind. I entered “La Corona” in the Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild’s Share our Walls juried exhibition and “Return to Goblin Valley” was entered into Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery & Workshop’s Historias e Identidades (Histories and Identities) juried exhibition. I wrote a separate blog post about “Return to Goblin Valley,” explaining the meaning of this place to my own history and identity. Both pieces were accepted in their respective galleries. The SAWG show will run from 9/5-10/6/19, with an opening reception on 9/8 from 2-4 p.m. and the Raices Taller show runs through September 7.

Overall, I completed eight paintings in July. “Return to Goblin Valley” is currently for sale at Raices Taller and “La Corona” will be available for purchase at SAWG during their exhibition. Both galleries are located in Tucson. Five of the paintings I created, displayed at the bottom of this blog post, are all available for sale on my website as of this blog posting - starting at just $15.

I wrapped up July and began August with a change of scenery, visiting my sister’s family and my mother in Corvallis, Oregon. It was a wonderful time full of love and laughs, green scenery, a short trip to the coastal area around Yachats, and my first experience seeing Wicked the musical in Eugene. It was a good month!

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