November was a fun and beautiful month here in the desert! I kicked it off with a Intuitive Farm-to-Table Plant Based Cooking Class at The Farm at South Mountain. Kalisha attended with me and we crafted some beautiful and tasty dishes with veggies from the farm and around the Phoenix area. The Farm at South Mountain is very near my apartment, and I look forward to returning there to explore more. It seemed a bit like a slightly more upscale “Huber’s” type place (that reference will only make sense to people from the Louisville area).

I enjoyed the amazing weather with hiking at Usery Mountain Regional Park, a visit to Desert Botanical Garden on their monthly “free” day, and a trek up the Hieroglyphics Trail just west of here in Gold Canyon. The Hieroglyphics trail was a special treat, with gorgeous scenery, spectacular clouds, and a plethora of petroglyphs at the trail’s end. I’m always awed by these markings and being able to put myself in the same place as people 1,500 or so years ago. There were some nice pools of water there, which I’m sure were the one of the draws for the ancient peoples.

Aaron and I decided to get out of town for Thanksgiving, and rented a cottage in Oak Creek Canyon just outside of Sedona. It was a great place to relax and enjoy the scenery. Sedona is a bit cooler than Phoenix, so we expected to need to dress more warmly. I had spotted a little snowflake on the weather forecast, but I was not prepared for the amount of snow we were greeted with Friday morning! Several inches covered everything and it was so beautiful. We hung out in the snowy scenery all morning and then made our way back to Phoenix. The trip involved snow, rain, and even some hail, and I later discovered that Highway 89A where we were staying in Oak Creek Canyon closed shortly after we left. It was hard to believe that a couple of hours later when we were staring a palm trees and blue skies.

I created 13 paintings this month. These ranged from some quick sketches and miniature pieces to large detailed work. Six of my miniature paintings headed to two different art exhibitions this month at Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery & Workshop in Tucson and 9 The Gallery in Phoenix. As many galleries do this time of year, the shows focus on small, affordable works for the holiday shopping crowd. The show at 9 The Gallery, entitled “Tiny Works V,” is my first at a gallery in Phoenix, and I look forward to attending the reception on Friday, December 6.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t throw in an extra ask that you please consider supporting your favorite small business local starving artist this holiday season! My website has items from $3.99 on up, and I recently rolled out free shipping on every item in my online shop. Don’t forget you can also get my designs on stuff like t-shirts, pillows, notebooks, journals, mugs, tote bags, clocks, and more on my Redbubble profile. If you don't see an artwork of mine on Redbubble that you would like to purchase in this manner, please let me know and I can easily add it. Thanks for considering supporting me when you shop!

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Shop for art on my website now ›