Day at Mortimer Farms

My blog has been waiting patiently for me to return, while I was absorbed in an online class for the last few months.  Now my sketchbooks are full of adventures to share, so these posts will pop up regularly for awhile.  Also I invite you to view my monthly newsletter Sketching Adventures at www.DebbyRutherford.com

Quote for the Day:

              Art, more than words, invites the viewer into the conversation.

                                                                - Debby Lou Rutherford

Several weeks ago Jim and I enjoyed the bucolic setting at Mortimer Family Farms in Dewey, Arizona.  There are several events up there throughout the year where folks can enjoy old-timey music, agricultural fun and good food.  This is a place we'll visit frequently.

New Sketch Group!

      This little 8 x 8 oil sketch is the product of my time spent this morning with the Arizona Plein Air Painters at Lost Dutchman State Park.  What a pleasant way to start a Saturday!  Even though there was quite a cloud cover the yellow blooming Palo Verde trees seem to glow with a light of their own. 
     Tomorrow is Easter and I look forward to celebrating with my friends our risen Lord Jesus Christ, the true light who gives life to us through his sacrifice and resurrection!

Cave Creek Hideaway

First I want to thank our Father in heaven along with a the multitude of friends and family who have been praying for my nephew Joe who has been very ill.  I join them in gratitude, because he is at last home again with his wife and children and progressing toward health.

Its been too long since I posted last!! 
I hope that posting this today will get me back on track. 
I promise not  too blast you with so many pictures next time
 - its just that I am having such a lovely Saturday and wanted to share.

A couple of these are watercolors I did this morning while walking on the trails, and the rest are snapshots of flowers and cacti along the way.  Do you think I'll turn any of them into an oil painting today?

Overcast Morning at Lake Bartlett

...it is good for me to draw near to God:  I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Thy works.  - Psalm 73: 28

Overcast Morning at Bartlett Lake,  10 x 10 oil on canvas

Well, its been too long since my last post.  I'll try to do better.  Thank you to Patrick for finding this spot for one of our September painting meet-ups.  One thing you might notice is that the foothills look further away in the photograph than in the painting.  The camera does that, and that's one of the many reasons some painters prefer to paint a scene on site.  Another thing you can see is that I tried to match the colors of the land and water.  An artist doesn't always choose to use the actual colors in an outdoor scene.  Its fun to be bold and creative with color, and can yield some stunning results.  But sometimes I want to remember a spot just the way it looked and felt when I was there.  And this cool peaceful shore is one I wanted to revisit whenever I see my painting on the wall. 

I can only imagine. . .
       - Bart Millard

In the Morning, 11x14 oil (still in the works)



     I've been working a couple mornings on this scene from a shady pavilion at a northern entrance to Phoenix Mountains Preserve.  There'll be some color corrections and some rocks and details in the foreground before I am finished.   Though I go alone to this spot I end up enjoying conversations with several different people who stop by one or two at a time.  We talk like old friends, just appreciating the beauty of God's creation, sharing things that spark fond memories, sharing current interests and projects.  One man spoke of how his mother and father painted, each in different styles and mediums.  Someone asked if I was going to put a haze across the mountain.  Another really admired the fence when I was working on it.  Another was glad to show me his own artistic paintings of cars, which he had on his phone.  One cyclist just stopped to watch quietly, and wished me a pleasant day as he left.  One lady talked about her dog and how he would love to get home to the swimming pool.  Two park volunteers shared enthusiastically about their work watching out for the safety of people on trails.  I took their card and might look into volunteering for the parks. 
     For me, these interactions with supposed strangers who don't seem like strangers at all, is as uplifting and fulfilling as singing in a choir or the praise team at church.  Its a foretaste of God's renewed creation, when redeemed voices and lives will blend in joyous harmony.  I can only imagine!