Oak Creek/Nr. Sedona, Arizona

April, 2003 - Oak Creek Canyon, Near Sedona, Arizona. Another Arizona trip with my friend Tiah - she now lives near Phoenix. This time to Oak Creek Canyon - we stopped at Taliesin West - the Frank Lloyd Wright house on the way to Sedona. We had an hour tour about "the great man" - The house itself is very shabbily made although the design ideas are very interesting and organic - fits right in with today's green movement. So his ideas were certainly well ahead of the time in which he lived.

We arrived in Sedona at 5pm with fading light and cloud cover - we stayed at an Inn called "The Briar Patch" right on Oak Creek. The next morning after a super breakfast of green chili and cheese muffins, yogurt and fruit, I immediately went to the creekside with my painting gear and set up in the boulders across from a lovely slab of red rock that slopes down to the creek. The creek cascaded out of a dark shadowed area into the sunlight right next to the illuminated slab of red rock - so weird and gorgeous I had to paint it. Canyon wrens called and chirped along with many other birds. I recognized the call of the Canyon Wren because of my bird clock at home. I spent a wonderful 2 hours by the creek painting and enjoying the solitude and sound of flowing water. I would like to go back to Sedona another time to paint more of the red rock country.