I had the good fortune of painting in the Tuscon area of Arizona this spring and what a great adventure it was!  Not only did I escape the chill of a Minnesota spring that was reluctant to get sprung, but I got to revel in the lushness the desert in all it's glory!

It was with great appreciation that I marvelled at the completely new set of colors I used on my pallette.  Whereas here in the midwest, I often paint with sap green and a warm deep yellow, in Arizona I used a blue green Viridian and a cooler lemon yellow almost exclusively, along with lots and lots of purple!

The days were in the 100's but the mornings and evenings were pleasantly cool.  No wonder people like it there so much!  It was so beautiful to paint the pinks as the morning sun washed over the desert and the oranges as the sun settled upon the mountains in the evening.  What a gift it is to be able to see with the eyes of an artist all the ever-changing colors of the landscape.

This experience of travel has opened my eyes to the uniqueness of a new environment and now I fear the fire has been lit within me that only more travel with my paints can satisfy!