Return to Sedona
- Sara Nash
- Jun 26
- 2 min read
We made it to Sedona, AZ on Monday after five days of car travel, exhausted and ready to get cozy in our Air B and B. Unfortunately the condo's air conditioner was dying when we arrived, and we spent the first two days here hot and grouchy, with me privately worrying that I'd dragged my family. here for a whole month only to be disappointed and miserable. But now the cold air is blowing and we are finally settled in, with only mild bouts of grouchiness remaining.
I've established a makeshift studio in the garage where I paint with acrylics for several hours a day, and I've claimed most of the kitchen table for watercolors and gouache when the late afternoon sun becomes intolerable. I've heard a some working artists say they can only paint a few hours a day, but I'm not among them. The hours fly by when I'm painting and I don't want the creative part of my day to end.
So far we've been on a few hikes and had a few swims, but mostly we are enjoying existing just outside of time, unsure what day of the week it is and largely untethered from our screens.
As usual, I packed way more than I need, from clothes and shoes to art supplies. Now that I'm here, I could care less about the clothes, but I've promised myself I will use every art supply I brought, and so far I'm honoring my bargain.
For the first time in years, I'm painting small work. I see this trip as an opportunity to develop a Southwestern, mid-century inspired color pallet that excites me as much as the landscape itself, and to experiment with new marks and styles to describe how I feel about this incredible place.
From west Texas throughout New Mexico and into Arizona, I snapped hundreds of blurry photos from the passenger window. None of pictures are fit to share, but I still love them as references for a particular kind of scrubby, rugged beauty that, despite being a lifelong Floridian, feels to my soul inexplicably like home.
Sara, in case it's not clear, bbeynon1 is Barbara Beynon. Hi to Thomas and Rowan, too!
Sorry to read about the AC blip and glad it resolved in short order.
I'm so glad to see work in your sketchbooks; I'm particulary fond of sketchbooks and wish I were more disciplined in keeping mine. Also, workng smaller has it's own delights, I think, especially when experimenting with something new. You definitely require a different palette for the dry, western climate and skies--a great addition to the tropical one for Florida.