Agave |
Broadbilled Hummingbird on nest |
Hummer on nest |
Chain Fruit Cholla at sunrise |
Desert Textures |
Aleta |
Close-up of the lower trunk of an old Saguaro Cactus |
Aleta photographs a Chain Fruit Cholla Cactus |
Chain Fruit Cholla close-up |
A March morning in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument |
Roughing it in the desert! |
A late breakfast after our morning walk |
Loading a palette for our first sunset painting |
Back to camp from our first sunset painting |
Rummy 500 - Karen's got a good hand |
Branch of a Desert Ironwood Tree |
Creosote bushes, Staghorn Cholla and Chain Fruit Cholla, and scattered Saguaros |
Close-up view of a dead Saguaro Cactus |
Dead saguaro "skin & bones" |
Aleta takes a saguaro close-up |
Karen with her new camera |
Aleta studies a desert plant grouping |
The skeleton of a dead Organ Pipe Cactus in the foreground, with a living one beyond |
Aleta poses beside a small Elephant Tree in the Ajo Mountains |
Mom, beside a cristate formation in an Organ Pipe Cactus |
A double arch in the Ajo Mountains |
Vegetation on a cliffside ledge in the Ajo Mountains |
Morning stripes; Aleta pours tea |
Morning tea and the Internet; all's right with the world. |
Aleta transcribes her desert audio notes from her hand-held. |
Baby saguaro with a creosote bush for a "nurse tree": Aleta's next sunset painting subject. |
Aleta begins her painting of the young Saguaro. |
Beautiful scenery in the fading light while Aleta paints |
A warm underpainting, and the image roughed out on it. |
Karen opts to sit out the sunset painting challenge this time and "watch the master" instead. |
Dinner by candlelight to save on the RV batteries. |
A nice green rock, vertically fractured. |
Aleta getting down & intimate with a small white plant, taking audio notes. |
Close-up of a healthy green Saguaro. |
An even closer close-up. |
A Hedgehog Cactus (golden spines) cosying up to a young Saguaro. |
Aleta photographs the black & decaying flesh from a dead Saguaro. |
Aleta finishes her 2nd sunset painting from a photograph. |
Putting finishing touches on last night's sunset painting. |
Mom watches Aleta finish her painting. |
This is Aleta's first sunset painting. |
And this is Aleta's second sunset painting. |
A beautiful Staghorn Cholla is selected for Aleta's third sunset painting. |
Aleta settles in and begins the painting. |
Southwestern sunsets in the spring are brief and Aleta paints in fading light. |
As I watch, I'm distracted by the glowing sunset, with Ocotillo reaching into the sky. |
Towards the end Aleta is straining to see but loath to leave her subject. |
Dad sets up his Internet satellite dish again after having dismantled it for its safety during a windy night. |
Mom re-reads parts of Aleta's "A Place To Walk" |
Organ Pipe Cactus & Palo Verde Tree in a dry wash; the next painting subject |
Aleta starts, using a burnt sienna underpainting. |
Karen paints too this time, as it's afternoon so things aren't so rushed |
Dianna Schwierzke paints with us |
While we painted, we occasionally had visits from Side-blotched Lizards |
Karen blocks in her Organ Pipe on top of her underpainting. |
Mom watches us paint |
Sisters painting together -- finally!... |
Side-blotched lizard with wasp prey |
The lizard alternately chewed the wasp and spat it out, working its tongue as if there was a bad taste or a sting |
Aleta poses with our painting subject. |
A delayed-shutter-release shot of us with our unfinished paintings. |
Oh-oh! Engine trouble and we are stuck in the desert! |
While we troubleshoot our engine problems I can't resist shooting photos of a Gila Woodpecker |
Gila Woodpecker on dead stalk of Organ Pipe Cactus |
Dad phones for help at the campground's public phone |
Gorgeous landscape next to our stalled RV. |
Dad watches as the tow truck is connected to the motorhome |
On our arrival with the crippled motorhome in Glendale, a shuttle van took us to a motel. |
At Bitsee Mama's Restaurant in Glendale |
Departure day, enjoying a leisurely breakfast together at the Phoenix airport. |