flagstaff and phoenix We spent last Sunday up in the mountains near Flagstaff, taking a few short hikes and lots of photos. The golden aspen leaves, the mountain views, the perfect weather--only superlatives come to mind as I try to describe this...guess I could throw in a few very dusty, rutty roads, and surprisingly large numbers of other people and cars for good balance. Like our other days in Flagstaff, this day was punctuated by delicious meals at various restaurants (suggested by our son, eager to escape dorm food.)


On Monday, we took a day trip to Phoenix and Scottsdale so that I could visit Wilde Meyer Gallery and meet the folks there. After a year and a half, and quite a few of my paintings sold, it seemed time to make personal contact. The gallery on Marshall Way in Scottsdale is very attractive... several medium sized rooms with Chinese antique furniture and animal sculptures set on the tile floor, which nicely complemented the 2-D work. The photo to the left gives a sense of the colors and textures of the gallery...my work isn't visible, but you can see one of my e-pen pal Patricia Oblack's paintings on the left wall near the back of this view.

After the gallery visit, we met up with our old friend from student days at Arizona State, Timothy Chapman, who also shows at Wilde Meyer. Don went off to play disc golf, and Timothy and I had a nice time drinking coffee and driving around in his truck, including a stop to see a second Wilde Meyer location a mile or so up the road. Later, as Don and I left Scottsdale, we drove through a bit of Tempe, amazed at the changes since we left in 1985. How is it possible that Tempe now has a beach?? When we lived there the Salt River (on which this beach is now located) was a dry gulch for most of the year. Mind-boggling. Everything looked much more developed, built up...we didn't even bother to go looking for the little house we owned near ASU. Nothing is constant but change I guess. Trip report continues tomorrow...  ¶ 8:58 AM