Chillaxin' at the Tohono O'odham Nation

Playing cards with Janice and Misha in TorC

So in my last post, I was about to head off to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, for a solo art show at January's.  

I knew my Geo Tracker needed some work.  Specifically, I wanted to get a relay replaced so that the air conditioning would work on my trip.  But then the mechanic warned me that, if it was his vehicle, he wouldn't drive it on a trip that was 1000+ miles without first replacing the CV axles.  

Well, there simply wasn't enough time to do this repair before I had to leave, so Steve drove me to Tucson where I could rent a car.  I got a very good deal through Priceline--less than $200 for about 10 days' use with unlimited mileage, and Enterprise upgraded me to a very comfortable, brand-new Chrysler 200 because it was the only car they had on the lot when I arrived.  I enjoyed driving that baby!  Great A/C, great radio, comfortable seats, and, unlike the vehicles I usually drive, this car could drive as fast as the speed limit.  

So, with a nice new car to drive, the trip to TorC was easier than I'd anticipated.  I had a great time staying with my friend Janice and trying to catch up with as many friends as possible over just a few days.  

My opening went very well, and I had so much fun!  Many of my friends came and some spent the entire evening.  When January closed the store at 9 pm, a few of us stayed a little longer for tarot readings, and it was great fun. 

I went home by way of Phoenix where I won my stupid MVD hearing.  Now I will be entitled to title and register my Tracker in Arizona, as soon as I get the judge's order that removes the restitution lien from the car.  Any day now.  That's what he said.  A couple of weeks ago.  

I really enjoyed driving the back roads from Bowie, AZ, up north to Phoenix, rather than staying on boring I-10 all the way.  The highlight of my trip home was stopping at the Apache Gold Casino Resort in San Carlos, Arizona, just five miles east of Globe.  I had a beautiful king room for $59, and I took a dip in the hot tub and watched swallows flying around as the sun set.  Really nice.  For joining the players' club, I got a free breakfast and $20 in free slots which took all of about 4.5 minutes to lose.        

Since getting back home to Why, it's gotten up into the 90s, but we're not ready to leave this area yet.  Steve has to update his insurance eligibility at this time each year--always right when it's getting too hot to want to stay here any longer--and now I seem to be on the same cycle, as I'm waiting to hear (any day now) whether I'm covered by AHCCCS, Arizona's medical assistance plan.  So we are waiting around, because we need to be at a residential or street address (rather than, say, a PO box) until our insurance matters are settled.  The State is not flexible on stuff like this.  Recently I got a form asking for more information, and, if I hadn't received it and filled it out and returned it immediately, I would have been up a creek.  So here we sit for a while.  Weeks or a month or how long, we don't know.

This is the first year I've been in Why, AZ, late enough to see the saguaros in bloom.

But the really good news is that we've moved to an RV park just down the road from our home at Coyote Howls, a primitive campground with no electrical hookups and hence not enough power to run an air conditioner.  Now we're hooked up at Hickiwan Trails RV Park on the Tohono O'odham Reservation.  I would strongly recommend this park to folks who are interested in traveling in this area, but maybe aren't set up to provide their own electricity with solar panels and/or generators.  It's inexpensive ($85 per week or $285 per month for a full hookup site, including electricity) and it's very pleasant.  It's particularly nice right now, because the snowbirds have all gone back north, and there are just a few of us stragglers still here.  

It took me a few days to turn the Beluga back into a place to live, after using it all winter as an art studio.  I packed up a lot of stuff and then we took the short drive to the new RV park, stopping for propane along the way.

This receipt tells it like it is

Now that we're settled again, Steve has taken off for his monthly visit to see friends and relatives in Tucson, and I'm here by myself for a few days, beginning work on new projects.  The pieces you see throughout this blog post are mixed-media panels that will be part of a larger installation in December.  It's going to be an art production kind of year.   

     

Time to Hit the Road Again

A poster for my upcoming solo art show

I have this thing going on in Truth or Consequences next weekend.  It's Second Saturday Art Hop on April 12th, and I'll be showing my recent acrylic paintings and mixed-media works at January's.  If you're nearby, I hope you can come!  My artwork will be showing at January's for several months, but the opening on Saturday night will be the most fun, with live music and a tarot card reader.  

My work for this show has been very enjoyable and, in fact, it's kind of hard to stop painting and get moving.  I've been making monoprints from everyday objects--egg cartons, the wire binding on a notebook, bubble wrap, corrugated cardboard, etc.--and then painting whatever I am inspired to make from the simple print.  Lots of fun!  And it's interesting how something can transform from being just a bunch of rectangles to, say, runes or cards that are perhaps predicting a fabulous future.  I really don't know how that happens.  It isn't deliberate on my part.  Sometimes I really feel like my job is just to dip the brush into the paint and move the paint around on the canvas.  What it turns out to be seems to be a process that I am involved in, but don't dictate.  

 Snapshots from Space, acrylic on stretched canvas

Well, I'm in Why, Arizona, so I have a trip to make this coming week.  I'm packing up most of my recent artwork into my Tracker and I'm heading over to TorC.  I'm not taking my motorhome, the Beluga, with me on this trip, since it's a quick one and I have a friend to stay with in New Mexico.   

Meet Me Downtown, acrylic on stretched canvas

My Tracker is maybe not turning out to be the best tow vehicle for me.  I'm not sure at this time.  This winter, I've had to make a lot of trips to Phoenix and a couple to Tucson, and I've found that the Tracker is not a comfortable vehicle for these longer trips.  So, I'm going to take my time and take two days to drive to TorC, and I hope to stay at a motel with a swimming pool.

Incubator.  Acrylic on stretched canvas.

I'll do the same on the way back home--except it will be a longer trip, because I have to go by way of Phoenix for a Motor Vehicles Division administrative hearing on April 15th.  I bought the Tracker in New Mexico, and when I got it back home to Arizona to get it titled and registered, the Arizona MVD records showed that there was a criminal restitution lien on the vehicle because a former owner had a driving while intoxicated conviction.  He was probably two or three owners back.  I have to go to this hearing to prove that I had no knowledge of the lien when I bought the car.  Boy, that should be easy!  If I'd had any idea there was this kind of glitch involved in buying the car, I would never have bought it!  I guess they just have to be sure that the buyer isn't somebody who is in collusion with the criminal defendant, trying to help him get rid of the car without having to pay the victim. 

 Runes.  Acrylic on stretched canvas.

The Tracker has also needed some repairs.  A new starter, then a timing belt.  Now a relay switch for the A/C, which I hope can get installed before I leave for my trip on Wednesday, because it's supposed to be in the 90s during my two driving days to New Mexico.  I use a shade tree mechanic who is too thirsty to work some days, so I'm not sure if this will happen.  If he's not at work on Monday morning, I'll bite the bullet and go to the bigger repair shop in Ajo.    

Two-spread from an altered book

I'm also going to go sign a will at a lawyer's office while I'm in Phoenix on the way back home.  So I'm taking three days to get back from TorC, and I will do a little sightseeing and relaxing along the way.  

Two-page altered book spread with spiral pop-up

And then when I get back, it will be almost time to head off to cooler climes for the summer.  We're thinking Prescott.  And it will be time to begin work on my next show, which will be another solo art show at the Happy Belly Deli in Truth or Consequences, coming up in November.  This one will be an all paper show, and I'm looking forward to spending the summer exploring paper crafts.  I've finally begun doing some altered books and pop-ups, which are bucket list items for me.