Artsy weekend in Tucson

The other weekend my DH and I headed over to Tucson for a long awaited break and had a lovely time.  We did gardens, galleries, Gather antiques, and took in a movie at the Loft Cinema. I got to go back to Tohono Chul Park by myself to reflect in the native gardens, do some sketching, bird watching and seeing a watercolor show in their gallery. This place is a real jewel in Tucson and I’m so glad I got to go there.

A lovely docent directed me to this Echinocereus  blossom which was as big as a saucer. Literally 6″ across. You can be sure I’ll be attempting to paint this beauty.  I did some onsite sketching and painting.   Here it is in the pot, just to give you a sense of scale.

 

It was by this lovely soothing water fountain with benches to sit and just enjoy the beauty. See the close-up. I love the horsetail plant there.

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The property was built in the 1930s and at the time was very isolated and grew palm trees and citrus.  The art galleries and gift shop are in the original house and they are always a real treat.

 

This was a really interesting plant clump.  It is called Euphobia Resinifera , common name is Spurge.  We have one that grows here and blooms lime green in January, but I haven’t seen this particular variety.  look at the close-up.  It stood about 18″ tall and each spire was perhaps an 1″ or more in width.

We also went to the Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild gallery, in an upscale market area with a Whole Foods, public library branch and neat restaurants.  There is beautiful work on display and it changes regularly.  I picked up a brochure on classes offered in the fall/spring, and I think I will actually take one of them with Carol Carter, an artist whose work and blog I follow!
We tried two new places:  fabulous Thai food…I can still taste it in my mind, it was incredible.  at Bai Thong on E. Speedway.  and then we saw an article in their locavore magazine: Edible Baja Arizona
which has a beautiful cover of fish in blues/oranges. You can read the article was on Boca Tacos y Tequila, a place we’d driven by several times on Speedway near the University. On the sign was “Our salsa is hotter than your wife!” who could resist? the flavors were complex and wonderful. Oh MY! it’s a definite addition to my favorite restaurants.