Sedona.

I had asked Andrew to pull off on the side of the road. There wasn't a light to be seen except for our headlights. We were just 15 minutes or so north of the main drag of Sedona and if you looked at our exact location on the map you'd laugh. I did. The section of road looked just like a knot in what was otherwise a rather straight line. So we stood between the winding road and a wall of red rocks and looked up to see a magnificent spread of stars. It's only the second time in my life that I've been able to see the Milky Way and it wasn't any less impressive than the first. It was my favorite moment of our entire week there.

I wasn't prepared to be overwhelmed by Sedona. I didn't expect that I would be amazed by it every single day that we were there. I was. I spent a lot of time wondering if the people who lived in Sedona ever stopped during their day to look at the red rocks in awe. But how could you not? And what was it like to be an early settler there? What did it feel like to stumble upon such a place?

I had come to Sedona to be inspired, to experience a new landscape and paint it, and to forget about responsibility for a little while. When I wasn't painting we were hiking and exploring whatever we could. Every step was another amazing view accompanied by the smell of the Cypress and Juniper.

This will be the first of a few posts about Sedona. It's taken me a little bit of time to gather my thoughts about the experience.  

Recharged.

Last week I was blessed with the opportunity to take a "creative recharge" in Sedona, Arizona. I paid for nothing but my meals and, with some frequent flyer miles on hand, Andrew was able to tag along for free. It was one of the most inspiring places I've ever seen. I took hundreds of photos and spent four days painting along side, and learning from, an accomplished plein air artist. I am recharged to say the least.