November 2025 to May 2026
I’ve been a member of Urban Sketchers for a while now, and have
attended their meet ups in several different cities and states. For those who don’t know about Urban
Sketchers, it’s an international organization that encourages people to sketch wherever
they are, and post their sketches online.
The sketches are not finished pieces of art to sell, rather they are
quick drawings or painting to show the beauty and diversity of our world. And we meet up in a specific location however
often the group decides; each person works independently; at the end, we have a
“throw down” where everyone puts their sketchbooks or papers together, and
someone takes a photo to post. (Most of
us post on our own art websites as well.)
So, I attended several Tucson Urban Sketchers meet ups, and then
decided to draw and paint our back yard and some of the cactus in bloom. It’s been an interesting project, and I think
it needs its own blog post. Besides,
since I was so busy sketching, I didn’t have time to take photographs of the
scenery!
Our first meet up was at Danny Lopez Park on the east side of
Tucson. There’s actually a lake
there! It was a small group, and I never
did find where everyone else was working.
As I drove in, I saw a wonderful view of the Santa Catalina Mountains,
and there was a covered area with picnic tables. So I sat there, and worked on a large
overview sketch. I tend to work on more
close up and detailed images, so this was fun.
The following month, we met up in Barrio Viejo, literally the “old
neighborhood” of Tucson, dating back to the mid 1800s. You can see what I mean about sketching small
detailed images – this was the metal work above a door and the grate over the
window of a small house. As I was
finishing up, the owner of the house came home, and I told him I really liked
his window grate. He said he and his
wife picked up the flowers and hummingbirds at a crafts market, and he took
them to an ironwork specialist to have them incorporated into the whole
window. Just gorgeous! (And a great way to meet people!
In December, we did our Caribbean cruise, and I sketched/painted
at many of the ports. Those images are
included in that series of blogs.
The January meet up was at the San Xavier del Bac Mission, the old
Spanish mission church in south Tucson.
The original mission was founded on this site by the Jesuits in 1692,
but the current church was built from 1783 to 1797 – making it the oldest
European building in Arizona! The actual
labor was accomplished by the O’odham Nation, and the building and square stand
on Tohono O’odham land. Every Sunday,
there’s a market with stalls selling food.
The arts and crafts market is held at the huge market building across the
street. (One of these years I’ll make it
there.)
When we sketched at San Xavier last year, I drew and painted the
usual scene of the church itself. This
year, I decided to draw the church as the backdrop to the market in the square,
with all the people coming and going. Since
it was a quick overview sketch of a large scene, I worked in fine point marker
and didn’t add color.
In the center of the square is a stone maze, a tradition among the
O’odham people (and other indigenous people of the Southwest). Called “The Man in the Maze,” this labyrinth represents
the journey of life with all its complexities, options, decisions, and
challenges.
Next up, we went to Avenida del Convento, sort of in central
Tucson in the Mercado (market) district, with very Spanish architecture and
large plazas. It isn’t an old part of
the city, but it’s built to look like an upscale version of it – bigger houses
than in the Barrio Viejo, but similar architecture.
Most of the group gathered on a different street, but I parked and
noticed the ornate oval windows of these attached buildings. So I ended up sitting on the stoop on some
building, and painting the scene across the street.
Our
next sketching adventure was at the Mission Gardens. Yes, for a while we were meeting up nearly
every Sunday! The Mission Gardens is a
non-profit funded by a grant from the National Park Service, and they are
growing plants (including crops) that the indigenous people of this region were
using some 4000 or so years ago. Really fascinating! The had several kinds of
citrus fruits, the Three Sisters (corn, beans, and squash planted together),
and even fig trees! It's located on land sacred to the Tohono O'odham people,
the Native Americans in this region of Arizona. A canal runs through the
property - apparently digging a canal from a nearby river was pretty common for
the indigenous people here.
I seem to be the only one without
a chair, so I wandered looking for a nice place to sketch that included a rock
or ledge or something else for sitting. I found a gorgeous trellis covered in
ivy, with a couple of kinds of prickly pear cactus around the base, an agave,
and a couple of flowering plants.
So that was my spot for the
morning. But the funny part was the road
runner who came wandering through. He was my second-ever road runner, so I
talked to him, and he bobbed his head and tail at me. He also sort of raised
and lowered the crest on his head, so I guess that was part of his conversation.
He actually came within less than a yard of me! I told the young ladies at the shop about him,
they said oh yes, he decided he lives here, his name is Kevin. I said he really
didn't look like a Kevin to me, they laughed and agreed. I'm not sure if road
runners qualify as remarkably bright, but we definitely communicated with each
other.
It was a really nice morning, and
the perfect spot outside the city for drawing and painting! It does make me
think of using a bigger watercolor set for these outings, though - I have to
mix my own greens, and given that I only have lemon yellow and ultramarine
blue, my greens all look very much the same.
My scene had so many different
greens, I opted to draw first in marker, and then paint. With only about 90 minutes to work, it’s an
easier way to differentiate between the various plants. Sort of a quick and dirty way of making a
fast but clear image of the scene.
Kevin agreed.
We gathered in a part of Tucson
called the Lost Barrio. It’s not really
lost nor hidden, it’s actually the old warehouse district that is now turned
into trendy little shops and boutiques.
I found a lovely little white shop with bright cobalt blue trim, posts,
and railings, surrounded by greenery and pink flowering bougainvillea. Just a lovely little vignette. Plus I could perch on a planter across the
street from it, and set up my water cup on the edge of the planter. (We the chairless get creative.)
I’m not sure what the mosaic in
the center front of the building was, some saint or something. Possibly Our Lady of Guadeloupe. I’m also not sure if the basin below the
mosaic was a fountain, or more of a birdbath kind of thing. But it was pretty, and fun to paint.
The following week, we met by an
old building that is or was the Art and Music Palace, or school, or center, or something
along those lines. I hate to say I don’t
remember, because I ended up not staying there.
(Are we sensing a theme here?
Yes, I tend to pick places to sketch where there are fewer people
gathering.)
But mostly, it’s because when I
drove to the location, I passed a statue of a bright orange griffin. Really!
It was gorgeous, and I do love a good mythical creature! How can you go wrong with a half eagle, half
lion friend?
I parked, met the group, and told
them I was walking back down a few blocks to draw the griffin. I wandered on down to the griffin (maybe four
blocks or so?), found a flower pot with enough edge to sit on and use as a
table for my supplies, and that was my sketching spot. I had a great time and
he was a very good subject, didn't move a muscle!
Actually, a tour guide with a
small group came by, and he told the people about the sculpture. The griffin is named Toby, and he was created
by a group of artists in 2010. There are
even footprints cast in the sidewalk, randomly spaced eagle talon and lion foot
prints! Very whimsical! (I do enjoy whimsy!)
Just as I was finishing up, a man
from Cornwall, UK, came by and asked if he could take a photo of my sketch. (I think I made Toby's torso too long, but I'm
embracing the wonkiness.) Anyway, he
enjoyed my painting, and I had fun.
I started my backyard sketching
with a lovely blue-green agave plant growing under what I think may be a
mesquite tree. There was some sort of
succulent that had deep red flowers in early spring, and a spray of these blossoms
created a gorgeous slash of contrasting color across the agave. Great composition with just two plants in
complementary colors. (A bit of quick online
research indicates that this is probably a blue agave, which is the kind used
for making tequila! And the red flower
is most likely a coral bean flower, or Bidwell’s coral bean, which seems to be
a true red and not a red-orange color. Botanical Name: Erythrina bidwilii.)
Our last Urban Sketchers meet up
was at the Juan Santa Cruz picnic area, overlooking the valley that is the
Saguaro National Park West, with the Tucson Mountains in the distance. (The eastern part of the park is obviously on
the eastern side of Tucson.) The area
isn’t far from Old Tucson, originally built as a movie and television set, and
now something like a theme park.
I wanted a view that included both
the mountain range, and those friendly saguaros. I picked the largest picnic shelter because I
could sit on the side of the half-wall, and had a great view of the distant
mountains, valley, and two hills covered in saguaros. With several
chollas in the foreground. I was in the shade, and had a lovely
breeze. Ended up with a group of twelve hikers who came to cool off and
have a break, and then the rest of the sketchers came to cool off as
well. Really was a perfect spot! Well, 18 miles west of our house,
so it took about 40 minutes to get there, but it was still a great place for
sketching. (Several people painted to ocotillas in full flower!)
Oh, and I was also visited by
several cactus wrens, the ones that poke holes in the saguaros to build their
nests. And a jack rabbit went hopping by - looks like an average rabbit but
longer ears, and a leaner build than our plump bunnies of the north.
So, all in all a good day. As with most of these Urban Sketcher works, I quickly
draw in aquarelle pencil, and then paint with my mini six-color watercolor set.
Our Urban Sketcher leader headed
back north (to Bellingham, of all places – where we summer!), so I went back to
sketching our garden. I tried to
organize an event so other sketchers could come by, but Facebook seems to have
banned me or something, so I couldn’t communicate with the group. Oh well, I had fun anyway.
Under the same maybe mesquite tree
was a lovely little vignette – another blue agave, and two other aloe-like
succulents, both with clusters of flowers on long stems. Actually, now that I’m trying to find out
what kind of plant they might be, it turns out that aloe does indeed flower,
and they look very much like the yellow and orange flowers in my painting! Who knew?
The ground is normal Tucson desert
dirt and gravel – I had a fun time splatter painting to create the gravel
effect! And I rather like the faded hint
of greenery as the background, so that you get a sense that this is just a
small scene in a larger garden.
Next I tackled the flowering
prickly pear cactus. It turns out there
are a LOT of different kinds of prickly pears, and this is the black spine
prickly pear. Loooong black spines with
white tips, and gorgeous yellow flowers with red splotches on the inner part of
the petals. And the cactus itself is
green, but purple around the edges! I
know, it sounds like an odd combination, but it really works well.
The base of the flower turns into
the prickly pear fruit, which can be eaten raw, or cooked into jellies, or
rendered down into syrups. And the green
“paddles” of the cactus can also be cooked and eaten, although they aren’t
sweet like the fruit. (People also keep
bees who produce honey from prickly pear cacti, another specialty.)
This sketch is mostly aquarelle
pencil, rather than paint. It was late
afternoon, there were insect, and I wanted to work quickly.
We had two large cacti in the same
shady area under that mesquite tree, very bright green and shaped like a big
prickly pear, but with soft curly little protrusions, and no spines. These turned out to be spineless prickly pear
cacti! They have pretty yellow flowers,
and these also turn into the deep red-purple fruit. I don’t know if the fruit from the different
kinds of prickly pears taste different, though.
Or if the paddles taste different.
(Now I’m wondering how one removed the spines before cooking the paddles.)
Again, sketched in aquarelle, and
painted with my mini watercolor set.
Though to make the pale center, I did need to use the white aquarelle
pencils to get that very light color. Also, this was done on a single page, not the open sketchbook, so the image proportions are very different.
Okay, the final Tucson botanical
sketch. This wonderful saguaro isn’t
even in our rental’s yard, it belongs to the neighbor. But it’s such a gorgeous cactus, I wanted to
sketch him. Her? Some plants come in male and female. Turns out cacti are both, so that the flowers
of a single cactus can cross pollinate itself!
Anyway, this is an OLD
saguaro. They don’t begin developing “arms”
until they’re roughly 75 years old, and this one has branches on branches!
According to the National Park
Service, saguaros have arms, not branches.
Here’s more information about saguaros – how tall they are at various
ages, when they begin to develop the arms, all that: https://www.nps.gov/sagu/learn/nature/saguaro-growth.htm
My guess is that this particular
saguaro was about 20 to 25 feet tall, comparing it to the house. And it was in full bloom, with those lovely
white flowers with yellow centers. (Yes,
these flower stalks also develop into fruit.
The indigenous people created a tool from dead saguaro inner spines, to
pick the fruit and cook it into jellies and syrups.)
This saguaro is to our west, so I
waited until just before sunset began to sketch the neighbor's saguaro. It's too hot and too bright mid-day, and I’m
not a morning person. I found an angle I
liked, and started sketching. Then one
of the people who lives there drove up - and parked on the gravelly area what
would normally be a sidewalk, because we're not supposed to park on the street.
I moved, then he opened his window and said "can I help you?" I explained I lived next door, and was just
sketching their saguaro, that I had been doing a series of sketches of our
backyard but we don't have a gorgeous saguaro the way they do. We chatted briefly, he asked if his vehicle
was in my way, I said no, I just moved so I wasn't in his way. (He said with my book, he thought I'd be
asking him to vote for something!)
Anyway - so I have a nice sketch
of the saguaro, full of holes that cactus birds made so they can nest inside. It's a really old saguaro with lots of arms as
well as arms capped with lots of flowers, buds, and maybe fruit. I came inside, used my skinniest marker to
outline everything and make the lines that are really more like pleats in the
saguaro skin. Then used my watercolors
to color and shade it all. (And a vague splash for the background.)
Last note, before I end because I
know this is loooong – those accordion folds or “pleats” in the saguaro are an
adaptation so that saguaro can drink up lots of water into the core during
rainy season, and the saguaro actually expands with water and the pleats
flatten out! Major survival evolution!!!
24 July 2026 – Finally in Roma,
Italia! – I had originally booked a
night at an airport hotel in Rome, but with the cancelled and rebooked flight I
missed that. I will definitely write a
letter to both airlines, politely but scathingly worded, about the experience –
and hopefully 
I can be reimbursed for that hotel which was pre booked, prepaid,
and they will not refund due to their cancellation fee. (Ugh.)
women with brown and pink curls wearing a
turquoise batik jacket and black slacks!
Amanda was a sweetheart – she’s from Brazil, a tall and gorgeous former
model who married an Italian man, and Civitavecchia is now home. We conversed in a mixture of English-Italian-Spanish,
with tiny bits of Portuguese and French if one of us didn’t know the word in another
language that the other one spoke.
Lively and definitely stimulating after so many hours in airports or on
flights!
my two-days old clothing.
And I explored our neighborhood a bit, having a very late lunch or early
dinner at a bar. In Italy, a bar serves
anything from beer to wine to mixed drinks, in addition to coffee drinks,
pastries, sandwiches, and what North Americans call appetizers (but much of the
rest of the world calls 
entrées, because it’s the small bites before the actual
meal – as it preparing to enter a meal).
I had a sandwich and doppio (double) espresso, wandered a bit, and
called it an early night.
Anyway, Civitavecchia is near
Ostia Antica, the ruins of the old Roman seaport from about 600 BCE. Archaeological evidence shows that the area
was inhabited roughly 2000 before that, so the town really is roughly 4000
years old. Boggles the mind, especially
for we North Americans, where buildings go back possibly 200 years and we think
that’s ancient. (We really are a new
continent. Even the Native
American/First Nations structures that are still visible are babies compared to
European buildings.)
Italian breakfast of a cappuccino
and a slice of crostata (sort of a slice of jam tart – this was square, not a
wedge, and maybe about 4 inches square – so roughly 10 or 12 cm square?).
was a straight shot down from the main
street that crossed the small quiet street our B&B is on – through
residential areas, business areas, and several blocks closed to traffic so the
cafés could have expanded outdoor table areas.
Possibly a bit over a mile, roughly 1.3 km or so. The street changed names, but I’m used to
that from 
Bellingham. I love the final
name – Corso Centrocelle – pronounced CORSE-oh chen-troe-CHEH-lay. No idea what it means other than vaguely the
central course or concourse – I’m not sure what the “celle” part means since it
sounds like the word “cello,” and that doesn’t seem to fit a street. But with travel, one 
just accepts that one
usually is somewhat clueless – I’ve learned to be fine with that.
Quick history of the building
– there was an ancient Roman fort at this site guarding the harbor. In the 15th century, the pope of
that time commissioned the building of the current fort. A number of different architects and
sculptors worked on the basic fort, a 
huge square building with round towers at
each corner. But along one side is a
taller tower that is sort of hexagonal or octagonal – hard to tell since only
part of it extends beyond the fortress walls.
But this taller tower, the maschio, was designed and built by
Michelangelo Buonarotti, and thus the entire fort now bears his name.
