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| The View from Cellar 433 in Jerome |
Tuesday was the traditional "Jerome Day." This is always a popular day with the artists, partly because they get fed. The Sedona Arts Center sets up a tent in the middle of town with bagels, doughnuts and coffee; and then for lunch, each artist gets a coupon good for a meal at one of the fine restaurants in town. But food isn't the only attraction. Jerome has some beautiful, run-down buildings. Plus, there is the Gold King Mine!
After grabbing a doughnut and a cup of coffee and checking in, I drove on up the hill to the mine. I got there early, just before they opened, and talked a little with Don, the owner. Don has spent 30 years gathering scores of antique vehicles around this abandoned mine and making it a tourist attraction. Sedans, pickup trucks, steam shovels, fire engines, ambulances, police cars - everything to please a painter (or a five-year-old.)
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| Location shot for "Ghosts" |
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| Ghosts 11x14 oil (You can see how much I edited out from the photo above!) |
Debra Joy Groesser found the best spot before I did but graciously shared it with me. We were tucked up in a remote corner where we painted a '51 Ford truck. While we were painting, Don came over and gave me a history on that truck as well on several of its siblings and close cousins. Later, I had a look at his Studebaker, which he drives around town once in awhile.
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| Studebaker |
After painting, artists turned in the day's paintings (framed) to Cellar 433, for a reception and sale later that afternoon. After turning in mine, I located a few other artists to have lunch with. Bruce Gomez, Michelle Byrne, Rachel Pettit, Caroline Jasper, Robert Burridge and I ended up at the Mile High Grill, where we dawdled until 2, when it was time for the reception.
It didn't take long for the downstairs gallery of Cellar 433 to get packed. Besides the fresh artwork, a free taste of wine was the draw. By 3 pm, the sun had begun to tip down behind the mountain that looms over Jerome, so I followed many of the artists down the hill to other adventures.
Today (Wednesday) artists will be painting at Page Springs Cellars from 11 until close. There is also an art and wine tour associated with this day; the public can buy a ticket ($40) that will give them a tour of the plein air pieces currently hanging in the Sedona Arts Center gallery followed by a tour of the winery in Page Springs plus a wine tasting. See you there!
(For a full schedule of events, please visit www.sedonapleinairfestival.org)
