Sue Benner class in AZ Page #1 02-08-18

One thing good about doing a Blog every day is that I rarely forget the date!  But now I have lost an entire month and am not sure each day what the date is.  So, here's to that memory crutch - hope it lasts.   It will take me a while to get caught up with my "adventures", not that they are very adventuresome, but some, I hope, are interesting.  

The class (Jan 7 - 12) with Sue Benner in Tucson at the Tanque Verde Ranch Resort was fabulous, as I have found all of her classes.  The class was offered by the Madeline Island School of the Arts (MISA) which is based in Michigan, but offers winter classes in Arizona and New Mexico.  There were three classes: Sue's Landscapes, a writers class, and an oil painting class.  The facility is very nice and each of the 14 students in our group had their own eight foot table - a bit of heaven!   All the meals are provided and the food was very good.  Breakfast and lunch were buffet style, but dinner was regular table service.  All kinds of choices at whatever meal.  The weather was gorgeous and we only had a very light rain one morning.  But ICE on my car in the morning the day we left.  I had nothing to scrape with, but managed to make a hole so I could turn the windshield into the sun and the ice melted quickly.  I was not crazy about the dude ranch aspect, I guess I just wasn't prepared. There is a large corral and a small one with a total of about fifty horses and, of course, those horses have flies.  Nobody else seemed bothered, but whenever I sat still I attracted flies - just lucky that way, I suppose.  The accommodations were very comfortable in single story units that look out on the beautiful high desert landscape with saguaro cactus and all the other desert flora.  Didn't see any desert fauna, but others said they heard coyotes in the night.  Dogs are not allowed!  Poor KoKo stayed with Nancy Ota and Bud in San Clemente.  
It is about eight hours or so driving from Placentia to the ranch and I spent the night both ways in Yuma at a Hancock Inn.  Saw nothing of Yuma.  And only about 14 miles on Speedway Road of Tucson, because the ranch is waaaaay out on the eastern border.  Once there, we had no real reason to drive back into the main part of town.  I'll have to go back some day, they have a number of interesting museums.  

Everyone in the class said okay to showing their work on my blog.  So I will post pictures that I took in class.   Several students have been working hard at home an finished their main pieces which are very, very nice.  

Just a little feel of the place, this guy greets you in the registration office.  I sat beside him for about three hours before I could get a key to my room.  I did walk around a bit since he wasn't talking.   Sort of cowboy humor.  There were some cowboys in typical garb who would touch their hat and say " 'morning, ma'am".  Sort of corny for a city girl.  

This saguaro cactus grows right outside the room I was in.  I have heard that they do not start growing arms until they are 100 years old.  Behind it is an ocotillo, but they won't bloom for a couple months.  

All the modern conveniences in a rustic setting.  Ice Machine. 

This is my room with wide windows and an awesome view into the mountains.

The furniture is all very heavy, dark Mexican style.  This view is from the bottom of the king sized bed.  Since I drive I always take along a quilt (which isn't king sized) and my pillow.  But there was a very warm feather duvet on the bed and an extra blanket in the closet. 

 At dinner the first night we had discussed the critters of the desert; lizards, snakes, scorpions, tarantulas, etc..  So when I turned the cover down, my mind was still on critters and this appeared and I jumped back.  My first impression was a tarantula!  But it is just the elegant monogrammed sheet.  Doesn't look a thing like a tarantula. 

The room was spacious and well appointed and sort of rustic. 

On the way to the classroom we walked by the horses.  There were many horse riding guests and some were taking lessons and going on trail rides.  

This image is from the day we went home, but I wanted you to see what a great classroom we had with our eight foot tables to work on.  

Tomorrow I will post pictures of the student work we did.  

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