Indian Canyon Palm Springs, CA

This past weekend was an organized field trip for Plein Air Artists of Riverside by locations chair Ada M. Passaro. Andreas Canyon is located near Palm Springs. Visit the website for more info. Hiking, horse back riding, picnicking, just go visit to see the beautiful natural landscape. Indian Canyons - PalmSprings.com

We arrived around 7:20 am, with a stop at the local Starbucks. A PAAR outing would never be the same if Starbucks was not in the picture. After loading up with our favorite morning java drinks we headed out to the canyon.

The Canyons open at 8 a.m., there was already a line of cars waiting to pay their daily fee and go into the magnificent oasis lined with fan palms, waterfalls, trails and beautiful natural plants. The scenes were spectacular and it was very difficult to actually decide what to paint.

I chose the scene looking east as I liked the dramatic shadows from the group of palms on the left and the beautiful blue/purple mountains in the distance. The grouping of natural plants with little white blossoms in the foreground made for a lovely painting and a great remembrance from a beautiful morning of painting with friends and fellow artists.

The day was hardly over. Ada had a arranged for the group to go to the Palm Springs Art Museum to hear a lecture on a very well known early plein air painter Maynard Dixon. I had seen this exhibit a few weekends ago, but to hear the lecture was purely a treat.
Palm Springs Art Museum

The group I was with decided we should go back out to the canyons for an afternoon painting. The shadows were so magnificent at this time. Very bold and strong. The mountains had a beautiful golden glow as the sun was setting behind them and to the west. The painting I did is a little 5 x 7 gem. I loved the play between the palms in the foreground and the one hidden palm that makes up the second shadow. That palm was in full sunlight.

Now this is where the day gets a little nerve racking. As a plein air artists you hear and see a

lot. I was sitting at one of the picnic tables minding my own business and I could feel someone behind me. As I turned there was a young man holding a snake. If you have followed my blog, you know that I am deathly afraid of snakes. I don't stop to see what kind they are, I just move out of their way. The young man is trying to convince me that the snake is very nice. I told him to please move away. About this time a young lady arrives in a car and jumps out. She says to him he is not taking the snake and to put it down. He tries to convince her that it is a very nice snake and he wants to take it home. She refuses. So see the nice little path of bushes in my painting, he walks out there and releases the snake. Thank goodness I was about finished with my painting. I was so nervous that more snakes would be coming at any time, I quickly finished my painting, packed my gear and met the other artists at my car. WHEW! Just writing about the incident makes my blood pressure rise.


All in all it was a beautiful day (except for the snake incident). I hope you enjoy the paintings as much as I enjoyed painting them.

On another note: I leave on Wed. night to New York City for the opening reception on Thursday night from 5 to 8, of the group show I am in at Gallery 225. Read about this on the gallery website: Harvard Toback's Gallery 225 - Past and Present Shows I will be sure to take lots of photos and have a complete report upon my return. While there I will be judging the Nutmeg Afghan Hound Specialty in Connecticut and staying on for the Westminster Dog Show on Monday and Tuesday. After a very busy week, I will be returning next Wed. to Ca. Until next time, ENJOY THE ART! Terry d. Chacon