Prescott, AZ Girls’ Weekend

Posted on | December 3, 2007 |

Late yesterday I returned from a lovely trip with Angie. We went away for our first (of what we expect to be many!) girls’ weekend. Prescott is about 90 miles north of Phoenix. It’s a fairly easy drive and there’s some great views. Before we got on the road, I pulled a bag out of my back seat for Angie. I had finally finished her birthday present (just a few weeks late!). This is why you haven’t seen much from me artwise. I’ve been working on this and I did not want Angie to see it until I presented it to her! The image is hand painted on linen and then quilted onto a quilted bag. I did not use a pattern for this. I made it up as I went along. It was a lot of work, but it sure was fun.

And, best of all was Angie’s squeal of delight on her street as she opened it. The coloring of the portrait. along with the shape of the face and features, is inspired by Angie herself! Inside the bag were two smaller pouches - one for her camera and the other had some of Angie’s favorite Pigma Micron Pens in various colors and sizes. I also added a small watercolor sketchbox for Angie to use on our trip, included was a waterbrush.

Angie and I decided not to take too much with us when we went out to Prescott. We banned make-up (not that we wear it when we’re together most of the time anyway!), chose casual clothes and vowed not to dress up. We stopped at an antique shop along the side of Rte. 69 that Angie had seen many times before on her trips up there. As this was a weekend for us to do whatever we wanted, we stopped and walked around the store for at least an hour. It was a cluttered shop, filled with all sorts of treasures. We found hand-embroidered napkins, crocheted pieces, and other antique fabrics to share. Angie also found the pieces for a model bank in a rusty metal and some barbed wire. I found a rhinestone bolo that I will likely use at a bar mitzvah we’re attending at the end of the month (the theme is cowboy formal!).

From there, we suddenly realized we were both hungry. So, we were on the lookout for an interesting place to eat. We noticed a small Chinese restaurant and decided to take the risk. We were pleasantly surprised. The food was good, not greasy; the restaurant was warm and dry. And the break from the foggy and rainy driving weather was a welcome change for me. One thing that struck me, however, was that they had a fan above our table and on the decorative fan were some leaves with some fake insects. I had to take a photo (left).

After the meal, we got back in the car and drove straight to where we were staying. We were lucky with that. Angie’s husband remembered that a friend of theirs had a guest loft above their garage. He called and we were blessed with a lovely two-bedroom one-bath loft with a kitchenette. We had both brought snacks with us, figuring we’d be doing a lot of art and who wants to head outside each time you want coffee or something to munch on? The fireplace was controlled by the thermostat and the floor in the bathroom was heated! Very cool!

We chose our rooms, both of which were decorated in a relaxing homey cranberry red and white. We unpacked and I took some photos of my room because it was just so cute! To the left is the chair that sat in the little nook around the window. The upholstery matched the pillows and the rest of the bedding. It was a lovely Americana decor and there was also come Christmas decor that matched. We felt very at home there immediately and could not believe our luck.

Then we sat and started to paint almost immediately! To the right is my favorite page from the weekend, but you can see more in my Flicker Photoset. Because it was so rainy out, we decided that, instead of wandering around town shivering, we’d paint. We painted things in and around the loft. Angie and I have very different styles, as she is a very detailed watercolorist and I’m more impressionistic about it. This was Angie’s first time watercolor journaling, and her training in watercolor shows. Hers are splendid, so do take a moment to check out her blog where she has shown her artwork, as well.

One of the greatest things about the weekend is that Angie and I can sit in silence together without it feeling uncomfortable. We do often sit in my studio and talk forever, it seems! But we were not rushing for time, so we were able to relax and just be one with the art. We did, of course, talk a lot! We just do. We finish each other’s sentences, change the subjects to the same new subjects out of nowhere, and we laugh a lot! Unfortunately, Angie’s kids were sick and back at my house, Dave’s dad was just released from the hospital, so we left behind quite a bit of stress. We both needed the break, but we did have the cell phone to keep in touch when we were needed.

The three days passed far too quickly. The rain kept us in until Sunday when we went antiquing and gallery hopping to see what Prescott had to offer. We found some treasures and both felt as if we’d had enough at the same time - about two hours into the excursion. So we picked up some soup from a small lunch shop and went back to the loft to pack up and head out.

The ride home went far too quickly, but we were lucky enough to beat the weekend traffic. Angie was home at 4 pm and I arrived home by 4:30. It was a lovely weekend and one we will repeat in a few months, I’m sure!

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