I just returned from a couple of weeks in Southern Arizona. It’s been quite a few years since I’ve visited the desert and it felt like I was returning home again. Although I grew up on the West Coast and have spent much of my time on that coast from Mexico to Canada I also spent significant time in the Sonoran Desert at one time and it continues to call to me. I spent a couple of days in Saguaro National Monument, alone, drawing and painting and at times just sitting, listening to the quiet, soaking up the atmosphere. I felt strangely at peace and renewed and I questioned its seductiveness especially for one that loves the ocean. It seems oddly like the sea in its quiet, gentle solitude and yet it can be powerful, harsh and relentless with no place to hide. I visited places I haven’t seen for some time and reaffirmed my love for the landscape, history, people and spirit of the “west” ….I’d like to share with you some very quick (rough) watercolour sketches completed while there.