Ron Schlorff
TPAPS member Ron Schlorff called with an invitation to paint along with Pablo de Leon and Norm Sherwood at one of his favorite locations. Honeybee Trail in Oro Valley provides a beautiful, Saguaro-covered overlook to the Pusch Ridge of the Catalina Mountains. Sadly, the predicted sunny day turned cloudy, making the mountains look flat with few shadows. Nonetheless, we had a great time painting and swapping painting experiences.
Pablo de Leon
Pablo’s brushes
Pablo’s comment
Pablo shared with us the homemade brushes that he loves to make and use. He is especially fond of the texture they impart to trees and bushes. Having never even considered making brushes, I found the procedure very interesting. Pablo buys high-quality varnishing brushes, cuts the bristles to size, and attaches them to narrow dowel rods with wire and epoxy. Once assembled, he trims them as desired.
Norm Sherwood
Norm brought along a delightful painting of a deserted pueblo that he completed a few days ago. As I marveled over it, he said, “Drive a few miles out of Tucson in any direction, and you can find lots of abandoned homes along the roads that make great painting subjects.”
While we were wrapping up to leave, Ron advised me, “Come back when the sun is shining—it’s a great view!” The next day—a sunny one that took me back to Sabino Canyon—I got a quick call from him saying, “Today was another great day to paint at Honeybee!”.