April 13th, 2023

April 11, 2023

Dear Friends,

Just as we seem to be moving from winter to summer (spring weather may fly by) the desert is moving quickly!  Art shows are brightly popping up as is the SUPERBLOOM!  The hills are alive with color - more than I have seen in the desert in a long time.
April is a time for renewal and to get your creative juices flowing!

I, too, am moving quickly - TWO Workshops in April.
I invite you to attend either April 15th at Cactus Mart or April 22 at the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve or both!
On April 15, I teach “Spring Into Acrylics” in the beautiful Garden Green Room at Cactus Mart in Morongo Valley.  This 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. class will focus on how to paint with acrylics.  We will work on tables and although it is not a copy and paint class, I will provide a choice of references or springboards!  Beginners welcome. All materials provided!  Register at my website.
On April 22, join me for a plein air class at the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve “Capturing Big Morongo Canyon Preserve with Acrylics” - also from 9 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. with materials included.  I will provide painting materials, but encourage you to bring a clipboard, drawing board or lightweight easel and a folding chair.  You will learn to paint what you see outdoors, and it is beautiful at the preserve! Register here or if you are having trouble registering online, let me know.

Photos Above: (1& 2) Cactus Mart Painting Class, Big Morongo Canyon Preserve (plein air class site), Cactus Mart Green Room, Boardwalk at Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, open doors in the Green room

Spring is in the air. One of my favorite places to visit in any season is nearby Pioneertown which has grown amazingly more popular in recent years. In the 1950s, Pioneertown was built by movie greats including Gene Autry and Roy Rogers as a western film set.
Today, Pioneertown is even more well-known due to Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace which hosted a surprise concert by Paul McCartney (yes the Paul McCartney!) several years ago! Notable musicians play weekly.  I often make the drive (only 5 miles from Yucca Valley) to buy some of the wonderful goat milk soap from JoAnne Gosen’s shop, Soap ‘n Goats.

Vintage Pioneertown, Joanne at Soap and Goats, Mane Street, Sir Paul at Pappy and Harriet's, Pappy and Harriet's, my FAVORITE soap ever! the late Anthony Bourdain at Pappy and Harriet's, visiting the baby Angora goats, bridal photo shoot - you never know what you might see!

The only thing more fun than visiting Pioneertown is painting it!  In recent years, I have painted storefronts along Mane Street. My friend and fellow painter, Krista Wargo, organizes the Hi Desert Plein Air Artists and recently we visited Mane Street to paint on a lovely spring morning. I returned during the weekend to buy soap – and well, l this happened! Mayor Sam lives with the Gosens along with a lot of other adorable Angora goats!

My paintings of Pioneertown: a trio of my Pioneertown paintings, Pioneertown Church, plein air painting at Soap and Goats, "I Kissed the Mayor"(not my art), YES! this happened, Mayor Sam knows he's handsome (photo taken as Deputy), Mayor Sam in the house! and painting the Likker Barn

As always, I encourage you to nurture your creativity.  Make time to splash color, gather some yarn, pen/pencil and paper (it’s Poetry Month!), plant some seeds!
"Happiness? The color of it must be spring green." ~Frances Mayes
If your find yourself on the road to Pioneertown, stop in Morongo Valley at Cactus Mart - something for everyone, including local art - and visit the beautiful Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, an internationally known birding site and more.

Visit my Etsy Shop​ featuring art inspired by places I love, “French Press and Mojave Inspiration.” June is around the corner, wedding month! Cards and  personalized invitations available. If you would like to hear more about my adventures in France and how they influenced my art, listen to my podcast interview with Naim, the Parisian Celebrant, on the Paris Wedding Show.

---

Wishing you a revitalizing spring!
Inspired by all of you,

Janis