Yesterday's trip to Wickenburg for the Cowgirl Up exhibit at the museum was a roaring success;  Wanda likened it to a vacation!  It runs through May 13, and if you get a chance to head up there I highly recommend it!

Cowgirl Up! captures the imagination of just about everyone who is attracted to the lifestyle and spirit of the West.  Over the course of the past decade, the show and sale have become the most important event for Western women artists in the country. Regarded for the breadth of extraordinarily talented artists invited annually as well as the enthusiastic and loyal patrons who support the museum’s passionate vision, DCWM is privileged to carry the banner for the West’s most noteworthy women artists.  ‘Cowgirl Up! Art from the Other Half of the West’ garners international acclaim from collectors and connoisseurs across the globe.  Since 2006, when Desert Caballeros Western Museum identified the need to step forward on behalf of the West’s women artists, this nationally hailed exhibition has gathered more than 50 of the region’s celebrated contemporaries, in recognition of their enormous contribution to the cultural legacy of the American West.

 One of the showcased artists, Sue Krzyston, is a friend of Wanda's. 

Here they were enjoying a recent lunch together.

Surrounded in her home and studio by the American Indian artifacts she collects and paints, Sue Krzyston believes these objects represent the “soul” of the people who create them. “I strive to capture that soul on canvas. I want to take something alive, something from the earth, and make them come alive in my still life paintings.”

I didn't take my camera (thought I wouldn't be allowed to snap photos) but that wasn't the case.  However it turns out that their website has MUCH better photos than my flip phone!  Here are some of Sue's paintings, and of course even the professional photography doesn't do them justice.  The beadwork on the moccasins is SO realistic it really looks 3D! 

After lunch we made a stab and seeing the rest of the museum, which is also wonderful. However it seems we only made a dent before we got overloaded and headed home... never even making it over to the other building!

I hope to post more pix of the wonderful artwork later.

Alex surprised us when he appeared late last evening since I wasn't expecting him until Monday or even Tuesday.  He had a great trip (showed me some of his pix and video of the BIG boats) and now has a little time at home before blasting off again for the next job.

I know he's got plans to do stuff with friends, but we'll get to see him at least once <g> since Tom plans to cook up some of the fish that they caught on their recent trip to Rocky Point for dinner one night.

Mom was (eventually) able to get Amtrak tickets to NY via their website, but apparently it wasn't very easy.  I remember last year Barbara and I spent hours (and hours!) trying to navigate the site to get tickets, so I truly understand Mom's difficulty and frustration.  (She's already let me know that next year I can have that "fun"!)