Alda Saunders explores the snowbird experience of living in Arizona in winter in an exhibition of paintings at Art 10 Gallery.
The show, Arizona Studies, is not just an attempt to showcase beautiful pictures of the desert landscape, but to highlight the mixture of cultures and life in the area.
The paintings are done in watercolour and acrylic, on canvas and paper, and are available for sale. There will also be jewelry inspired by Arizona concepts and made by the artist.
The painting Mesa Cowboy shows the current lifestyle of many snowbirds, but also reflects the romantic look back to frontier times.
Sedona Spirit shows the distant erratic land formations along with the variety of plant forms.
Legacy of the Hohokam looks at the contribution of the 14th century Hohokam people who dug canals 32 kilometres long from a water source to where it was desperately needed. This was done so that people could settle, grow corn, grow cotton for fabric and build mud structures.
This is from the Casa Grande, an original Hohokam structure, which also indicated the astronomical markings such as the solstices.
One of the outstanding features of the Arizona scenery is the spring blooming of the desert cacti. Santa Rita Blooms shows detail of the brilliant flowers that bloom on this cactus. Luminous pinks, reds and yellows characterize these exquisite flowers in different varieties.
The exhibition is on display until the end of September. A reception is set for Sept. 10 at 2 p.m.
The gallery is located in Nanaimo North Town Centre on Rutherford Road.