Hail hitting the Cockscomb Formation, Sedona

Some of the most delightful places to paint in Sedona are unprepossessing on a map or from a car, little byways that only the locals seem to know. Cultural Park is essentially a rutted parking lot behind Yavapai College with a single ramada (or what we easterners would call a rain shelter). It has a fantastic view of the Cockscomb formation, a weathered butte of tall, spindly spires that’s hard to draw and great to paint. I include it in every painting trip and workshop.

On this day, Mother Nature was having a hissy fit. It spit rain, it hailed, it blew like a banshee. I packed up my car and the sun came out. I unpacked and it spit rain, hailed and blew like a banshee. I was lucky to get an 8X12 painting out of the afternoon, but I wish I’d had more perseverance… and warmer fingers.