Verde Valley Wine Trail: Painted Wine Barrels

For the Verde Valley Wine Trail: Painted Wine Barrel project, I was selected to paint Cottonwood's Quality Inn's Wine barrel. 
For more information about the project and to see other barrels, see the V.V. Wine trail's website. 

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The  Barrel:
Before

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The 
Process:

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The Barrel:
After

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With the Barrel at Quality Inn, located at 301 W. SR 89-A, Cottonwood, AZ 86326.

When Candy Moore, general manager of Quality Inn,  and I sat down to discuss what this barrel will look like, we decided it should have a southwest vibe to it, as it will be seen by many tourists and the like who are drawn to this area due to the  beautiful landscape of the region. 

What is southwest though? I'm an east coast born and raised, rural Maryland turned suburbia Virginian with Washington DC roots... who transplants herself repeatedly in Arizona. I have no natural lean towards making southwest art; pictures of trees and beautiful rivers are more common in my work than desert cactus and southwest colors... yet, had I really seen the southwest? A drive through New Mexico and you think you've seen it all: browns, oranges, dry, dead, empty, and cactus. 

But, take a step into this region called the Verde Valley, in the middle of Arizona, and your perspective of the southwest will change. Rivers run through, fruit and nut trees grow courageous and beautiful plants grow everywhere and animals roam free. This is not your typical southwest, but it is the southwest; the kind of southwest that reminds me of my world, my east coast humid green overgrown lush landscape. Except Cottonwood trees instead of Oak and Maple, Prickly Pear cactus everywhere instead of dandelions, and the quail are a bit different. 

So this barrel represents the Verde Valley of the Southwest. It is the lushes green and colorful landscape, including the changing colors of the mountains depending on where you are, that I see hidden among the dry, brown, dead and cactus southwest.  

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