“Is there anything you’ve always wanted to do in your life, but haven’t made time for it?” my boyfriend Jim asks me over dinner.
It’s a tough question. Our lives have all the trappings of success. I work my dream job as a copywriter for the in-house marketing agency of a major university. Jim is in an exciting career, as an account executive for a tech firm, allowing him to travel the world.
So why did we both feel that something was missing?
Thinking back for a moment, I remembered a mixed media art project and book I never finished. Then I respond saying, “I’m always so busy, I don’t allow time for my inner artist to explore, create and play.” He gets it, saying, “I bought a guitar two years ago, thinking I’d take lessons and finally learn how to play, but I still haven’t.”
I read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, who recommends taking regular “artist dates,” excursions to explore curiosity and indulge creativity. Could that be the answer to our creative rut? At least it sounded like fun. After suggesting it to Jim, he replied with an emphatic, “I’m all in,” and we picked Fountain Hills – one of the many great day trips in Arizona for couples – for our first creative getaway.
I’ve always loved Fountain Hills’ picture-postcard views of the Sonoran Desert at its beautiful best. One site where you can experience these views is Four Peaks. Four Peaks – prominent a landmark within a protected wilderness area east of the bustle of Phoenix – houses an amethyst mine filled with dazzling purple gems for jewelry at local shops, like Sami Fine Jewelry.
The town of Fountain Hills is a walkable destination with shopping gems along the Avenue of the Fountains, galleries and restaurants such as Sofritas for Caribbean-style tapas and sangria. And no matter how many times I’ve seen the Fountain Hills fountain, I still stand in awe as it shoots water up to 560 feet in the air, every hour on the hour.
On Friday, Jim and I stay overnight at Copperwynd Resort and Club, a boutique-style resort where we discover luxury and pampering can go a long way in reawakening our creative spirits. It’d be easy to never leave our room with a cozy gas-burning fireplace and private balcony with mountain views, but we opt to dine at the resort’s restaurant, aptly named Flourish, with an outdoor dining terrace overlooking Four Peaks. After the first sip of our superfruit cosmos, made with house-infused strawberry-lemon vodka and açai and pomegranate liqueurs, we could already tell our creative spirits were flourishing. While dining on corvina bass, we plot our Saturday aiming to savor Fountain Hills art. First stop: the Fountain Hills Artists’ Gallery.
On an idyllic 72-degree Saturday morning in early November, the sky is crisp cerulean blue with fluffy cumulus clouds floating overhead, creating a dreamy feeling that our lives brimmed with brand-new possibilities. Stepping inside the Fountain Hills Artists’ Gallery, we realize we’ve come to the right place. The artist-run gallery is a smorgasbord of mixed media, stunning Arizona landscape photography, jewelry, glass, fiber art, sculpture, acrylic and oil paintings, silk scarves and more. Here, is where I explore the many workshops the gallery offers. Should I try the “Blooming Saguaro” workshop led by Gloria M. Sanchez to learn how to use textured paint to create an iconic Arizona image? Or surprise my best friend with an acrylic painting of her coonhound after taking the “Paint Your Pet” workshop led by Kelly Bowman?
Decisions, decisions. The gallery’s friendly staff guides us on where to begin our self-guided tour of Fountain Hills’ huge public art collection – last count, 150 different pieces – including bronzes, stone sculptures and murals that range in style from figurative to abstract.
For Jim and I, our smartphones are like extra limbs, so we were thrilled to learn we could grab an art walk guide book at the visitors’ center and check out QR codes on artwork plaques to learn more about the piece and artist who created it. First, we follow a path circling the fountain, shooting water high in the sky. We’re mesmerized by the sculptures Infinity Ring and Vigilance that frame views of the manmade lake, fusing the beauty of art and nature in this 64-acre park with Four Peaks and the McDowell Mountains hugging the horizon. As an added bonus, our smartphones’ health app informs us we’re within reach of our daily health goal of 10,000 steps as we follow the Centennial Circle Art Walk through the Centennial Circle sculpture garden and check out the bronzes, murals, paintings, photography and three-dimensional art inside the community center and library.
By now, we feel as creatively inspired as five-year-olds with finger paints, so we had no inhibitions about exploring the melodic percussion instruments at Rotary Community Musical Park along with the other kids of all ages beneath the bright yellow tent.
Before our daylong excursion draws to a close, we duck into the River of Time Museum to get the backstory on Fountain Hills. Inside, we get a quick primer on ancient archaeological sites in the region, discover history of its landmark fountain and learn more about the Four Peaks Amethyst Mine that produces gems in my favorite shade of purple that I covet. (Jim doesn’t seem to be getting my hints about how I’d love an amethyst ring for Christmas.) Afterward, we check out upcoming performances at the Fountain Hills Theater, vowing to return again soon for an afternoon or evening performance as our next “artist date.”
Two weeks after our Fountain Hills creative getaway, I’m digging through my mixed media stamps, inks and embellishments, deciding how to turn an old cigar box into a Christmas gift. Meanwhile, Jim is learning how to tune his guitar and play a few chords during his first guitar lesson. Turns out, Julia Cameron is right. We all need to set aside time for an “artist date” to feed our creative spirits.