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My New Easel!

10/23/2026 5:12:51 PM | By Dawn Sutherland | Comment on this

Some of my painting friends urged me to consider a Hughes Easel. Counterweights allow a painter to manipulate it with one finger--back and forth, up and down, saving time and aggravation with sticky knobs and stubborn gears. I called Don Andrews, maker of Hughes Easels in Punta Gorda, FL and ordered one back in April. Look what pulled up on October 16th!

My home was the last stop of the day for Kyle. I had hoped he could at least help us get the two impossibly heavy boxes hauled up to the house. Kyle did more than that!

We have a steep driveway but Kyle carried the mast assembly right up the driveway, through the garage--

--and into my studio.

Next came the body of the easel in a huge box back in the corner. I thought he might use the small fork lift, but as you can see--

The forks didn't fit in the pallet.

Kyle balanced the box on the forklift wagon and you can see what happened next.

I assumed Kyle would be bidding adieu at that point, but he asked for a screwdriver and started disassembling the packaging.

This portion was amazingly packaged. We wriggled it out of its moorings onto the garage floor. Kyle was tireless. This had turned out to be "white-glove delivery" We handed him a generous thank-you, and he was off for the evening. We decided to tackle the rest of the assembly the next morning.

Here's the sunrise the next morning. Not bad!

This part became so intense, I forgot to take photos along the way. This is the upright assembly that will be fastened onto the mainframe. This proved to be the most difficult part, taking sheer strength to lift the thing, then position it so that pulley-type wheels on the top rested on a narrow rail and an angle iron at the bottom rested in place. Somehow we got it right after a dozen tries.

We put castors on the mainframe and wheeled it into my studio

And here, finally is the fully assembled easel! There were directions to put the nameplate on before erecting it, but that didn't seem necessary. After we put it together, it became apparent why it should have been done earlier.

Stan dragged out a ladder and finished the assembly with the lovely "Hughes Easel" brass plate screwed into place.

This easel is able to take on canvases 6' high and wide--so wouldn't you know, the honor of the first painting I tackled went to a commission for friend and collector Doug Holiman.

I am truly delighted with the versatility and ease with which this easel works. Now I can't wait for the painting muse to tell me what the next large painting should be. Send me your thoughts!

Take a Hike--Bug Springs Trail

10/23/2026 5:04:00 PM | By Dawn Sutherland | Comment on this

This is a story of how best thought-out plans can go awry. The Bug Springs trail is listed as an alternate route on the AZT. If you don't wish to hike up the Catalinas with a heavy backpack and camp for several days, you can do the alternate route made up of four segments of much shorter distance. We already did the lowest portion, the Molino Trail several years ago, so it seemed time to do the next segment up. Using a shuttle idea, we left my car at the Gordon Hirabayashi "Prison Camp" location, then drove Stan's car five miles up Mt. Lemmon Hwy to the Bug Springs trailhead. The intent to hike downhill seemed like a good plan on this early September morning. We gave little thought to just how hot it might get as we hiked on out of the forest and into the foothills

We knew we'd be hiking up and down steep ridges at the beginning. No surprise, however recent rains had washed out chunks of the trail.

Nonetheless, it's cool and shady. There's a peek at the highway.

Up steep ridges--then back down to the next one.

Now and then getting a peek at the distant horizon and hoping the trail will soon level out.

Lovely twists in the trail take a hiker through damp stream beds and--

--a friendly black swallowtail that persisted swooping along as we hiked,

The day was warming and finding shade started to be quite welcome.

With the drop in elevation, the shady pines disappeared and the terrain began to level off a bit.

Finally, we leveled out with a view that told us we were truly starting on the way down the foothills. Time to stop and rest the feet.

And have a little lunch while enjoying the view. It should be easy from here.

The trail starts to lead severely downhill; still a pleasure from hiking up those ridges.

The trail guide described many interesting hoodoos and formations. The exposed trail, however was beginning to get hot and there was very little shade along the way.

What started out to be a cool hike with light jackets turned into an inferno. The oversized white shirt I wore at the beginning became a sunshield as I doused it with water and wore it over my head like a burka. No picture for the next 2.5 miles. We were simply focused on making it back to the car we'd left at the Camp.

Finally, at the highway, just a short distance to the car. This was probably one of the toughest and dumbest hikes we have ever done.

Lesson learned--Don't hike in Tucson's summer heat even if you think the higher elevation will help--and bring more water than you think you'll ever need.

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My New Easel!

Take a Hike--Bug Springs Trail

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