Darcie Peet

After a tumultuous, summer storm in the desert, all is fresh and sweet smelling as clouds dimmish, flatten and quietly glide away at the end of the day. Reflective remnants of rain still thread the desert road in Saguaro National Monument West, outside of Tucson, AZ. For Sale $5200. Available at Settlers West Gallery, 6420 N. Campbell Ave. Tucson, AZ 85718, 520-299-2607 www.settlerswest.com www.darciepeet.com

There’s nothing quite like Monument Valley in the winter. What a unique and spiritual experience we had with a private Navajo guide telling us all sorts of stories, traditions and legends as he patiently drove us through the valley. The valley is eerily quiet at dawn as the snow absorbs what little sound might be around. Azure blue and lavender shadows contrast against the red rock, winter shrubs and the emerging, dazzling light of dawn creeping in… a visual potpourri while the air couldn’t be more crisp and frosty. A seemingly alien place where all one’s senses are alive! The painting depicts the Yei Bi Chei monuments, or “Navajo spiritual gods” and viewed as a formation of dancers emerging from a hogan. There is a Yei Bi Chei dance that is performed for healing purposes in a 9-day ritual called the Night Way Ceremony. This was an unforgettable mood that had to be captured on canvas! For Sale. $6200. Available from Settlers West Gallery, 6420 N. Campbell Ave. Tucson, AZ 85718, 520-299-2607 www.settlerswest.com www.darciepeet.com

Just west of Tucson, AZ, a late afternoon and sundown hike in Saguaro National Park West ended with this huge sphere of an eye-squinting and startling sun setting behind the muted and disappearing, golden, Tucson Mountains. Its blazing, dramatic radiance set off and silhouetted the myriad of desert shapes, especially the “forest” of saguaros, distinct prickly pear cactus and scattered, blooming brittle bush. Not a sound around. What a serene, yet bold evening to explore the desert. For sale. $3900. Available at Newby Gallery & Sculpture Garden, 15 Tubac Rd., Tubac, AZ 85646-4217, 520-398-9662, Toll free: 888-398-9662, www.newbygallery.com/artist/darcie-peet/ www.darciepeet.com

Early dawn shadows are already getting longer as fall is right around the corner. The mountains right outside Rocky Mountain National Park edging McGregor Ranch still hover in shadow as the first rays of sun bedazzle this ranch meadow swept with daisies and a solitary lost, magenta thistle. For Sale. $3300. Available at the Mountain Oyster Club 56th Annual Western Art Show continuing through January 30, 2026. 6400 E. El Dorado Circle, Suite 100C, Tucson AZ. 520-623-3417, www.mountainoysterclub.com www.darciepeet.com

On a cold, snowy, December day, along with our Navajo guide, we drove as far as possible into Canyon Del Muerto, in the Canyon De Chelly National Monument. These are the ruins that eerily looked out over the valley reminding us of the storied history of these unusual, red-rock canyons. For Sale. $7000. Available from David Wilkinson and ArtzLine, America’s Online Gallery, 800-958-5360, www.artzline.com/darcie-peet/ www.darciepeet.com