A place such as Coachella Valley, California—a thriving desert patterned by sand, palm trees, and cacti, and canopied by a, vast blue sky—compels artists to take their work outdoors, documenting and celebrating the landscape. And as the valley's natural beauty disappears, under the burgeoning development of an expanding population, the plein air painters of Coachella Valley Watercolor Society (CVWS) are inspired to plan even more excursions. "Our primary areas to paint are Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, and the La Quinta area," says Clonard Thomas, a CVWS past president and the chair of the plein air group. "So we take a lot of field trips, going to Joshua Tree National Monument and Desert Hot Springs, painting the history of the desert, both natural and man-made, and capturing it on paper." Giving an over view of the area, she adds, "The desert population has exploded in the past 25 years, we have more than 125 golf courses and many new housing develop-ments. Palm Springs used to be a sleepy Hollywood get-away. Now, grass and petunias are being planted where there were once cacti and sand."

Clonard describes Dan Kammeyer, the founder of the plein air group, as "a legend, who tried to pre-serve his beloved desert with paint, before it vanished." An avid plein air painter, he would head out to special desert locations with Clonard, her husband Bruce, and others tagging along. They accompanied Kammeyer so often, he began calling them his "field mice." The name stuck, and now the Field Mice plein air group meets weekly, continuing to paint the desert as a kind of tribute to the late Kammeyer.

The locations for outings change every two weeks, and the variety of possible trips is endless from the Living Desert to downtown Palm Springs and the Ingleside Inn, where Greta Garbo once stayed. The Indian Canyons, a natural oasis, is a popular place to paint, where there are impressive rock formations and some 150 plant species, including fan palms and wild grapes. The Big Morongo Canyon Preserve is yet another desert oasis and favored destination, where as many as 235 types of birds have been sighted. Besides the luxury of endless settings, the group enjoys painting from fall to spring without much worry about bad weather. "Wind can be a problem," says Clonard "because we're in a valley. But rain isn't; we're in the middle of a six-year drought."

The group meets at 9 a.m., paints through the morning, and then stops for lunch. "Lunch is our social hour,'' says Clonard. "We chat, line up the paintings offer suggestions, discuss, and see what everyone is doing. The second week, we have a more formal critique." The group ranges from 10 to 35 people. "The turnout really depends on location," she says. Some times we get pastel or acrylic painters in the group, but often, they end up painting in watercolor after a while." She adds with a laugh, "We bully them into it."

The atmosphere of the group is usually light hearted, following the tradition that Kammeyer began; his mice jokes just never get old. "We've got nicknames Clonard reveals. "We have King Rat, Eek and Meek, Rodant and Rodent, and me, Minnie. People earn their names." They also have an appointed Field Mice poet, Bill Ritchey, who writes verses that playfully record the group's individual quirks and love of plein air work. He shares his poems at various events through-out the year, such as the end-of-season celebration, an annual picnic in May.

The group also sponsors "Field Mouse of the Year" contest for plein air painters and holds a show each April at the Coachella Valley Museum and Cultural Center in Indio. Even the organized show isn't safe from the mice jokes; Clonard often hands out blocks of cheese as prizes. The museum holds seven art shows year, and the plein air exhibition it is one of the community's favorites. This year, some 40 paintings were included in the show. Next year, it opens on April 6 and runs through April 27.

To learn more about the CVWS Field Mice, which welcomes watercolorists of all levels, write: