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Cellpic Sunday—Brushstrokes in Barrio Viejo

Plein Air artist Barbara Mulleneaux

January 2026.
Tucson, Arizona.

In mid‑January, I went looking for interesting places in Tucson to feature in an upcoming Travel Tuesday post. One search led me to Barrio Viejo—literally the “old neighborhood” just south of the city center. It’s described as having one of the largest surviving collections of 19th‑century adobe homes in the United States. The area is known for its vivid colors, hand‑crafted doors, deep cultural roots, and a streetscape that evokes early Tucson.

As we walked through the neighborhood, I came upon a plein air artist just beginning a painting of one of Barrio Viejo’s historic adobe buildings. I asked permission to photograph her at work, and Barbara Mulleneaux graciously agreed as long as I gave her credit. She handed me a business card listing her Fine Art, Plein Air, Classes, Workshops, and Commissions, along with a link to her website here. Not being familiar with the term plein air, I looked it up. The definition? The phrase comes from the French en plein air, meaning “in the open air.” In art, it refers to painting outdoors, directly from the scene, with shifting light, color, and atmosphere shaping the work in real time—a tradition rooted in Impressionism and still embraced by artists who want to capture a place as it feels in the moment.

This brief encounter was just the beginning. Barrio Viejo’s mix of restored adobes, hand‑crafted doors, and bold color palettes kept me photographing throughout our walk—images I’ll share in the next Travel Tuesday post.

About the photo: This image—and the full collection coming next—was captured using the Expert RAW app on my Samsung S25 Ultra. It was my first time using Expert RAW for an entire shoot after adding the app and placing it next to the standard Photo app for easy access. I exported the DNG file directly into Adobe Lightroom Classic and applied an Adaptive Profile to balance the bright sunlit building with the artist working in the shade. The foreground remained darker than I preferred, so I sent the image to Luminar Neo via the single‑image HDR tool, and then layered it with the original to further tame the high‑contrast scene without creating that grungy HDR look. Finally, I cropped the photo square. Click on the picture to view it in 2K HD on a dark background or check out the image metadata on my Flickr site.

I invite fellow bloggers to join in by creating their own Cellpic Sunday posts. There’s no set theme. The first rule is that your photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or other mobile device. The second rule is simple: link your challenge response to this post or drop a comment here with your link so others can find it. And remember, despite the name, there’s no penalty for sharing on a day other than Sunday.

John Steiner

43 comments

  4. Great photo, John. I love the deep, rich folds of the artist’s blouse and the crisp, warm colors of Barrio Viejo’s picturesque vibe.

    Thank you for your insight on processing the image. Great share.

    Reply

  7. What a lucky encounter — coming upon Barbara mid-brushstroke is exactly the kind of unplanned moment that makes a walk worth taking. Those 19th-century adobes and hand-crafted doors of Barrio Viejo sound like a photographer’s dream. We’ve found that letting the kids wander an old neighborhood with no agenda often turns up more than any itinerary would, and watching a plein air artist work the shifting light would have stopped us in our tracks too.

    Reply

  15. Barrio Viejo looks like a good reason to finally stop in Tucson and not just drive past it. I’ll keep it in mind for our next road trip. Nice photo capturing the artist in action. Those colorful doors are nice.

    Reply

  24. […] As we concluded our walk, we came upon the Carmen Theater. The historic building directly behind the van with the open hatch proudly carries the year it was built—1915—beneath its name. At first, I was disappointed to see a car parked in front of the building, blocking a clean shot. I considered waiting, hoping the person with the open hatch was making a quick delivery. As it turned out, behind that vehicle, artist Barbara Mulleneaux was busy creating the painting I featured in Sunday’s Cellpic Sunday post. […]

    Reply

  25. Hi John, Her shirt almost looks “painterly” as Chatty would call something was was altered to look like a painting. I admire people who can paint plein air. In my mind they are the real artists. I’m just happy to be able to take photographs. Have a great week, John.

    Reply

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