{Art, Antiques & Bliss}
For years and years, I have wanted to share one of my favorite places to visit. It is truly an amazing Arizona destination point. A place so magical and unique, that I go there just to refuel my soul. Of course, I can't ever leave without a few treasures.
It is the enchanting art and antique filled wonderland belonging to Sue and Jerry Parra. They are a handsome and kind couple, who allow you to step into another place in time when you visit them.
Sue & Jerry's Trading Post. Oracle, Az.
30 minutes north of Tucson Arizona.
Phone: (520) 896-9200
Jerry Parra is an unbelievable artist. All of the metal sculptures you are about to gasp at, are made by him… Yes, all by him. His work astounds me every time I see it, no matter how many times I see it.
I love visiting with Sue and Jerry. Sue is a beloved friend, with such a kind and nurturing soul. She has quite the eye for the antique treasures she fills her shop with.
Right now she has a slew of German chocolate molds that made me swoon! But before I veer, come on in for a visit. Sue and Jerry are allowing me to be your tour guide for today 😉
This is a huge space, with many things to look at. I am sharing a mere snippet of what you would see in person…
Mister Lovee feels that this place has a true museum quality, and I wholeheartedly agree. The art treasures Jerry creates are enough to blow your mind…
This sculpture below is taller than the building it stands next to, and truly emits movement and life…
It's funny, the nooks the earth holds, with treasures untold. There should be a television show discovering such places, if there isn't already…
Everything Jerry makes is for sale, I personally, would go bonkers if this was in my garden…
Imagine? Filled with lights?? Oh me, oh my!
Or, a guardian outside my love-shack palace? I think this should be at a hotel, although in the front garden of a home, it would guard to perfection. Don't you think?
As you walk farther onto Sue and Jerry's property, you feel compelled to want to run home, grab all your belongings, and move in…
This little house rocks my dream-waves. My brain wants to explode with the idea of living in this tiny house…
It fulfills every one of my adult-childhood desires… (click on any images for ore detail)
Just look at it. Bliss Sigh…
Can you see why I escape to visit this place and then lose myself in dreamscapes?
Oh precious wheel, with your glorious peeling paint, how you make the wheels in my mind turn round and round…
If you feel like someone is watching you, well, you are probably right ;) Nothing like a skelly lounging around…
I wish you could just stand right here and stare with me…
I was just there this past weekend, however, last month when I was there I got to dance around giant sunflowers…
They were gracing the front yard of one of the many buildings you will find here…
Beyond lovely…
Real flowers and metal flowers abound…
So, if you ever are in Southern Arizona, you might want to make sure to stop in.
Below is the facade of the antique shop, where you will find Sue and her beautiful smiling face…
Dare I tell you my secret? I love visiting a wheeled treasure that I have had my eye on for a while…
I just love it! Happy Trails indeed!!
So you see, there are many reasons to love visiting Sue and Jerry. You will find that their personalities match their magical place perfectly…
A truly special place, Sue and Jerry's Ranch Store Center…
Location: Oracle, Arizona
Phone: 520-896-9200
Website: JerryParra.Com
~ I told Sue I was going to share her and Jerry's place here with you. I told her how extra wonderful you all are, and how you would be just as enchanted as I about such a place…
I hope you enjoyed your wee tour 😉
🖤,V
ps: I had the most insane weekend. I hope yours was good? I made 3 trips back and forth into town with my SUV full to the brim. It is so strange to say SUV. I have had two convertibles in my past, and I used to fill them up too, with the top down ;) (I miss my convertibles) I am making great progress on my office and other fun things to come! I can't wait to share.
Much Love! ~ V
oh…I feel sooooo honored for this heads up!! I could just crawl right on that bench, sit with the skeleton guy and let my eyes roam and roam!!
I imagine that flower garden of red metal poppies and shovel sunflowers lit and glowing at dusk…
Happy Trails indeed!!
x…x
s
What a fun place! I think that is the coolest kind of art, the kind the makes you appreciate those everyday things in a new way…Thanks for sharing this inspiration today! Enjoy the day!
Erin
I am definitely adding it to my list of places to visit when it is just a tad cooler. I’m tellin’ ya, Ms. V, Southern Arizona should pay you for your advertising! You NEED that train in your yard…and the wagon. Even I can see that! LoVe the photo of the old wagon wheel…it’s so…hmmm.. artistic! **blows kisses** Deb
Looks like heaven! I especially love the reclining skeleton man!
This place you have shone is so full of wonder – I can see why you are inspired.
Thank you for the tour! Definatly the kind of place that could be wandered for hours with new treasures around every corner. I have to say that I’m partial to the skeleton, I would love to have him on my porch.
Hello Vanessa,
Truly awesome!
~ Gabriela ~
Hola Chicquita!!
Oh thank you for a lovely daydream vacation!! It’s just what the Doc ordered. I seem to be under the weather with an evil evil bladder infection. If that isn’t enough the cure Cipro is worse then the disease!! 🙁 So you can see how slipping into a bit of a dream world with a cup of tea is perfect therapy!!
Pattie 😉
Mazatlan mx.
OMG it must be lack of positive Chi and way to much idiot sludge to my little grey cells!!!!!! I can’t belive I put a C (above) in Chiquita hmmmmmm maybe I was trying to “French a Fi” a Spanish endearment!!! EEEEUUUUUH!!!!!
Pattie 😉
Mazatlan Mx.
Hi VV
I want to go to Sue & Jerry’s Ranch Store NOW. When’s the next wagon ride outta Texas? WHAT A TALENTED COUPLE! How exciting to have them as your buddies and in your neck of the woods. Such talent!! All of Jerry’s sculptures are amazing AND that white horse is a kick.
Thank you for this! It brightens my day to know there are these wonderful people having this cool shop.
Let’s you and me start a TV show about such matters and feature them IMMEDIATELY!!!!!
xox
Constance
I’m in love with the metal skeleton! Awesomely spooky!
It looks like such a great place!
Hey, will there be another fabulous Halloween Bash this year? I certainly hope so, I had too much fun last time!
How amazing! I’ll put it on a list of places to visit when we travel! I would love to get my photo taken with the skeleton on that big bench! lol Did you get your pic taken?
Wow, what a great place. It reminds me of my former art professor’s Cabin. Which I was lucky enough to go and visit a couple of times. He has rooms filled with the most amazing things. Though I have to say my favorite was this room filled solely with mannequins. I mean they were everywhere. And I begged and begged him to give them to me too. He turned me down. But he gave me a set of keys after that and said that I could come and visit them whenever I want. Lucky. [Laughs] I seem to have typed forever. My apologies (=^_^=)
Oh my what a whimsical place! I swear, I think my mum recently visited that place and showed me some pictures last weekend when she visited. Hmmm, I’ll have to double check…but she said this guy made EVERYTHING and it was all around in the woods and stuff too. I love the Skelly, he’d have to be mine, tee hee. Now, what on earth were you filling the SUV to the brim with Ms. V?
Jamie 🙂
The treasures of Arizona are growing in abundance, I need to show this place to my Engineer father who needs a change in career because he refuses to rest his bones and retire. Thankyou mis V for lighting my days lately, it makes me wonder that the world must be overflowing with the most amazing people that we dont even know of. Thank god for blogging to take us there.
keep up the magic, you keep saying the magic your doing is just for play but there is so much real magic in the things that you do, your creating light and inspiration and the tickle of giggly fantasy that sends me to bed with a huge smile on my face setting the stage for the greatest dreams to be had. Thankyou x
Oh & I got my prints and potion labels today and they are just marvelous…THANK YOU AGAIN!!
Jamie 🙂
p.s. LOVE LOVE LOVE that new shoppe banner of yours!
The 5th photo down is great and really conveys the *flight* of the metal piece. I love sculpture and his combination of Native American traditions – the Eagle dancer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYN20w1Y_Dw
oh my goodness guess what I learned today? COWBOYS CAN SWOON! Oh yes they can! Like, when you’re bellying up to the PC with a good bowl of soup and you click on Fanciful Twist and there is this magic place with incredible metal peeples larger than life living on this ranch so you excitedly call a Cowboy over cuz you just happen to have one hanging around and you point with your spoon and say see lookit this place veevala is taking us to today virtually and he says WOW and kinda staggers a little when he sees wagonnnnssssssssss oh the wagons. he loves metal sculptures too he made this windmill type thing its pretty cool i would have him tell you how much he loves your post but
he’s
out
cold
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX Rhonda Rooooo
What a wonderful antique paradise you have to visit…and I can see why you CAN’T leave empty handed. The Happy Trails wagon is adorable! (No wonder you had hail the other week at above 4,000 feet!). Jerry’s metal sculptures are amazing! Thank you for the tour!
XXOO
Teresa
Oooh, I will have to be heding up to Oracle soon!
Thanks for the tour. A tad too far for me to visit but your tour made me feel I was there.
Hugs
Di
xo
Wow – what a fabulous treasure to be found hidden in the nooks and crannies of your land 🙂 I wish I had known about this place when I visited Arizona a few years back … who knows, maybe I’ll get to visit again one day, but I would like to wander all the way back to England in the Happy Trails wagon 😉
Just discoverd your blog and I am in eye candy heaven. thank you for this view of another couple living the artist and crafting life. Even though my husband and I have not found many kindred souls here in SLC,Utah. It is wonderful to have this blog showcase a couples place that shows us we are not alone in our “lifestyle” of creating…Especially when we are in an area that seems to only have single artists….Thank you for cyber Kindmanship….Kim Cherrine-Bell http://www.greenhoneyhive.blogspot.com
Holy smokes, what an amazing place! I could spend hours there!!!
*adding to list of places to visit*
Thanks for sharing!
Oh my! What a treat of a place, indeed!! Arizona seems so mysterious and magical!!
Here I am clapping in joy! What treasures!
Definitely a place I could get lost in for hours….AND have a severe case of the “I wants” in the process!
xoxoxoxo
Thank you for the lovely photo-filled tour. It’s very interesting to see how geography influences aesthetics. Love, love, love the “Happy Trails” wagon….
Oh. My. GOD!!!
Thank you so so so much for this tour. The kachinas… the wagons, the flowers…. the everything.
I am taking a photo for each week until October 17th and am putting it on my desk top to look at, dream over, remember …. I hope you don’t mind.
I will definitely be planning a trip there as I am going to PHOENIX next year.
Hoohoo.
Thanks again. How so delightful.
Candace in Athens x
Looks like an amazing place to spend some. Love your blog and art- truly wonderful and creative!
this reminds me of something from my childhood, where this man turned his farm into something similar (the sculptures, etc). i was in awe, like i am now:)
Im eager to go and see if it is still there now. It isnt very far from where i live.
Im crazy for the white horse and skeleton. the skeleton needs a name!
What a fun place!
Esculturas muy originales y creativas.
Lindo paseo.
Cariños
Zack would ADORE this!
Oh my! What a treasure for sure…I will have to visit next time I am down your way! I need to eek out some time for that as a matter of fact…
Oh my, the lounging skeleton is too “die” for! You know, Tucson isn’t that far from Southern California. I just might find my way to Sue and Jerry’s place. Thanks so much for sharing these amazing photos!
Kim
Gerushia’s New World
(formerly Garden Painter Art)
Wow is about what I can say….
You stepped into a place that I’d feel I died and gone to heaven…
I love rusted thing and caravan’s….
Thanks for sharing that ~ his work is amazing…
Now what do you fill your SUV with? : )
Pattee
okay fine….guess you’ve finally gone and done it…..you’ve talked me into a road trip to AZ. (When it cools down for good that is). I’ll be stopping by Jerome….and now Oracle! If only your place were available for touring, I’d have my 3 destinations. Well, you see, I like 3’s! Have another quaint suggestion?
xoxo
Tracie
oh my! Thanks for sharing. I’m sure we will wonder down that direction in the next month or so. Since, I’m just about done unpacking and preparing everything for a garage sale…I’ll have some free time! Can’t believe how cool everything looks…and always…you pictures do everything justice!
WOW! Amazing sculptures! Serious yard art! Love the Happy Trails wagon! 😉 Great shot!I’ve never been to Arizona. Would love to visit someday. 🙂 Jenn
It is a very interesting place. And you’re right, a place where one’s imagination can wander off 🙂
If they give such reactions from pictures, what more in person where you can see these giant sculptures? If only I can swim through oceans and back again LOL
Wow, what a place! Thanks for sharing!
It seems like ages since I’ve visited (been chained to my work table preparing for a show) and now I arrive to find not one, but TWO enchanting new posts!
The Ranch Store does indeed look amazing, and a must see when I make my next cross country trek…Love the skelly guy, hehe!
And your previous post, well – just amazing!! Off to leave a comment there too….
~ Carolee
This place is magical. I’m sure seeing it in person it’s even more wonderful. The wagon is a must get for you, Vanessa. Heck, it’s calling me to. Only if I had a backyard to put it in.
wow – just wow!
he puts some of us “found objects mixed media” folks to shame! LOL
awesome!
Wonderful space to dream in!!! Fabulous place to photograph! So inspiring! Thank you ever so much for sharing. And a special thanks to Jerry and Sue!!!! They have created magic!!
Hugging you all
SueAnn
Thanks for the visit to your friends’ranch. I went on to Jerry’s site … I looove his metal sculptures.
Thanks, Vanessa.
Vanessa Sweet Vanessa..Jerry and I looked at this together and almost cried reading your enchanted descriptions and looking at your breath-taking photos of our place!! We were blown away by your sweet words and want you to know how much we appreciate you for the posting. I want those who come by to please let us know you are Vanessa’s friends and followers! Thanks for all the kind thoughts and words and blessings to you all and especially Sweet Vanessa!!! Love Sue & Jerry from the Ranch Store Center!!
What a great place! Thanks for the tour! x
Where did you get that chess set from? It’s awesome and so pretty I’d just love to get one like it… It would be just the thing to encourage me to play – and the delightful expressions would make it such a gentle game. Fun! Emma x
Thanks for posting this Vanessa, I’m so glad I found it! To Jerry and Sue, I’m not too old to be adopted you know!
So nice to have a property like this. So much fun to play and stay outside to bond with your family.
Deirdre G
HI
Sue & Jerry’s Ranch Store ~ Oracle, Arizona
nice article
That definitely is on our short list of places to shop. We are closing on a house in Wickenburg after moving from Washington State. We tried to visit twice – first time too early, second time closed that day – then we got the call our house offer was accepted. Of course, we need to shop there to furnish our “new” home.
Oh, that’s just beautiful. The entire place looks like it was taken out of some kind of western wonderland. All that nature among those interesting things is quite an interesting combination. And at the same time, it does provide a very natural ranch theme.
Very Cool.