Art Date on a Rainy Afternoon, A Sketch, Bicycling and a Blog Tip

the rain came rolling in last night, good sleeping weather, we could hear it beating down heavily, and smell that rich wet earth smell...
An Arty Sunday Afternoon
I love rain and it did come down last night and today. But several of us dodged the drops and met to have one of our regular Art Dates. Such a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon, with a circle of a half dozen like-minded artists, each with our own projects to work on... after a busy summer it was fun to catch up on news and share new art and techniques. If you don't have a group like this, I really recommend it, even if it's only a group of two, as it's very inspiring, we learn from each other, and it's nourishing for the spirit.
A Sketch from Artfest
Reaching into my archives, I retrieved this quick sketch I did last year on the ferry from Kingston. I always grab my sketchbook, pens and sometimes colored pencils or watercolors on the ferry rides, I'm fascinated with all the shoreline scenery, and like the look of all the little houses here and there on the hills... just thinking wouldn't it be terrific to live right on the water with a view like that... Anyway, this sketch came about right after I had just finished another long weekend at Artfest, that huge and wonderful art retreat over in Port Townsend.

This came to mind, since in our group today, only 2 of us are going to AF next April, and registration is due this week. The rest of us have decided not to, breaking a long pattern of going year after year, and instead will opt for other things. I'm thinking of specific painting workshops, travel or some other options instead... It's always good to try something new.

Bicycling
If you are a bicycling fan (or even if you're not), go check out this new blog Bicycling Over the Hill.... My spouse who I consider an expert on it decided to start a blog, and he takes great photo's too. I think I mentioned before, he does the 200+ Seattle to Portland bike ride every year in 1 day.... used to climb and did all the peaks around the NW too. I'm in awe of people who can do such physically challenging things, as I don't. Anyway, this is my welcome to him, and I know he'd really appreciate a welcoming comment from you to confirm there really are people out there that read these blogs!

A Blog Tip
Check out the upper right hand corner of my blog and you will see a new gadget. I replaced my previous language translator gadget with this new one from Google which is far and away the best I've seen. People can choose the language and it translates the blog page right there, no navigating away, and very easy for them. You may want to add it, after all, there are artists all over the world. Just click on the gadget, find it and get the code.