National Parks - Places to Refresh, and Photos

Stunning natural beauty, raw rugged lands, clear moving waters, big skies... I have a goal to see every national park and monument...

"Nature's Painting" - Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

This small piece of Yellowstone is a stunning example of what I saw throughout the park. I was amazed by the dramatic colors created by sulphur and other minerals, misty steam, creeks and channels, and the grand size and variety of beautiful scenery. To know that I was atop the huge caldera of an ancient volcano was eerie but fascinating.

National Parks Photos
I just entered these 5 photos in Fodor's National Parks photo contest (wish me luck!)... some of my favorites, these are from recent road trips. Looking at them again, I'm getting the urge to hit the road and see all I can see, drink in that gorgeous outdoor beauty, and crisp cool air, satisfy that desire for becoming just part of the landscape... no phones, computers, lists... And I think, too, my photos are just waiting for me to paint them soon.

"Contrast and Mystery" - Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

I traveled this planked walkway through the misty steam, over delicate areas hiding thin crust and bubbling underground geothermal activity. This place spoke to me of the beauty and paradox of nature. Yellowstone offered amazing contrasts that I often remember.

"Land of Fantastic Shapes" - Badlands National Park, SD

I was captivated by the array of mounds, spectacular formations, and golden grasses in the area. I could see the effects of erosion on the dry rugged vistas. I understood why the aridity and treacherous canyons led the native Americans to name it "bad lands".

"Otherworldly Beauty" - Badlands National Park, SD

As I walked in the white hot afternoon over the undulating dry landscape, I felt transported to an otherworld of stark beauty... punctuated by the occasional sound of a rattlesnake.

"Dusk at Lake McDonald" - Glacier National Park, McDonald Lake, Montana

The breathtaking beauty of early evening evoked a feeling of being at peace. Rugged glacial mountains, deep green forests, and shimmering reflections in the water called up the desire for adventure and exploration.

Birch Bay Sketching and Painting

Fresh sea air, wispy clouds, people digging clams, crows, a peaceful day by the sea, just you and me...Birch Bay Trip
Another outing for the day, we headed north about 90 miles to Birch Bay almost to the Canadian border. It's a small quaint town where nothing is happening, and it's nice and quiet. And it has a wonderful park along the length of the beach and forested park area in the hills above the beach, a perfect place to sit and observe, take a walk, just be.

Above is one of my on-scene sketch paintings. For this one I did the sketch first, then laid down the paint over it. Sometimes I paint first and embellish with pen afterwards... this time the people kept moving and so did the crows, and I added a bit more color than the real thing. We do have a few brilliant days here, but often we have that NW gray overcast, and I may not want it to look photo realistic anyway, or sometimes I just like to make it up, imagine something a bit differently than what I'm really seeing.
Below is a photo I took of the same place I painted...
And below is the same Birch Bay beach but looking down the road, and even more colorful. This sketch painting I did in 2006 in my personal journal.
And finally, another sketch while riding along in the car....

North Cascades Mountain Trip, Sketching and Painting

A relaxing day of road tripping, sketching and painting in the mountains... Peshastin Pinnacles and a Painting
This is my final painting of the day, painted in the car in the dark while my husband drove back to Seattle at the end of our day. I'm very pleased with the vibrant colors and had wondered how it would come out given the lighting, but I challenged myself to paint it in the dark anyway. One of the last stops of the day's outing was at Peshastin Pinnacles State Park near Cashmere, WA, basically very dry rolling hills with lots of golden grass and orchards... almost a feeling of the Southwest. I took artistic license with the colors in the painting, as I had to have some reds in there, and my golds are much more gold than the rolling hills I observed that day! The above photo is of the 200 ft pinnacles, very craggy sandstone slabs and spires which are a rock climbers paradise. They are quite stunning shapes, almost looking like gigantic dinosaur spines rising from the ground, and I can imagine several paintings out of the photos I took. Originally located within private land in the midst of orchards about a decade ago, several local climbing and outdoor groups, including REI (great outdoor store), mounted an effort to save these and have them accessible, thus they are now public lands, a state park.

North Cascades Hwy 2
Above is my first sketch of the day, pen and watercolor as I was riding in the car on our way east on Hwy 2 which is a portion of the fabulous North Cascades Scenic Loop trip which we have driven many times. And below is a quick photo right through the windshield, you can see some of the fall color changes beginning. The vine maples and wild huckleberries turn brilliant reds while the cottonwoods and other trees scattered among the firs wear various golden colors. Spectacular mountain scenery along this route and as it get closer to Leavenworth, bordered by a river on one side.
Leavenworth
We stopped in the town of Leavenworth which is known for it's "Bavarian" style and cross-country skiing, but skipped the actual town as we have seen it many times. Instead we revisited the Icicle Creek park area, some serious rock climbing areas with huge boulder overhangs, and a salmon fish hatchery. Below is an on-site painting sketch done in a gazebo at the hatchery where we enjoyed lunch and more mountain views.
Nature never fails to inspire me, the shapes and lines, the shifting colors, a never ending art work in itself.

Red Rock Fossil Beds, a Sketch and Inspiration

I have always loved red land and rocks and spare desert landscapes and find myself still painting them...
Inspiration
Here is a glimmer of red rock inspiration. This on-site quick pen sketch and watercolor painting above was done on a road trip last year to Ashland, OR. We took a side trip to California where it turned out to be the hottest day, over 100 degrees. But we had a fun day anyway when we got to Lake Shasta, seeing the bluest blues and redest reds. We took a short boat trip across the lake, headed up a mountain, and walked through relatively cool Lake Shasta Caverns.
Red Rocks and Fossil Beds
The above two paintings are recent ones. These both are compositions of my imagination, a synthesis of remembered scenes from road trips, remembered pictures from countless books or documentaries, and my sense of those places. The first one is watercolors with a bit of pen (Sep2009), and the second is acrylic, entitled "Fossil Beds Revisited" (Jun2009) which I included in a July show this year. I will be "revisiting" and painting more of these. It is interesting not only to see how my interpretation has evolved over time, and also to try out different media for a subject.
The bottom painting in the above set of 3 is probably my first take on the fossil beds from a photo I had taken in the mid-90's. The first two from 1997 and 1998 are very large watercolors painted with a very loose interpretion of my photos in a more free expressionist washy style after taking a class from one of my favorite painters Jan Hart who shares a love of O'Keeffe and desert.

Inspiration
My inspiration comes from many road trips with some camping and backpacking to the Southwest a couple of decades ago... the Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Canyonlands, Arches, Nine Mile Canyon, to name only a few of the many places we explored. Another inspiration, which I was quite astounded to find on yet another road trip a decade ago, was almost in my own backyard (sort of), at least only one state over, in Oregon, the John Day Fossil Beds. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any of my old pictures to post yet (they were pre-digital camera, if you know what I mean). But, check out my friend Lisa's blog, La Vida Artistica, in my sidebar of blogs to inspire. She shares similar inspiration in her Aug 28 posting that includes fabulous photos of this wonderful place and also details of her upcoming studio tour showcasing her spirited art.

For me the desert and red rock areas have always been those exquisite areas of beauty that get down to the bare essentials, lots of sky and horizon, and vibrant land with undulating shapes, and so metaphorical in so many ways. That sense of place with the O'Keeffe kind of feeling from the sheer grandness of it.

Sunday Meditation
Where do you get your inspiration? Have you tried expressing the same subject in more than one media?

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.

Sketches, Dahlia Farm Gardens, and a Color Test for Artists

Lazy colorful days of summer... enjoying the sunshine while it is here... Capturing a Moment
I recently was in an Open Studio and Art Sale at my friend's house, and while we sat outside in her gardens she hooked a rug, as I was capturing a quick sketch. She asked me if her chin was that long, of course not, this is a quick sketch, no details, sketcher does not guarantee accuracy of proportions, features, etc.! I love the colors she had on and in her rug.Trip to a Dahlia Farm
My spouse and I made a day trip of going down to Lacey, WA to do our annual trek to Connells dahlia farm. There is fantastic color and an amazing array of over 350 different types of dahlia's in this 5 acres of gardens. There are blooms from a couple of inches to 8-10" dinnerplate sizes, 2 foot bushes to 6 foot bushes, and some shaped with wild cacti-like split petals (as in the photo), and some shaped like water lily's or pompoms. They are open for visitors through Sep 7 and I highly recommend it for flower lovers. Here are a couple of sketches....One of the dahlia plants near the table where we had a picnic lunch......Another quick painting sketch of scenery along the highway. A bit challenging to do this in the car as my husband drives, but I've learned how to balance everything, the watercolor palette and sketchbook are both fairly small.A Color Test for Artists
Here's a fun thing to try, I ran across this through a Photoshop group... this website has a Color Test for Artists to test your color acuity. There are about 90 different little squares of color hues for you to arrange and see how you do.... I was really surprised as I got a "0" which means 100% accurate acuity on hue! They mention there, but I don't know who determined this, that 1 out of 255 women and 1 out of 12 men have some form of color vision deficiency. The test was challenging, and I have to wonder if there might be an effect that tricks your eye to having so many similar color squares near each other on a screen.

Altered Book Painting, Blog Anniversary, Stardust, and Connections

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead

The Sun rises

The Sun sets

The Earth moves round and round that Center of Light

While I keep spinning all the while

Altered Book Painting
This small acrylic and oil pastel painting is an entry I did this past week in an altered book for a friend. An altered book is an art form where you take any book and "recycle" it into art by painting, drawing, tearing, pasting, whatever you want, over the existing pages. Often these books are passed around to a group of artists/friends with each one of them starting their own book. I encourage you to try it, as it is fun, as well as inspiring to see the artwork you receive. Below is another one I did for another artist's book, just building off photographs that were already in the book.
Blog Anniversary and Connections
Today I'm celebrating 1 year of blogging, though I opened a blog in August 2009, I really I didn't really get going til January of this year. I must say that I am awed by how many people have stopped in to read or see what I have posted... and doubly awestruck by how many people come from different countries. So, thank you readers, and fellow travelers on the web and in life's journey. It is a reminder for me, in that, there really are people out there listening to what each of us says, no matter how small a voice. And to never never forget, the power of words and our messages, whether coming directly out of our mouths or being posted on the internet.

Just think of all our interconnections, reaching globally across miles of oceans or plains, and skies. I have enjoyed the conversations and exchanges and "meeting" some of you via your blogs too. I like to imagine all the kindred spirits will rise up with their voices and be heard singing a new paradign that creates peace and harmony, respect and caring for all creatures and cultures around the world... Whether it be by our words or art or both, come, let's join in sending out positive vibrations....

We are Stardust
And, celebrating another anniversary..... it's astounding that 40 years have passed since August 1969, the summer of Woodstock and many US cultural changes..... Here's a You-Tube with Joni Mitchell live at Big Sur, California, September 14, 1969... singing one of my favorite songs, not the best recording but still great. Here are the words too... Copyright the artist(s).

I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road
And I asked him, where are you going
And this he told me...
I'm going on down to Yasgur's farm
I'm going to join in a rock 'n' roll band
I'm going to camp out on the land
And then try and get my soul free

Chorus*
We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

Then can I walk beside you
I have come here to lose the smog
And I feel to be a cog in something turning
Well maybe it is just the time of year
Or maybe it's the time of man
I don't know who l am
But you know life is for learning

*We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

By the time we got to Woodstock
We were half a million strong
And everywhere there was song and celebration
And I dreamed I saw the bombers
Riding shotgun in the sky
And they were turning into butterflies
Above our nation

*We are stardust -
Billion-year-old carbon -
We are golden
Caught up in the devil's bargain
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

Spirals, a Photoshop Tip, and M81 Galaxy

The serpent bones spoke to me of the ancient cycles of living, dying and being reborn...the serpent bones, with skin long since shed, whispered that the spiraling inward towards our center or spiraling outward towards the cosmic, it is the same.Spirals and a Photoshop Tip
Today I'm playing with photographs and Photoshop (PS). I was choosing a picture to send in for the latest photoartjournals Yahoo group exchange on Spirals. The top picture is taken at a Reptile Garden in South Dakota on a road trip a couple of years ago. I was captivated with not only the skeleton but the dramatic spiral shape. I used PS to remove the display frame and signs around the skeleton. The second photo I used PS to produce a negative image. You can do this by selecting Image>adjustments>invert... very easy.

Spirals are such a wonderful natural design, and as a design has been found in all cultures since ancient times, often associated with the sun or the snake. Here is another quote I like about them, don't know who wrote it: "Our earth describes a spiral course. We move in circles, but we never come back to the same point. The circle is not closed. We only pass the same neighbourhood many times. It is characteristic of a spiral that it seems to be a circle but is not closed."

A Lunatia lewisii, aka, Moon Snail, a vacated shell found at Mutiny Bay, Whidbey Island, WA (lovely, these can grow up to 7 inches!)...
The interior of the Westport, WA lighthouse...A Chongololo or giant African millipede (grows up to 11 inches) at the Victoria BC, Canada Bug Zoo (creepy, but a fascinating place)...The Spiral Galaxy M81
The M81 Galaxy is a spiral-shaped system of stars, dust, and gas clouds, the galaxy's arms wind all the way down into the nucleus. The Hubble Space Telescope gathered the data needed for the photos in this You-Tube video between 2004-2006, and produced the sharpest image ever taken of deep space and this "grand design spiral" galaxy which is located 11.6 million light-years away. The Hubble Space Telescope's view is so sharp that it can resolve individual stars, along with open star clusters, globular star clusters, and even glowing regions of fluorescent gas. This color composite was assembled from images taken in blue, visible, and infrared light. The music is Creation du Monde by Vangelis. Copyright by the artists... Enjoy and contemplate your spiral journey.

Process Painting, Hot Weather & Climate Change

"Though that blazing sun does make life possible, I found it difficult to appreciate the searing hot rays..."
Above are examples of "process" paintings I did about two years ago using tempera paints. A process painting is about painting intuitively without plan or design, painting emotions, like expressionism, rich with metaphor. The top one is named "Light Above the Sea." The second box shows the start of a process painting on the left and the quite different final version on the right... It's called "The Black Hole and the Fire and the Rose". As you can see the one on the right is what I use in my banner. It's about transformation from one state to another.

Hot Seattle
A couple of weeks ago we hit some record highs here in the usually temperate, cool gray Northwest... we had 105 degrees heat for 2 days and the rest in the 90's. Not that it's absolute proof, but, I couldn't help but think of climate change, and some of the other unusual weather patterns that are occurring here and there around the globe.

Climate Change
I am definitely one of those that think climate change is real, and not just another "media or liberal conjured" issue as some may still think. Drastic weather changes here and there, huge chunks of polar ice sheering off, permafrost melting (with the threat of large stores of methane being released), glaciers retreating or disappearing, animal species disappearing or moving to areas never seen, etc.,etc... Gloomy stuff. It reminds me of way back when, when the threat of nuclear bombs was acknowledged, everyone was terrified, we practiced drills in school (ha), then eventually we all became used to it, the idea that we could be annilated in a moment, and it became a part of the fabric of our lives, just more threads in the complex modern web. Now I wonder, is the environmental issue, the climate change and all that it could bring, something that we acknowledge and then move on... getting used to the idea that quite suddenly we could hit a tipping point, a point of no return...

All that debating.... Does it really matter whether it's manmade or not? Shouldn't the important thing be what will be live-able for us as a species? What if we could change things? What if everyone did even one small thing?

In that spirit of one small thing, here is a You-Tube video of Greg Cravens "How it All Ends" (Oct 2007) to watch and consider... not all dry, he has a sense of humor, and a little goofy costume too. Greg Cravens started with a You-Tube video called "The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See" which has had over 7,200,000 views, but he says this sequel makes the better argument. He says something I have said for a long time... it's not about saving the planet, the planet will get along just fine without us, it's really about saving ourselves...

Sunday Meditation - Purple Lavender Farms, Sketches, and Drawing Class

I wandered through the fields of purple lavender, an ecstasy of colors, sweet scent, and natural beauty everywhere... heaven.
Shades of Purple - Lavender Farms
A couple of days ago we took a ferry and headed over to Sequim, which I thought was the NW capitol of lavender, but turns out to be the North American lavender producing capitol. There are at least a dozen farms to visit, and over the years we have found most of them as we do this trip every year. Sequim has a festival, which we now skip, because it is less crowded and thus more quiet and relaxing without the festival. The farms are open a couple of months for visitors, and our very favorites are: Purple Haze (love the name), Cedarbrooke, and Jardin du Soleil. We also never miss The Cutting Garden flower farm, which has exquisite gardens and grounds surrounding a large beautiful home-like center which are also open to visitors.
Drawing and Mini-Booklet Class
I'm excited about offering some new classes! Below are a couple of examples of the type of pen line drawing I will be teaching at an upcoming class at Everett Artist's Supply. If you are local and interested, here is more info.

Zen Drawing 2 hours $25 Aug 11 10am-12
Come learn a fun simple method of pen line drawing that requires no artistic background or ability. This type of line drawing can become addictive, but in a good way. It’s very relaxing, and no mistakes! This method of drawing can be incorporated into your art projects or be framed as is. You will produce at least 2 small beautiful art pieces in this class to take with you and learn a portable drawing technique you can use anywhere as an instant path to relaxation.

Mini Booklet and Portfolio 2.5 hours $25 Aug 11 1pm-3:30
Now that you’ve seen how fun it is to make the “zen drawings”, join me in creating a small easy booklet with blank pages and a simple stitched binding. The portfolio is made to hold the mini booklet, pen and pencil, everything in one place. It’s perfect to take along with you, so when you want to take a few moments and relax, you can take it out and draw.
Aromatherapy for the Soul
I wish the computer had a scent button that you could press and have a sample of the wonderful aroma of lavender flowers. They are supposed to be therapeutic and the scent is said to slow your nervous system, destress and mellow you out. I certainly felt good after wandering around all day with all that purple scent, then brought some home and am still smiling... And I have some bundles to play with and make things with, culinary and sachet. I'm thinking, scent does play large in our lives, and just the hint of something in the air can bring back all kinds of memories... Wishing you a fragrant day, whether it's enjoying lavender, or roses, or fresh roasted coffee, baked pies or chickens, or whatever you relish. Lavish in the wonderful ability to catch those tiny microns of scent that take us to a quiet or pleasant place or memory.