Our Visit to Farmington... to the Farm

Meeting the horses... there were 5 total. They were so sweet and gentle (I can say that because we did not ride any :). They LOVED my husband who is not a horsey person at all. He was charmed by them. Abby, the horse was besotted with our little girl... I think she must have smelled extra sweet.

Colby the fat cat (20lbs) - he's a lover.

A beautiful sprig of ? mini cotton?

Over yonder in the neighbor's spread.

Bo the rescued dog... he was sweet but still a little scared.

Yesterday we had a great time visiting a little town nestled in the hills of the Palouse. (Eastern WA). My husband's cousins live out in the country and we had the pleasure of getting out of dodge and soak up the beautiful countryside. Most of the day was spent meeting all the animals - mostly dogs, cats, horses and more barn cats. After visiting in the house for a while, we drove to a park while the cousins visited an elderly aunt and on to Moscow, ID for dinner. The winding country roads at dusk were beautiful and soon very dark without all the city lights. A great adventure for all of us:)

Happy Father's Day!

Alpine Christmas

Outdoor beer garden... Edelweiss flowers painted to the right!

Town Christmas tree... sorry for the blur

Nordic skier of times past

We took a quick jaunt to a lovely little town called Leavenworth, WA. It was in the height of Christmas and oh so beautiful. It was patterned after a Bavarian Alps village in the 1960s and has a few ski areas close by.

I'll share more night scenes soon... not sure if I'll be posting here before the new year or not. Either way, have a wonderful holiday! (I'm off to plan my Christmas dinner shopping list- an old fashioned English Christmas this year... roast beef with Yorkshire pudding... trimmings and trifle for dessert! - with the help of my mom, of course - she's the real cook around here.)

Spring Break...part one

Lake Oswego... our fave park there, George Rodgers Park. This is the boat launch. In art school, we used to come here for drawing class and later watercolor class too. So beautiful and idyllic... some of the best days of my life. Now, we bring our kids here - also some of the best days of my (our) life!

Upon arrival in Portland, Oregon - we always go to 'our village', Multnomah village. Lunch time at Grand Central Bakery. It was Sunday and packed with late risers, still eating breakfast very slowly. Yum.

Water tower in the Pearl district. Waiting to be picked up from Utrecht - a fab art store (needed more small portfolios - the kind that tie) in an utter downpour. I shot several photos from all directions of where I was standing - it's a great way to imprint the brain with memory of a place.

Sipping wine at dinner with old friends under lovely lamps and art. It seems in every pub, bakery, coffee house or restaurant we visit, there is an aesthetic experience to behold. Love that about Portland :) Part 2 coming soon... sunsets promised. Happy Friday to one and all!

What's in My Head?

About a week ago I had a hissy fit about what path my life was taking. Lots of factors hinge on this subject... family, the house, my husband's career, the ages of our kids, the mess making dogs, the garden/yard, social life (or lack there of) and mostly: what will I do when our youngest is in school full time? (in a few years) This question produced many more questions and the tears flowed.

Since it was such a 'boiling point' moment, I decided to dump it all in my sketchbook. It felt SO GOOD to get it out. It ended up looking quite chaotic, (love that) I decided to put it on fabric. Will be doing more on this subject matter - it's serving as a kind of map for my life... past, present and future. This particular one is pretty much in the present moment.

Dinner and a Quilt

And now... dinner's ready! Check out a nice, new dish I made... Stuffed, baked eggplant! It was yummy but time intensive - has 3 layers inside each eggplant shell. The recipe is from an older cookbook, the Vegetarian Epicure.

Here's the 'Bedtime Rituals' paintings sewn into a quilt - which was a family effort. Tried to choose starry, night time style fabrics. (including Eric Carle's 'Very Lonely Firefly' fabric :) Now, to finish the hand painted border with the lyrics to 'Blue Moon' on it and have it machine quilted. Then, we'll all have to fight for it to decide who's bed it graces first!

Rambling at Cannon Beach

Love the sign... looks just like a woodcut.

I was dying to eat at this place... but we never made it. It didn't look very kid friendly either - but what a cute spot.. and the bill of fare - very tempting. That's the sign - Bistro - is the only name it had. Will try to find out if they have a web site!

We've just returned from a much needed, lovely trip to the beach and Portland, OR. It was great except for the fact that our car broke down as soon as we arrived in Portland (after about 6-7 hours of driving!) . We waited about an hour or more for a tow truck to come and take our sad car to the dealership and ended up renting a car so we could still get to our 'beach leg' of the trip. Who can tell what's going to happen in a day!?

I took about a million photographs that are all potential paintings :) Now, I'm thinking about school starting on Aug 31 (yipes! we're nowhere near ready). I've been purging in the house, de-cluttering and clearing space for a calm, serene dwelling in the fall and winter. Our little girl will be going off to her first year of pre-school (she's got a Sept birthday and will be one of the older ones). Naturally, this is traumatic for moi... she's my baby! But, I'm thinking I may sooth myself by partaking in a bit of nesting and paint the living room, dining room, bathroom and hallway. :) Been wanting to do this for about 5 years now!

Bedtime Rituals by.....

Big brother in his room, putting on jammies while little sister takes a bath. Don't overlook the flushing toilet in the left upper corner... he thought that was pretty funny :) (by our 7 yr old son)

Here's happyface almost done!

Bedtime happy face in her fave color, purple... plus a night sky we drew togther... by 'baby girl' (3 1/2 yrs)

Well, everyone at our house got so excited about making an art quilt of our bedtime rituals... the kids and even dad wanted to draw and paint their own picture for the project! Here they are - didn't they do a great job? Of course, the drawing by Dad isn't done yet because he's always at work! We'll get him to finish :)

A little new year's getaway...

Our most favorite little place on earth... (even covered in snow) Multnomah Village!

The next day- (Portland Art Museum)

We saw them in Spokane... loved it.

Museum of Contemporary Craft

On a lark, we decided to bug out of town to our old 'hometown' - Portland, OR. You know- visit all the old haunts, a few old friends, pubs, bookshops, yarn shops and a few great museums...

However, as soon as we took the exit to our old village... the snow started falling and quickly became quite a storm. Most of the shops closed up tight and it took around 45 min to arrive at our 'close by' hotel!! We were trying to escape just this. Funny how life has other plans for you :) But, the next day, most of the snow had melted and we did partake in all our old faves and a few new ones too. Oh, and rang in a new year... all 4 of us together.

Now that we are home (ugh to the 6 hour drive with 2 small kids) our son is very sick with the stomach flu. We had a grand time, though and are (well, most of us) feeling refreshed. Here's to 2010... hope it's a much better year than the 'Annus Horribilis' 2009 turned out to be for our family. Happy new year to all!!

Recent Summer Sightings...

Crayon rubbing of one of The Makers

Well, it's been awhile since I've posted... thought I'd give a summer update :) I've begun a new woodblock series called 'The Makers' and here are the very first two! I'm pretty excited about this series as there are so many possibilities to think about... and it could go on for - well - years :) On the crafty side, I've been working on the pink chocolates quilt... hoping to get that done by the end of summer. (all unplugged, naturally) And, to top it all off, a bit of sock knitting in the evenings when my mind is too blown to do much else.

Daddy's been rocking the kids to sleep most every night - especially our baby girl... toes seen here wearing her 'ballerina jammies'. We have some extended family staying with us for the summer... and are having a 'staycation' this week. (actually a nice way to get control of house projects!) That's me laying on the floor with Mr. Darcy perched on my midsection. He's a very affectionate pup. (he'll be 1 yr old on Dec 6) What have y'all been up to these summer months?

A Little Gift...

Here's a last minute Valentine's gift for my husband. It took much longer than planned... but he unwrapped it this evening. Next time, I'll give myself more time, don't like feeling rushed. **Will get a larger frame for this one... because my son's heel is touching the edge. (hate that!!)

I'll be putting my new, organic lavender sachets in the shop tonight... they smell divine!

3 Generations

Sketch of my maternal grandmother

Sketch of my maternal great-grandmother

My daughter at the beach ... 21 mo old. (arg! the far arm and leg are pretty funky - I'll be editing in a new drawing...this is when I miss using pencil)

I had a cancellation in my usual Wednesday routine and jumped at the chance to catch up on some painting and drawing while my daughter played at the sand table! Searching around the house for some people to draw, I ran across an old Thanksgiving photograph I recently acquired and started drawing. (I think it's from the late 1940's). I like to change up the hair and clothing sometimes - just for fun. There's more to share in the coming days... hopefully I'll have some of them painted.

Oregon Winter

Oregon Winter, acrylic on canvas. 30 x 40 in.

Here is a painting I did a few years ago of my husband and son who was about 1 1/2 years old. We were visiting Portland in January and went to one of our favorite parks in Lake Oswego - George Rodgers Park. It's right on the river and has beautiful views and an old brick smelter with a Gothic arch. I used to have drawing and watercolor class there in the springtime - I have such great memories of that place. Now I need to do some with my little girl who is now about the same age.