British Columbia, Canada : le premiere acte

Above: one of my favorite places on earth. A little waterfall and creek in British Columbia, Canada. Right now, just by looking at this picture, I can hear the water and smell the fresh earth. I've gone to this same spot only a small handful of times in my life and each time it means so much more to me. There are fewer and fewer of us each time I go and who knows, maybe next time I'll take a little jaunt to this spot by myself. It's a bittersweet place for me and one that I'll always cherish.

Below: Mom looking adorable behind the wheel in her mustang. Posterity won over photoshop and so my mug remains too ; )




Last April, my Mom and I drove across the country. We of course took Eleanor, her beautiful mustang convertible. The top didn't come down too often on that trip, but we still managed to turn a few heads ; ) We ate egg salad sandwiches for breakfast in keeping with the homemade sandwich tradition on family road trips, though we did manage to sneak in a little junk food as well without my sweet Grams along for the ride ; ) This was not our first roadtrip to our particular destination: Beautiful British Columbia, but it was our first roadtrip all the way from here to there, just the two of us. We listened to a lot of music and books, and Mom fell in love with Nick Drake. I think I did all over again too. We stopped when our coffee ran out or got cold, when one of us had to pee or when we needed gas, whichever came first. When we made our final rest stop for the night in Montana, we drank wine out of plastic cups and played cards with the deck we bought at the front desk.

The only thing about this trip is that it did not feel like a vacation. We were on our way out there to see my uncle, who had just had a heart attack. He was doing extremely well, but it seemed to come out of nowhere and took our breath away. As we drove, we spoke about it a little, but I know we both had a lot of our own silent moments just wondering what all of it meant. Mom is extremely close to her brother and managed to keep her happy face on the whole way as usual, but I could still feel her anxiety.

I didn't really digest this trip very well when I got home. I didn't really even go back through my photos from this trip until just this week. I sort of set this trip down and took a deep breath when I got home. We had made our way back from a journey where neither of us had an idea of what to expect. Now I can sit back and reflect a little more on all of this, and how grateful I am to have made this trip with my Mom. Through my photos, I see all of the beauty that was there the whole way, with North Dakota being of course the only exception ; ) But really there was inspiration the whole way through. So, I'll be sharing a few more moments from this surreal trip, even if it has already been a year.

these colors:::

it's really hard to see the marvelous colors on this bridge, but they are completely scrumptious. i do throw adjectives around like they're nothing sometimes, but this time, i mean nothin' but business. if you know me and color, you know i'm serious. i could sit under this bridge and stare up at it for nearly a whole afternoon. maybe a warm morning too. just a blanket and a few snacks and i'd be perfect. a sketch pad and my camera too, to capture everything that it moves in me. these colors remind me of a cross between this piece and works by larry rivers, one of my favoritists. oh man oh man oh man.

a foggy night downtown

loved the foggy days last week, though i missed the sun immensely. i'm grateful that sunday was golden. it was an interesting weekend, full of interesting things. a picture of downtown on a foggy eve seems to sum it all up best. i did take lots of photos, some of which are much "sunnier", for an art project coming round the bend. i will be posting some of those soon...

crisp white wine : crisp white canvas

Right now, this canvas has mountains on it.
And a tent.
And that is the big idea for this piece right now,
only there are lots of layers that will happen in between what you see,
to what I see,
to what it will eventually become.
But I like this part a lot too.
Looking at the white canvas and mapping out it's first layer.
The whole process gives me a feeling I can't describe, but would eventually like to,
even without the white wine.
Especially without the white wine.
And this canvas, if you could have only felt it before I added it's first layers on!
It was like running your fingertips over a little bit of, well, fantastically primed linen canvas, to be exact.
And if you don't know how insanely good that feels, I suggest a little trip to your local art store.
It just may inspire you.

hang in there

winter walk

people iceskating
channeling the olympics
holding hands
a man painting
people running
walking dogs
cross country skiing
remnants of snow angels
benches with snow to the seat
boots trudging to get there

two men passing by
famous looking
the guy with expensive sweats and a leather jacket
looks like walking around a lake for enjoyment
is not something he enjoys
but he lets the breeze billow into his open jacket
if nothing else he gets moments pleasure from this

the sun shining
vitamin d swirling
endorphins swimming

if nothing else, we're all getting moments of pleasure from this.

winter photos for harry the i.t. guy : )

harry was helping me fix my computer yesterday.
while we waited for updates he commented on my blog,
and the lack of winter photos.
and so, here are some gifts from january.
on the days where everything is covered in white, it is beautiful, i must confess.
not the most inspiring, but inspiring enough that i do quickly snap some shots when i get the chance in that small window of time that we have.

oh winter.