Category: Pacific Northwest
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Cancelled trips
Since I posted this drawing and some others this summer, people have been asking me what’s with the stamps in my sketchbook. I guess the short answer is that each one is a little piece of personal tradition. But you know I don’t really do short answers. The long one, then. I grew up in…
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Just peachy
Earlier this month, my best friend Elizabeth flew in for a visit. Each time she’s come to town I’ve taken her to see a different part of the state—and since we’re in the middle of fruit season, this time we headed for the Yakima Valley. At this time of year, the roadsides are piled high…
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Flock
I’ve been sitting on this post for months now—it’s just that after spending so much time hunched over this project, I needed some time off from even thinking about it. But now I’m ready to talk birds again. From left: Cedar Waxwing; Steller’s Jay; American Avocet; Purple Martin; Tufted Puffin Eighteen months, twenty-five birds, six…
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Anniversary
My goodness, how time flies. As of this moment, I’ve been a Tacoman for exactly two years. Twenty-four months. Seven hundred thirty days. Seventeen thousand five hundred twenty hours. And counting. I’m hoping for several million more, because I’ve loved every one—thanks to you T-town folks. Guys, you’re awesome. And generous, to boot—I think I…
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Volcano vacation
The second part of my little stolen holiday was a little more ambitious: a four-night camping trip with the Tailor in southern Oregon. It was just what the doctor ordered—the perfect prescription for recharging the soul. We camped in the Rogue River National Forest, in a grove of hemlocks and blooming dogwoods, just downstream from…
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Vampire vacation
Since I’ll be a hermit for most of the rest of the year while I finish my Rainier book, I tried to sneak a little stolen summer vacation time into June. If I was going to lock myself indoors during our sunniest season, I wanted as many mountains, oceans, flowers and skies as I could…
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Summer finally got the memo
Well, if this isn’t a case of “be careful what you wish for,” I don’t know what is. Though for the record, I’m pretty sure I was the only person in the entire Pacific Northwest who wasn’t doing any wishing. (I like the cold.) Monday it was a sweater-perfect 65 degrees; today it scorched out…
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Independence party
This is Carol, a fiery Sicilian kindred spirit and one of my favorite-est people on the planet. She and her fabulous husband, Jeff, hosted a Fourth of July shindig in their garden today, threats of rain and cold, dreary weather be darned. There was a little music, a healthy dose of croquet, (with the added…
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Skyline
I did this little watercolor as part of a commissioned project that ended up being canceled. I’m a little sad the project won’t see the light of day, but the morning I spent sketching downtown will always be time well spent.
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Pinnipeds on parade
When I have the time to take the long way to Seattle, I like to take the back road that skirts the water. The other day I stopped and got out at an overlook at Browns Point to snap this photo—until a weird sound distracted me from the scenery. It sounded like something rusty and…