The Face

Here's my newest painting inspired by many flights to Kansas. Does this feel right side up to you?

Hiking 101

A visitor from Tuscon, Kelsey stayed with us for a few weeks.



So there we were, on the top, at Observation Point in Washington. We could see the Columbia River Gorge to our right , and the green, green mountains to our left. Then it happened. We were swarmed by, naked cyclists!!!! No, no, no...that's not how I remember it. Oh, yes, they were mosquitoes. It was horrifying, the view was phenomenal and our stay on top was all of five minutes! Chris's exposed legs were covered with bites the next day. I snapped a few quick pictures though. Kelsey covered every inch of her body with spandex and bandannas.

Thank you

Thank you all for your encouragement to blog. I love reading your blogs and it is nice to blog myself and be able to look at life and how exciting it is. I've had a great summer, with great visitors and great weather. Right now I'm feeling like the summers out here make the winters bearable. In the middle of winter I will feel differently about that! Ha, but looking at photos from the summer will help. I have really loved reading all of my family's posts and hope to see more of their lives though they are so far away. I miss you all and love you very much. I'm having a great time out here but wish that you were just a little (or maybe alot) closer by! Life is good!

New stuff

This is my newest doodle/painting. My roommate who is a painter by trade uses this technique of plaster (sheet rock) on plywood then rewets it with the paint which creates a fresco of sorts, I'm playing around with the technique, it's pretty exciting to have a new medium to work with.



Chris and I moved into a bigger room in the house and quickly filled it with our things, there's lots of storage space which is nice and we have a nice window for plants and light.

Here is our Kansas wall. We found a map from when I was in the first grade. Joan Finney was the governor when this map was put out. We're proud of where we came from.


We have a great garage that is a studio for Nikki and I and Chris likes to come out and play guitar as well, it's so nice to paint and work as he plays. Chris has just finished a country EP called High Hopes and Sweet Dreams. His band name is The Checkered Present, referring to our current state of shady affairs in the world. He is also finishing the full album this week to be released on November 20th at the Alberta Street Pub just up the street. Alberta street is an artsy fartsy street but the pub is a really nice respite from the hip (too hip sometimes) art scene.

Here's my preparation of some of the frames that Andrew Craig just helped me to build. I have over 20 frames ready to paint. I will be working hard to get them ready for the arts fair, called Last Thursdays, that happens once a month just a few blocks away, on Alberta St. It's a free for all, anyone can set up a table and sell their wares. It is a really fun atmosphere and a great place for young artists to get their feet under themselves. I am so excited about this prospect. The idea of someone wanting to buy my art is beyond me, so I'm excited to try.

Finally up to date!

So, here's the real current post now that I've pretty much caught you up. I am still working at the breakfast restaurant Beaterville. It's good, my boss is a little crazy but we deal with it. Chris has moved into my house making us 6 now. There is another couple, and two other women. It's a bit crowded but we live with it. I love my roommates and we're adjusting well to the addition. I've enjoyed hanging out with Chris more and not having to travel to see him is quite nice! We are all loving all of the music that he brings to the house. Our garden is producing its first tomatoes and the beans are really climbing. I just bought some great seeds and starts for fall and winter, like broccoli, kale, lettuce, and salad greens. I'm excited to revamp the garden a bit and have the weed pressure a little lower.

The Farm

Much of my time this summer has been spent at FoodWorks Farm out on Sauvie Island. Here you see baby pepper plants that are now heavy with beautiful purple peppers. Food Works employs teenagers from north Portland to come out several days a week and pretty much run the farm, they make decisions about what and how much to harvest and what to plant and such. They sell their produce at the big local farmers market as well as to an awesome grocery store called New Seasons. It's a pretty freakin' sweet program that gets kids excited about eating vegetables that they may have found disgusting just a year ago. I'm working towards a $1000 education award at the end og my 300 hour investment. The award will be put towards drawing/painting classes at PSU (Portland State University). Yay!

Alex Beck comes to visit, part II

Perhaps I should take a different approach to my picture sharing, maybe a shutterfly? Any suggestions? I love taking lots of pictures and I want to post alot of them but this will only let me post five per post because they are so big.

Alex Beck comes to visit!

Chris's little brother came to visit him for ten days, a nice long visit! It was really fun hanging out with such a laid back kid as Alex. We played a little Frisbee golf then a little frisbee action on Canon Beach and a short hike to some small log cabins and an even shorter hike from there out to see the Tillamook Head lighthouse. Wow. What a trip we had to the coast. Pictures: Chris with Stella, Kylie with frisbee, Chris planning his next move, Chris making his large "movement", and Alex's sweet beach catch!

Next adventure, hiking with Chris and Kristin

My college roommate Kristin came to visit the west coast from Kansas before starting another leg of her medical school experience. We went on a hike to Horsetail Falls in the Columbia River Gorge. It was beautiful and relaxing. It was really nice to catch up with Kristin a bit and meet her boyfriend Chris!

Charlie's adventure.

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My roommates are pretty big bike buffs (pun intended!), so three of them also participated in the International Naked Bike Ride. So...Chris and I got back to my house first. We were making tea and warming up, it was a cold night be to out in the baring it all. Anyway, Nikki and Gregg, two of my roommates got home and said " Have you guys seen Charlie?" (Charlie is the third participating roommate). We had not seen him, we said. They said, "Oh crap, we have all of his clothes and his cell phone and we can't find him anywhere." So there we were with no way to contact our naked stranded roommate, all we could do was wait and try to get all of our laughing out before angry, freezing Charlie got home from his naked, several mile, bike ride home. We answered the door with cameras in tow, thinking this is going to be so funny to Charlie later, we better record it. He didn't agree. It was awesome! Great story to tell the grandkids, eh Charlie!
The pictures are Chris, then Nikki, then Oscar, then Charlie warming up in a big old comforter.

Finally!

You will not believe the harrowing adventure I have been through to get to this point of posting. First I was taken over by a swarm of naked cyclists...I was minding my business one Saturday night when I saw, in the distance, what appeared to be a rapidly moving colony of lightning bugs. Upon closer inspection it became apparent that what I was witnessing with mine eyes was the glory of the human body totally exposed moving towards me on sets of two wheels. There was this crazy clown wearing a tie that inspired me to join the parade. So I threw on the wig and cumber bun that I had in my bag and joined the masses (over 1000 cyclists in the buff).