Speaking of bears, the great state of Montana must have a lot of them… …since they get their own highway exit and all.
Exit, pursued by a bearNear Bozeman, MT
Posted 12 years ago
Category: Country Mouse
Exit, pursued by a bearNear Bozeman, MT
Beargrass, bare grassChase Garden, Orting, WA
Posted 12 years ago
When I was on Mount Adams, the ravenous bugs prevented me from sketching the most spectacular part of the scenery: the endless meadows of cream-colored beargrass. So when I spotted it again at a native plant garden this spring, I jumped at the chance. As an aside…I have no idea how beargrass got its name,… More
Notes from the frontMount Adams, WA
Posted 12 years ago
Don’t let these pictures fool you—it might look like I was sketching in an idyllic environment, but I couldn’t spend much time marveling at the scenery or relaxing with my paints. That’s because I had to take a break approximately every 4.5 seconds to swat at biting insects, or to take cover from the dive-bombing… More
Island in the skyBig Bend National Park, TX
Posted 12 years ago
I’ve talked before about being on Island Time—and in a weird way, this is kind of the same thing. You see, islands don’t just exist in water; you can find them in the middle of the desert, too. The Chisos Mountains, in the heart of Big Bend National Park, rise 4,000 feet above the parched… More
Cropping upQuincy Valley, WA
Posted 12 years ago
I spent one of my teenage years living on a rural military base in North Dakota. An interesting side effect of having to bus half an hour into town every day for school is that I learned to recognize every type of crop in the fields along the way. But when I moved to Washington, where… More
Dark skiesNear Hillsboro, ND, five miles west of the Minnesota border
Posted 12 years ago
One of my very favorite things about the Red River Valley (of the north) is that the land is so perfectly, endlessly flat that you can see entire weather systems grow and unfold before your very eyes. Then again, it’s not so fun when that weather catches up with you. I did this painting in… More
PathfinderPenland School of Crafts, Penland, NC
Posted 12 years ago
The winding river channels in the sketch I posted on Wednesday reminded me of the unusual hiking “trails” they have on the campus of the Penland School of Crafts. They’re just mown right into the grass of the huge central meadow in front of the school. From up the hill, it looks like some sort of… More
Dusky deltaPuget Sound and Nisqually River Delta, WA
Posted 12 years ago
As much as I love road trips, my hands-down favorite way to get between Tacoma, WA and Portland, OR is by train. Especially along the Puget Sound—where the tracks run literally inches from the shore—the views are absolutely gobsmacking. On this day, I was lucky enough to have a flawlessly sunny afternoon (in April that’s… More
On island timeFriday Harbor and San Juan Island, WA
Posted 12 years ago
When my best friend Elizabeth came to visit last year, she told me she’d always wanted to visit the San Juan Islands. So we packed every bit of waterproof gear we had and headed north for a girls-only trip. We spent a good chunk of our trip on various boats— —which, even in spring’s constant… More
Chicken LittleWorld's largest prairie chicken, Rothsay, MN
Posted 12 years ago
Of all the “world’s largest” giant fiberglass animals out there, this isn’t exactly one people make cross-country pilgrimages to see. Yet for some reason, it’s one of my all-time favorites. Actually, I think it’s because with the help of the surrounding landscape, this chicken would make for one hilarious monster B-movie. If only Ed Wood… More