June

  I travelled to Spokane Washington this weekend for Artfest, a benefit for the Museum of Arts and Cultures.   I was disappointed to not have time to visit the museum.  Hopefully next year.
  Spokane had many interesting old brick buildings and fun and funky businesses.  
  Woefully my camera battery was dead, alas, no pictures.

  The show was in the Browne's addition neighborhood
 which had beautiful old restored houses, large front porches,
and wonderful gardens.
    
   People from Portland and Seattle tend to disparage the area for being provincial so I was very happy to find it eco conscious with many hip spots and businesses.  There were good coffee houses, vintage shops and restaurants with organic creative food and lots of sushi.
  Diane Culhane (paintings), Kim Morris (weaver) and I ate a delicious meal at Mizuna.  They had organic seasonal northwestern food.   I especially loved my Mojito- nothing better than a cool fresh drink with muddled mint after a long day at a show.  Diane and I split the scallops and beet and lentil salad...yumm!

  The music stage was behind my booth which normally doesn't
 thrill me however there was a lot of  rootsy music which was quite good.
  Especially a woman who had an ethereally sweet voice and sang
old English folk standards.

  I met some new artists including Jennifer Phillips and picked up a small tree oil painting from her.  She also paints fantastic miniature paintings on scrabble tiles and turns them into necklaces.

  The art show went really well for me.  I sold 3 large paintings to a lovely couple who had just remodelled their house and picked up a shop: Anenome, handmade paper flowers, next to Nordstrom, which will carry my cards and a gallery: Tinman Gallery,  with a children's bookstore to carry my prints and show my paintings in the winter.

Monday, I woke unusually early for me; 5am and decided to hit the road.  It was a beautiful ride home through farm land but especially the gorge.  Here are some photos:

 

Canyon rocks above the Dalles.  One of my favorite geological constructs.  

The sky was so pretty and blue for this day.

Love the water.

Windmills so epitomize this drive.  Pieces of windmills on trucks being hauled up the I-84.

Took this photo driving.  Probably worse than texting but I had to get this photo.

This is Gus, he slayed me!  Needless to say he won the popularity contest for cute.  

I love the trains!

 I'll be spending a lot of time on this hwy #84 going to Idaho, Utah and Colorado this summer.

Ideas for painting.  Love these lines in the rock.  Hauled a bunch or rock home for my garden.

Home sweet home with my favorite greeter meeter pretty eye boy.  Mort always makes me happy.