And duckling updates!
This is a long one with lots of photos so the email may get cut off. Feel free to click through to read this in my blog in its entirety if so.
One of our ducks abandoned her nest so my husband decided to try to incubate the eggs himself as I mentioned in my last newsletter.
They all hatched and for a couple weeks they lived in my living room! Now they are in a brooder in our garage and very close to getting to go outside and be integrated with the rest of the flock. They are awkward teenagers now instead of the adorable fluffy butts that you see in this sketch and the photo below. They love to snuggle and flop all over each other.
It was so fun to see how much they grew each day!
In bittersweet news, my aunt and uncle sold their lake house up at Priest Lake. They bought it back in 1979 and not only have I been going there my whole life but my parents have been going since they were in college. They came over with my brother and we all gathered to say goodbye to this special beloved place with my aunt and uncle.
I feel so fortunate to have gotten to spend so much time in this magical place.
Pizza for lunch at MooseKnuckles-loving their upcycled flower planters, yes that is a shovel/crane bucket in this sketch.
Since it was Father’s Day, we celebrated with ribs at Hill’s Resort.
This carved wooden bear hangs out on the fence post to the deck and he holds your life jacket for you.
Goodbye and we’ll cherish the memories.
I’ve been sketching around our new house and enjoying seeing what pops up this spring-here a huge amount of buttercups and a small sketch of clover.
Spotted this big white umbellifer flower by the road in our south field so I wandered down to sketch it. Love plein air painting in walking distance from home.
I’ve gotten braces and I am not loving it. Trying to be positive (the results are good!) and sketched some of the new tools I had to buy to help care for my teeth.
My friend and fellow artist Katie Frey invited me to a plein air get together last weekend at Slavin Natural Area. It was a great excuse to paint and chat. It wasn’t just a walk down the hill from my house, but a short 1.5 mile hike to the lake wasn’t bad even in 85 degree heat. We found some shade to sketch in and kept following it as it moved!
My plein air set up-my beloved Osprey backpack, short folding stool, travel brush, watercolors, plastic water container with lid and Global Art Handbook Watercolor sketchbook. Shout out to ziplocks, keeping me from pouring drippy paint and paint water down the inside of my bag since 2007.
With warm weather comes yardwork and plein air painting so my studio painting table tends to get a little dusty this time of year. Here is a painting of Spokane House on the top of Mt. Spokane that I finished back in May. It was a struggle to the rich color and the contrast between light and dark but I’m very pleased with how this came out.
I also decided to revisit the Davenport Grand, having done a very small sketch of just the entrance back in 2018. I decided to tackle the whole massive building this time. SO many windows!
If you’ve read this far, thank you! I also want to ask you for some advice. I’m about to put in a new card order. Are there any of my paintings that you think should be a card that I don’t already have? For example-I’m considering this one of the Scoop and the two paintings above as well as some of my recent Couer d’Alene paintings. If you have any thoughts, give me a shout!
Also-it’s 95 degrees here right now, ice cream is on my brain. What’s your favorite ice cream flavor? I’m usually a chocolate girl, but when it gets hot I like things more fruity. I currently am working my way through a orange creamsicle carton.
