Let the road trip begin!

Woo hoo! Theo and I are on our way... on a circuitous route to the Grand Canyon to visit friends and explore new territory along the way. So we left the eye-popping spring of coastal carolina and headed west. Got as far as Camp Creek State Park in West Virginia today. Peaceful spot, and look at these beauties that Theo and I saw on our walk once we arrived...

I was telling a friend of mine about the trip, and mentioning Theo's ambivalence. He wants to be with me (his pack) but isn't too excited about being in Max (the camper van) with all of its gurgling and clanking noises... I keep hoping he'll get used to it!

So my friend suggested that I include a blog from Theo's point of view. Brilliant! So now I will try to accommodate his take on the situations that arise... a la Travels with Charlie (sort of - if you don't know what I'm talking about, its a book by John Steinbeck)...

Anyhow, so my take on the day is "Woo Hoo! Off on another adventure!" And Theo was on the bed in the back of Max thinking "What the !@#$$%% is she making me do now?" i have to get bumped around in this clanging, rattling thing for hours on end? And for what? Oh... a long lovely walk in the mountains ( not bad) and oh! some yummy dinner morsels by the picnic table, and now a belly rub on the bed (that is decidely NOT moving) well, I'll go to sleep and think about it...

Spring in coastal NC

We're in a riot of color with blooming azaleas, dogwoods, roses, among many others. I love this time of year... here's a photo of a rose that opened up this morning in my backyard.

Starting preparations for my trip out west. This is my first post to the blog with my new Netbook. I decided not to risk taking my laptop full of all of my life's documents - would be devastating to have that stolen. This is fine for checking email and posting to the blog... getting really excited to get on the road again. Theo's not so sure, he's not quite used to Max yet, but he'll get there...

Back home

Back from Florida. Did well at the shows there - especially San Marco in Jacksonville. Now I'm back home. Last week a friend of mine and I went to Cedar Point and painted a watercolor of the marsh there - a truly lovely day.

Savannah Ship

Stopped in Savannah on the drive down to the Florida shows. Here's a shot of a ship passing River Street at high tide, taken from the landing at Tubby's Tank House...

Grand Canyon

Back when I introduced Max (my "Mobile Art Escape" camper van) in my January 14 blog, I mentioned that I'm planning a trip to the Grand Canyon in May. I have the trip plotted out and will take my time on the drive out - staying at State Parks along the way. I plan to stay a few nights on the south rim and then several nights on the north rim, where I was lucky enough to reserve a camping spot for Max with a direct view of the canyon. It is a relief to finally be feeling back to myself after mourning. I feel like I have my life back again and am ready for new adventures.

Scale

One of my friends wanted to see the scale of these paintings - so here I am with them in the studio...

Third version

Still playing around with this image. Worked on a third 30 x 30 canvas of it today - here they are all three together in a triptych. I've been experimenting with having the eyes change direction in each.