This is the archive for the ‘road trips’ Category

Blue Ridge Parkway

May 25th, 2013

From time to time we take time to work on our portfolios. My brother and his wife have moved to TN and as we missed them and had never been to TN, the Skyline Drive, or the Blue Ridge Parkway we combined a visit with a scouting trip.

Blue Ridge Parkway
This may find it’s way into a painting

We drove, we photographed, we hiked, we read, we met interesting people and we had a most wonderful time. Every turn—and there were many—had one incredible view after another. I didn’t take paints as there just wasn’t time but I will work with some of my images and a future trip, staying in one place for a while is in it our minds. I did go to Cheap Joe’s Art Supply in Boone, NC for a shelf for my plein air easel!

Viaducts

May 25th, 2013

My blog, “Thoughts”, was down due to a problem with my server.

In the mean time, I put up three images of Pennsylvania Viaducts I shot in April—wanted to get them before the trees leaf out and then later when summer is in full swing. Now that the blog is back, I’m re-posting them.

Starrucca Viaduct
Starrucca Viaduct: built 1848

Tuckhannock Viaduct

Tuckhannock Viaduct: built 1915

Martin's Creek Viaduct
Martin’s Creek Viaduct: built 1915

Plein Air Test

May 25th, 2013

This past March we went to VA to visit my brother Curt. I tool my painting supplies as I have not painted outside (en plein air) in a very long time and I wanted to give it a try in a controlled environment (the condo balcony). It was pretty nippy (COLD) but since I set out to do this, I did. Bundled up with my wool finger-tipless mits.

Plein Air Easel
En plein air setup.

Form and Function

November 26th, 2012

flower seeds flower seeds

I took this image last summer in Canada. I love the way it evolved to do it’s job so well! Break apart and blow about! And it’s beautiful—form and function!

Fairy Villages

August 16th, 2012

Since I couldn’t visit anyone we had planned to on our way home from PEI (due to my cold and barking like a seal—no offence seals) we decided to visit the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden. I’d been there once before on a trip with my garden gals but Bob hadn’t.

It’s one of my favorite gardens—a wonderful garden in the first place but designed so it can only exist in Maine. I don’t remember seeing the Fairy Village when we were there before, I don’t think we went that far on the path along the shore. It’s a place under the pine trees where people esp children but not only children have built tiny dwellings out of found forest material.

Shooting Fairy Village

shooting with my iPhone.

The light was bad for photographs under the trees with shafts of sunlight and I mainly had my cell phone with me but I had to take some shots.

These are only four of many, many, many little magical structures.

Shooting Fairy Village Shooting Fairy Village

Shooting Fairy Village Shooting Fairy Village

Wounderful Wee Worlds.

The first time I ever saw a fairy garden was years ago in Nova Scotia.

Fairy Bridges

Fairy Bridges

We didn’t have reservations and were realizing that places to stay were few. We stopped at Liscombe Lodge late in the evening and they had just had a cancellation. We were tired, grabbed a bite to eat and fell asleep. In the morning we discovered a series of Fairy Bridges over the stream we had to cross to reach our cottage.

The next fairy village was an exhibit titled, “Enchantment at the Edge of the Woods”, at Wave Hill Garden in the Bronx, NY. We went to see the wonderful work (“Charion”) on display by sculptor, Helene Brandt. Another artist had contributed a large fairy village to the exhibit.

Since then Fairy Villages seem to be popping up everywhere with every garden shop selling props made in China. BUT… the best it seems to me are the ones made on the spot using found materials and the one in Maine is wonderfully organic and magical.

Mini Vacation 2011

September 19th, 2011

After Connecticut we drove to Maine where we stayed with Margie and Joe in their wonderful home where guest rooms are private apartments, the food and conversation are wonderful and their garden is perfect for both human folk and VERY large doggie folk.

Bob visited with Joe at work and photographed along the coast while Margie and I headed north to meet Sally and Pam at the Maine Botanical Gardens for this years Garden Hoax. Words don’t do justice. It was misty (as all our garden events seem to be) giving the garden an ethereal feeling. We’ve been to lots of terrific gardens but this was different. It was a Maine Botanical garden. Where elsewhere beautiful flowers are planted to create vistas and swathes of color and texture, here the texture is of Maine. It is a garden in a forest.

Beth and Pam in the rain. In the children's garden.

Pam and I are in the rain in this pic Margie took
and House in the children’s garden with a cat fence!

Back to Margie and Joe’s for a bowl of home made chowder (what else) and the next day Bob and I headed north to Waldoboro where we stayed at the Blue Skye Inn, visited Pam and David, and ate Ginger Ice Cream in Thomaston (my mother has always raved of the Ginger Ice cream she ate in Thomaston, ME as a child in the 1920’s).

Alpaca.

Alpaca

Bought alpaca from an Alpaca farm to card with some wool I have for spinning—this winter’s stress reducing project! and then home driving in one of this summer’s wild rain extravaganzas.

Short and sweet and lots of fun!