Artistic Inspiration Found in Leavenworthhttp://www.leavenworth.org

www.leavenworth.org

I have just returned from my trip to Leavenworth, Washington. I had a blast! How fun it was to get out of Idaho and go beyond my borders. I felt a little like a bird let out of a cage, free at last to fly! It was a shopper's paradise & the weather was perfect. I had a lot of fun buying clothes and souvenirs. As an artist, I found many creative, unusual & artistic things being sold at the shops that sparked my imagination. Many of the shops specialized in just one thing. There was the Wood Carving Shop, the Hat Shop, the Music Box Shop, plus some very unsusual shops like "Gifts From Russia" and an Australian theme shop. (What Australia is doing in a Bavarian theme I don't know.) The German/Swiss Alps/Bavarian theme that is in Leavenworth was very interesting to me since much of my ancestry is German. I fell in love with the architecture & design of the buildings. Many of the buildings had murals and decorative motifs painted on them. I found myself wondering if I could do something like that on the walls of my own house, but my husband didn't think that would be a good idea! I have included in today's blog photos of two of my favorite Bavarian theme buildings--the Obertal Mall and Tannenbaum Shoppe. Both have beautiful murals and decorative motifs painting on the outside walls.

There was one art gallery in Leavenworth I liked a lot. The gallery had mostly landscapes of the Leavenworth area painted by artist, Doug Miller. It gave me some great ideas for doing some paintings of my own.

I took lots of pictures and I think I may start a new art project next year that will be an artist's perspective of my trip to Leavenworth, Washington.

I was able to get a lot of artwork done on this vacation. I worked mostly on the portrait commission I have of a chocolate lab dog named Pika. It is about 60% done. I need to get it done before the Christmas Season gets into full swing!

Artwork and a Road Trip to Leavenworth, Washington

Since my last entry, I have been working on my family poetry book and on a commissioned portrait of a chocolate lab dog that I got about a month ago.

I have now finished the illustrations for my grandfather's poetry and my mother's. I only have my own poetry illustrations to work on. Five more illustrations and I'm done with this book!

It has again been a challenge to try and squeeze in enough time for my artwork. I have been preparing for a road trip to Leavenworth, Washington that my husband and I are taking this weekend. Leavenworth is a really cool Bavarian town that is sort of like Solvang only the theme is more German/Bavarian. My husband has a sister and a brother who live there and we will be visiting with them. Preparations for this trip have had many obstactles this past week. We had to change our schedule because of bad weather, then we had car problems, then last Sunday I got a 24 hour virus. But if I don't get out of "Dodge" for a while (before the winter weather comes) I think I shall scream! I love to travel but hardly ever get to anymore. I think there is something about being an artist that requires the need for travel every now and then to help spark & inspire the creative side. I am hoping to do some artwork while I'm on this vacation.

Change of Direction

Today was absolutely crazy! It reminded me of that song by Enya that goes, "The turn that I was making, the turn that I was taking, it could be one direction, it could be one reflection, we might be at the beginning, we might be near the end." Plans get made then plans get cancelled. My husband and I were suppose to be taking a road trip to Leavenworth, Washington to visit some relatives. We were all packed and ready. Then we rechecked the weather report for Leavenworth and it was rain, rain, rain for the entire weekend. So we decided at the last minute to postpone our vacation until next weekend when the weather would be good. So now I have to call my art students and re-arrange art lessons again. I also have to rearrange my work schedule at my part-time job. Sometimes Mother Nature sucks!

Tonight I went to an Art Reception at the Nampa Civic Center. It was for the Nampa Centennial Juried Show. Two of my pieces were accepted into the show, "Still Waters" and "Otter Odyssey." But I thought some of the judging for the awards was awful. Some very amateur looking pieces got awards. It made NO sense to me at all!

The "Hands Holding Food" Mural Completed

This past Monday, October 15, Angie and I worked all day to complete the mural for the Vineyard Garden Shed. This mural is for the Vineyard Church's vegetable & fruit garden that helps to feed low income & needy families in the community. (See previous blogs.) Even though I say that it is finished, there are still some little things that I may go back and touch up. We were forced to complete this project today because of weather issues and because we were simply having a hard time fitting this mural into our already tight schedules. We sealed it with varnish to protect it from the elements so now I don't have to worry if Mother Nature decides to rain on it. I think we put a total of about 20 hours into this project. I am happy with the results, but like a typical perfectionistic artist, there are still things that I might want to "tweek" just a bit more.

Gallery Night at Rediscovered Bookstore

Thursday night was "Gallery Night" at the Rediscovered Bookstore. It was a sort of artist's reception for the local artists displaying their work at the book store, and I was one of those artists. I have on display about seven of my colored pencil/mixed media animal & landscape pieces and a few of my "Stone Critters" rock animals. I am hoping I will get some sales during the Christmas season. I will also have my original portrait of Princess Diana on display there when the book they ordered, "Diana in Art," finally arrives. (See previous blogs for more on "Diana in Art.")

The owner of the store, Laura, took a picture of the artists and is going to put in on the bookstore's website, which is still under construction. There was not much traffic coming into the store that night, but hopefully that will change. This book store has only been open for a year and the Gallery Night event is fairly new.

The people who work at this bookstore seem to have a pretty good sense of humor and I really like them. This bookstore also sells hand-crafted art and novelty items. One of the things they sell there that I got a big laugh out of was a stuffed toy made to look like the famous psychiatrist, Freud, and it was called "Tickle Me Freud."

Mural Painting Time

Today I worked on the mural for my church, the Boise Vineyard. The mural is a painting of hands holding produce and it is on the side of the garden shed that is in their produce garden. (See my Blog dated September 26th for a picture.) It is about 3' X 3' in size and it is about 90% done. Another artist from church is helping me with it. I was not able to work on it last week because it rained so much. One more session with this mural and it should be done. These things always take more time than you think they will. It looks really great so far. I am in a race with the weather and hopefully, it won't rain on the day I plan to finish it.

"Diana In Art" in Another Bookstore and "Snow Patterns" Is Finally Done

This has been a very good day! Another bookstore has decided to carry "Diana in Art"! Rediscover Bookstore in Boise (on Overland near Cole) not only will carry "Diana in Art" but I will have an art exhibit there too. I will be showing several of my animal and wildlife pieces. In addition, the original pastel portrait of Diana that is in "Diana in Art"will also part of the exhibit! Cool! And the timing is perfect because my gallery show at Hyde Park is ending and I needed another place to exhibit.

I also finally finished a piece today that I call, "Snow Patterns." (See photo above.) It is a small 9X12 piece that I did using colored pencil and turpenoid. I am thinking of making it this year's Christmas card.