Beautiful Bend OR

I've returned from my impromptu trip to Bend OR to visit my younger son. Truly an outdoor Mecca.

Took a leap & stayed at the only hostel in town. Bunk & Brew. What a fun experience! Old historic house, a little funky, young volunteer staff who live there for free & work a couple shifts a week while doing other things in the area. I was there 5 nights and saw guests of all ages staying there for all different reasons.  A full kitchen with breakfast food you can cook yourself as part of the fee. The room I was 2 bunk beds housing 4 women each night. Cozy. Lily from the UK was there all 5 nights with me, we had 5 other women come and go.

 Quotes in the kitchen.

Such a beautiful area. I was 1 mile from my son's house, 1 mile from the Old Mill District, walked and walked everywhere along the Deschuttes River.

Being near water & nature always seem to inspire art. Little bits everywhere.

An abundance of hiking trails all over the area. 

Fun to have a dog along on the hikes. My grand dog Stevie, female boarder collie mix. 

A sweetie. It was a great 6 day stay to visit a great young man & all his friends. 

I'll be back to my normal art rant next week with summer happenings. 

"Gorgeous" Pacific NW

Returned a week ago from a visit to the Pacific NW. Portland & Bend. Combo of exploration & to visit son who lives in Bend. The trip was grey, moist & fun! I'm glad we did this in the fall. I  imagine the area is packed in the summer months. Fall is our favorite time to travel.

 The pic above was from our 2 days exploring the falls & trails of the Columbia River Gorge. In a word WOW. Used the tilt shift feature in Instagram. I had no idea Instagram had the cool editing features I happened on while working on this image!

Reentry is tough. Most artists find it so. It can be a struggle to get back in the studio & the swing of creating.
So much inspiration out there. Then it needs to be processed then used or put aside.


Visited Pulp & Deckle while in Portland. A paper maker & illustrator making a go of it as a business. I contacted Jennifer before our trip to set up a meeting as I did not want to miss her studio & to hear her story first hand. She & her husband had just returned from the Dard Hunter conference in Santa Fe. As is usually the case in the paper making world we have several common acquaintances. The business recently bought a food truck they are converting into a mobile paper making studio. The Pulp Mobile, of course. What a brilliant idea!!!

Been at play in the studio with different techniques that have intrigued me. T-shirt yarn attempted and successful. I see a trip to Goodwill for fabric fodder. Some crocheted storage vessels a possible outcome.