Bring on the snow...

Alright, time has gotten away from me once again. Damn, the weather here is already cooling and I feel like we just got started on summer! Work has been busy as I'm covering a co-worker's route who recently had surgery. All free time has been spent at either Priest Lake, Ceour d'alene, working in the yard, putting together our new gear room, or resting. I have also been working in the studio a bit and have an update from my recent spidey piece. I bounce back and fourth on this one. I do appreciate it more as I work through it. I'm trying some new techniques on this one. I am relying more on my brush than on mixed media that I normally use. It's been fun and a bit freeing not focusing so much on the reference material and just going with it. I'm also trying not to buy paint, to just use what I have on hand. It's forcing more color theory on me and I'm using up all my old paints. Without further ado, here is a shot I took just a couple hours ago as I wait for the last layer to dry.

There are some things about this one I'm not so crazy about and a few I dig. That's art...the emotion art can envoke is not always positive, and that's o.k. I know I'm not a great artist...but I enjoy it. I think that's what counts, and I feel I'm progressing with each new piece. The world knows I wont be leaving a big mark when my flame goes out, so why not just have fun and put my art out there. Growth can't happen if people stay complacent. Try new things, scare yourself. Anyway, I'm looking forward to my next piece which means I'm hoping to have this one wrapped up in a couple weeks. I think I'll move back into familiar territory and tighten in on the comp. on my next painting. We've had a few great trips to Priest Lake and Ceour D'alene in ID. The paddleboards we picked up last christmas have already paid for themselves and the exercise is great. The sites that Kat reserves for us usually needs to be, a few months in advance. These are right on the lake and have their own private water entrance. This makes it nice as to not carry your paddleboard through the trees to get to the shoreline. The boards themselves aren't heavy at all, but they are long, and moving through a forest presents its own challenges. This is a shot of our lake entrance just off the campsite.

Here's a shot of some of the wildlife found in the area. I believe this is a large rodent known as a 'wolf-monkey.'

Fortunately, I was able to tame the savage beast.

This last one is a shot of our actual site. I was playing with the panorama aspect.

All in all the summer has been short but fun. I am totally looking forward to snow however. Kat has put together a dope gear room for us to keep out seasonal toys in. It's nice to have everything in one place. A place to sit and get into or out of our snow gear. I may post some shots of the room once we get it finished. There's still some shelves and such to hang. I'm hoping to add a workbench so I can tune up my skis and Kat's board. Also, this winter is it. I am taking my damn PSIA level one certification exam. I am hoping to do this sooner rather than later. I always like to ride a couple times to get back into the groove. Though training never stops throughout the year, getting on actual snow and moving is always different. I'm still riding the K2 Mindbenders and still loving how responsive they are. Kat has picked up a new Burton Custom board and is totally stoked on riding. I will post some photos of it when she gets it all together. With that I am going to slink out the back...take care, and we will chat soon.