Given The Opportunity

Hello! Once again we have revolved and spun around the sun to find ourselves right next to fall/winter! I'm just gunna say it; 'This years winter can't be as bad as last year.' There I said it, it's out and if we have a worse winter, I suppose you can blame me. ;-) First, Spokane is slowly recovering from the arson and wildfires this summer. It stole all of our sunshine, pollutted our air, killed numerous pets and animals, and destroyed many, many peoples lives for the time being. Re-building has commenced and neighborhoods are getting put back up. Kat and I recently took a trip out to Westport here in WA. It had been a couple years since we had seen the ocean and we felt the calling. We spent a week out there and got some much needed RnR. I had a chance to pull out my Prism kite and giver her a few spins, which is always a blast. I do miss the coast and it's healing effects. It was good to see mother ocean again. On the way back we stopped in Tacoma WA. This was the birthplace of my father and where he was raised in the 30's and 40's up until he enlisted in the NAVY. I remember he told me once that the first movie he had ever seen on the 'big screen' was BAMBI. This was at the 'Blue Mouse Theatre' in Tacoma around August of 1942.

The theatre is still standing and showing films and it was really cool to see and experience the history here. I can picture my pops holding his uncle's hand standing in line to see his first motion picture. I started looking into his history more, since most of it is a mystery to me. I knew my pops up until the age of 16 which isn't a lot of time for a boy to spend with his father. So I am finding closure in following his path and understanding more about the amazing man that he was.

One thing I know for sure is my pops loved movies; action, sci-fi, drama....you name it. Having lived in some very historical locations like Calaveras county, I can recognize the importance of history. Seeing Samuel Clemen's cabin where he wrote or following in John Muir's footsteps through Big Trees can be very exhilierating for those of us who respect our roots and where we've come from. I never had a relationship with either my brother or sister so comparing my dad's history with them isn't an option. I haven't spoken to my brother in over 25 years and my sister in about 11. So, any timelines I put together is solely on my time. Digging deeper has unfortunately unearthed some disturbing information regarding current relatives. No one should have their family name smeared in the name of money and greed. In fact though it happens A LOT. It has happened to my pops and for that dad, I am sorry. I am hoping to set things right some day. Until then though, we move forward and keep pushing. In closing here is a shot of 'Proctor' in downtown Tacoma...

Finished Cobra Commander

Hello, First off I would like to say that 'YES' Spokane is struggling though the wildfires right now. I am not going to post photos, you can search online and see hundreds of vids depicting people losing their homes. We have 3 major wildfires, two of which have converged.

North West of Spokane is burning and is the 'Nations TOP PRIORITY in fires right now.' The amount of evacuees is about one third of the population here in Spokane. That's over 60,000 evacuees with 0% containment as of this afternoon. Okay, so despite the wildfires burning, I have a couple cool pieces of info to share. I know it's been a few months since my last post. I've been busy at my new job and about to come to the close of my first season. There have been a couple obstacles but I am learning to work around those and still maintain/grow the stock. I guess I can let you know off the bat that I have been hired as not only a level 1 ski instructor for Spokane but as an Advanced U8 race coach with MSSRT (Mount Spokane Ski Race Team)! I am excited to add this adventure to my resume. I've said it before...'I love woking with racers' everywhere you go is fast. My age brackett is 7, so I will be coaching and skiing with the youngest of the competetive racers. These are fundamental years for them and I feel honored to be picked to help shape those fundamentals into strong skills. I'm hoping to have some new and exciting adventures to post about along with some pics. The team has been scouting new areas to train north of the border due to out lack of snow last year and probably this year. So I may be travelling to Canada for this gig as well. In closing I wanted to post a shot of my finished Cobra Commander. I just wrapped this one up this afternoon. It took me waaaaay longer than expected as I work five days a week this time of year VS two or three during the winters. Without further ado..here is Cobra Commander

As usual I appreciate your time, and please keep Spokane in your thoughts...if you pray, pray for Spokane, if not, just summon some good energies for us. We and all of our indigenous animal friends need all the help we can get.

End of Season, and High Treason.

Howdy folks! I hate to say it but Mt. Spokane had to take us all off the schedule due to lack of snow. Normally we have a longer season but warm temps and high wind gusts are melting all that is left up there. Our home mountain (Silver Mountain) is still open and getting snow. It's a little wet and a little heavy, but the powder has been phenomenal. We may go up again on Wed. or Thur. after they get another 6". (From the top of Heaven)

Kat and I have been challenging ourselves this season with some tougher black diamonds at Silver. One of my particular favorites this season has been a run called 'Heaven'. In the powder this run lives up to its name. It's about shifting that weight to a more centered stance when you hit the pow on skis. Shallow turns and big frickin smiles. I did want to post a shot of part of Mt. Spokane a couple weeks ago. (It was a beautiful bluebird day at Mt. Spokane in this shot).

This is getting off of chair five looking out towards chair 1. The groomers were tasty this day, and I ate up as much as I possibly could between my classes. I had my last day of classes last Saturday and I think it ended on a really high note. I had a group lesson of level 2's which was 5 people total and everyone had a really fun time. That's all I ask for, is for the students to learn at least one thing and to have fun challenging themselves throughout the day. Okay, so what in the heck do I mean by 'High Treason' in my title? I'm referring to my new piece! I can't wait to get started on this one. I have painted this subject before, but felt the comp was pretty boring. So, I am going to ramp it up and make it more dynamic. This is based on the cover of an old issue of the comic. This cover always stood out to me. (The subject is Cobra Commander from the G.I. JOE universe.)

I was pretty happy with the very first sketch I did of this. I normally do at least 3 and if I'm unsure I will draw it for a month. This time though, I really do like the gesture and feel of this one. I will make the eyes more intense in the painted piece however. I love the obsession in this piece. There is a total of six Cobra logos in this relatively simple idea and that's just what I wanted. I wanted to start this piece today but it will hafta wait. It looks like I will be going in for orientation tomorrow for my seasonal horticulture job! The garden centers and nurseries are getting ready to open up for what I'm thinking is going to be a hot and dry summer based on our lack of water/rain this year. I truly had hoped for far more days cutting lines in the mountains but am pretty excited for the change in season and getting back outside and around plants!