This was an active week. Saturday we took advantage of being just over an hour from the Oregon Coast so we drove to Canon Beach and Haystack Rock – some paintings are in the future.

Often I remind myself and other travelsketchers to do quick sketches when you travel. The goal is to capture the moment. This sketch captured the windy but sunny time we stopped at the Oswald West Viewpoint, on Neahkahnie Mountain. Tricia took photos, I quickly captured the moment in my pocket sketchpad, then added the color at home.

Sunday, Alexis and Joe joined us for Sunday lunch. They brought along a new game of theirs, La Fleur – a French chateau themed game of gardens and flowers, it has such amazing art. We roasted a whole chicken in a ceramic roaster, then of course, Tricia made her tasty chicken stock – we probably have enough for the rest of the year now.

Our view is always a treat – a daily parade of dogs walking their pets. When we were in Bayeux, in Normandy, to see the famous tapestry, we were also treated to a large panoramic digital painting by David Hockney – “A Year in Normandie.” I was amazed and encouraged that an artist of his fame is also a major digital painter. We bought a refrigerator magnet of a portion of the panorama.

His style is distinctive. A few days ago I read an article about Hockney and was inspired to capture the view from our window in a similar style.

My reminiscing of our time at La Thebaudiere continued this week. It was a peaceful existence, one that I miss, even the cows and their fragrent ambience. Spring meant that all was green and flowers bloomed in our back yard, especially the national flower of France, the iris.

A couple of weeks ago one of my oil paintings found a new home, it got me to thinking about reviving my Etsy shop and making things available again. Soon I will posts a few oils here on my site. More details to follow.

It is sunny out at the moment, spring in Oregon teases us with a few days of sun, then a few of rain, but by the end of June most all of the rain stops, so we enjoy the appetizer days when they come. After I post this we head off to swim. I hope you have a good weekend, and are dusting off your pens and paints for some spring sketching.

As always thank you so much for being a part of our journey.