This week in The Pearl – October 24, 2025


It has been quite a week, certainly not dull. It started with a full and eclectic Saturday. Saturday morning I joined the Urban Sketchers of Portland at Directors Park in downtown Portland. Contrary to what you might hear on the news, Portland is not burning down. It was a beautiful sunny morning, the bright autumn…

TheTravelsketcher’s Tuesday – Noisy streets


The quiet life we had in La Thebauderie was quite peaceful. An occasional car came in or out, a tractor in a neighboring field, and cows mooing in the distance were about all that broke the silence. Rural Normandie was quite a change from our condo on Harbour Pointe Boulevard in Mukilteo, WA. Our condo…

This week in The Pearl – Central Oregon II


Last week we continued exploring the John Day Fossil Beds. These fossil beds have had a place in my memory since I was a child. I read and re-read The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek by Evelyn Sibly Lampman when I was still in grade school. It was a story about a couple of children…

TheTravelsketcher’s Tuesday – October 14, 2025


We have been traveling in Central Oregon this week so not a lot of time for deep thoughts. I lost a pencil sharpener while we were in Prineville, and Prineville has nothing even close to an art store. We went to lunch in Redmond, which is a much bigger and is sophisticated enough to have…

This week in The Pearl – and central Oregon


Started the week by doing a digital painting that has been on my mind. Long time followers of this blog will recall the many candid photographs I took while living in France, I don’t find as many here, but I took this one from our fourth floor window – I had to use Tricia’s camera…