This week in The Pearl – June 6, 2025


After a busy month of traveling in May we are planning to stay pretty close to home for the next month or so. The more we get out and about in The Pearl the more we like it. We discovered that we have easy access to the north end of the Willamette River Greenway Trail…

TheTravelsketcher’s Tuesday Tip – June 3, 2025


To make your bright areas more intense make your darks darker. I did the painting on the left first, it really did not look too bad. The Sunset at Otter Crest was quite dramatic so I wanted it to “pop”. I darkened the rocks and even the distant, dark, part of the ocean, as well…

TheTravelsketcher’s Tuesday Tip – May 27, 2025


Add people to your sketches. Including people in your sketches adds interest and perspective, and it turns it into a story – it is quite simple and they don’t have to be portraits. Check this sketch I did of a road we walked often near our home in France. The first is without a person,…

This week in The Inn At Otter Crest – May 23, 2025


We spent most of the week out of The Pearl. We discovered the Otter Crest Loop on our last trip to the coast, and stumbled upon The Inn At Otter Crest, so back we went for three nights, how could we resist since they were offering a stay-two-nights-get-the-third-free promo. It was a bit cool when…

This week in The Pearl – May 16, 2025


Life is never boring here in The Pearl and this week was no exception – recovering, brunch, swimming, extraction, and of course some painting. So here it is… Saturday, while chewing a bite of Trader Joe’s Crispy Potato & Poblano Pepper Tacos, I felt something odd in my #15 tooth, the one that was temporarily…