sketching

The Quiet Traveler

December 5, 2012

I am an introvert. Recently completing the Myers-Briggs personality test confirmed my thoughts, and reading Susan Cain’s book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking deepened my understanding. The terms “introvert” and “extrovert” were first made popular by psychologist Carl Jung in the 1920s and then later by the Myers-Briggs [...]

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Travel Journaling ~ Commiting

May 11, 2012

On a recent trip to VA, DC and MD I decided to do a quilt or comic strip like approach to recording our journey. A shorter, busier trip, this was my way of capturing the memories. In Writing Away: A Creative Guide to Awakening the Journal-Writing Traveler by Lavinia Spaulding she writes, “Everyone is capable [...]

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Travel Journaling ~ the best journal

January 3, 2012

This trip to San Miguel de Allende I brought along several books since we are staying in one place for the duration. One of them, Lavinia Spalding’s Writing Away: a creative guide to awakening the journal-writing traveler is the inspiration for this post. In Chapter One – Let the Wild Writing Begin – she explores [...]

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The Metropolitan Opera Live in HD

November 29, 2011

This week in our yoga class Arron read from Eknath Eswaran’s Mantram Handbook – The Elephant and the Bamboo – comparing the elephant’s constantly moving trunk to our human mind. As the man in charge of the elephant gives him a stick of bamboo to hold onto in order to keep his trunk still, so [...]

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Seattle’s TEDxRainier 2011 Conference

November 14, 2011

Heading off the island Friday evening we are full of anticipation about tomorrow’s TEDx Rainier event. This year’s theme is Gained in Translation: Ideas Crossing Frontiers, featuring over twenty five speakers whose ideas and extraordinary work span across domains and fuel innovations and insights. Followers of TED for years online, this is our first live [...]

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Crossing the North Cascades

August 14, 2011

Up and out early this morning. Catching the 7:15 am ferry from Orcas Island to Anacortes. Today we begin our cross country journey after months, weeks, then days of preparation. We are on the ferry, the car packed with everything we need for five weeks of travel… it’s full. I eye the Westfalia in front [...]

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Watercolor palette

July 25, 2011

Today after refreshing my travel watercolor palette I decided to make a sketch of my palette colors. These are Daniel Smith tube watercolors I purchased as a set from Daniel Smith a few years ago when taking a watercolor course. Other quality brands for tube watercolors include Holbein and Windsor Newton. My travel palette is plastic, [...]

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Sketching on vacation

July 14, 2011

I sketch for enjoyment. Savoring the process and the way a quick sketch catches an impression in a very personal way. In the book – Sketching, the author,  Alwyn Crawshaw suggests 30 minute sketches. Why? “First, it will stop you from fiddling and looking for something extra to do in your sketch, which can ruin [...]

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Sketchbook Project

June 13, 2011

The Sketchbook Project is a traveling exhibition of sketchbooks created by artists like us. Anyone, from anywhere in the world, can be part of the project. Participants receive a blank sketchbook to doodle in for about nine months before it’s due back to Art House, where it becomes part of the project. This means it will be [...]

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Nelson, NZ

February 28, 2010

We arrived in Nelson in the afternoon after taking the ferry from Wellington (North Island) to Picton (South Island).  Nelson is a charming town with a Victorian flair to many of the homes. Landing in Nelson for 5 nights at the Victoria Villa we look forward to a respite within the vacation. Cooking our own [...]

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Marinita Cantina

January 31, 2010

New Zealand bound from San Francisco, we spent a few nights in Marin County visiting family.  Marinitas was suggested by my brother-in-law for dinner and what a treat. Jay calls it pan-latin fusion cuisine inspired by traditional Mexican dishes… works for me. Loved the “Plato vegetariano” (chile relleno stuffed with grilled corn and queso oaxaca, quinoa [...]

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