More Colors

The outside of my house is light yellow green, subdued purple, with bright pink doors...after weeks of riding the bus out to the West End (I worked at the hospital in Forks two days a week) I realized that the colors of the Northwest really are green and purple. The inside is all off-white walls...but if I ever get bored, I'm going to do bright red in the dining room and sunshine yellow in the bed room. A red couch, of course, and yellow sheets. Isn't it FUN to play with color! Especially now that the brown film of my cataracts has been removed.

I bought more yellow-green and purple plants for the back yard Saturday in Port Townsend, and it was warm and sunny enough on Sunday to plant them...and overuse my poor back--yoga stretched Every morning!

In Port Townsend I sat and stared at the streaks of psychadelic purple and blue in the water and filled my pockets with pretty rocks. My brother could hear them clicking against each other when we went out for dinner: A colorful pink, orange, and green sushi roll--wish I'd taken a picture! Sailboats were doing a 

complicated dance out on the water. I love SO

Much having access to salt water everywhere I go out here on the Olympic Peninsula! And the snow topped mountains as a back drop.

This time of year is so So Gorgeous in the NW US--there is green haze in different shades on all the deciduous trees, with a background of blue-green evergreen (see Emily Carr's paintings). Because of our cool damp climate, everything sping stays in blossom for at least a month, unlike the NE US where spring quickly gives way to hot and humid summer. I do still miss the fire flies, though. There are people here who have never seen them, magical fairy twinkles in the warm late June darkness...of course the mosquitos are out out there dining on unprotected human flesh then, too. Since my colorful home is out in the open, I Never am troubled by the pesky devils and can can work outside unprotected...only dodging the 3" long black slugs--not a place to put one's hand.

The climate here is all cool damp in the fall-spring and baking sunshine in the summer, with no rain for several months. I can't understand people even trying to propagate grass lawns under these circumstances. As you've seen in previous posts, my yard is dark gravel with designs of white rocks--quilting gone large. I wonder what the small planes flying overhead think? When I have some extra cash, I buy slabs of gray rock sparkling with mica and turquoise hunks, adding red glass ornaments from the summer craft shows. The yellow-green euphorbia above has been self-seeding, and contrasts with the brilliant-blue flowered plant next to it and the newly-installed clumps of yellow green and purple succulents. No gas, no noise, and hours of fascination, placing stones and small plants...I don't even mind the weeding of invasives...how do we separate what's a weed from what's desirable?

Lest you think that it's all play and no Art Work around here, I designed 6 (did another after I took this picture) Venus or Icon patterns on Sunday between trips outside. 

I'm enjoying doing my 100 Hot Flash Women portrait project, and decided to add a 100 Icon series to give me something less taxing than painting, so I can sew while I watch movies. As I learned in OT school, stitching in and out is a positive outlet for any aggressive feelings that one may have accumulated. I'll show you how the finished ones look later, when they're done. As always too many wonderful things to do, to get to them all!

Off to meet Lynne Armstrong at the Blue Whole Gallery and David at Fort Worden this afternoon...It's my Day Off!

The Art of Family

Usually I have at least one art project to write about here, but this month is all family...we do tend to attract guests on the Peninsula, especially in Summer, and this apparently the only cool spot on the continent.

Steve and Linda (the only set of our sibling group who still live outside WA) took a car tour west after both of them retired in May.They're both younger than I am, but each worked steadily at the same job since college, so they deserve a break.


Linda's sister, Mary Jo, and her husband, Dave, live in an idyllic setting on Whidbey Island...a land of even more beautiful light quality than here. Reminds me of Cape Cod before it got over-populated, croquet game above.

Doug, Steve, and Doug's son, Thayer, to the right. One of the first kind of summery days this year, and a big craft show in Langley. We explored while the ladies shopped...I guess I'm not a Lady...maybe too many years of doing craft shows myself, although I still look for red glass items for my art yard (I am getting Art in, after all!).







Steve and Linda came up to Port Angeles and on my Tuesday off we took a trip west...not a bad NW day, a little rain, cool enough for layers.






We stopped to photograph the alpine beauty of Lake Crescent, a glacial lake, deep enough to hide the trucks and cars that have fallen in.

This is an Art shot, with my hands reflected twice in the mirror, as I photograph Steve.





Lake Crescent was so calm, it offered a perfect reflection of the clouds, making it look as if Steve was sitting on the edge of the sky.








Ruby Beach in fog, Steve imitating a land-locked sea stack. This is now one of my favorite beaches...and as we were leaving, the sun started to peak through.





On the very edge of the continent--don't I look happy? I love beaches!

There are also some pretty significant trees out here. I think this one was billed as the biggest cedar, although there was another that might have been the world's Tallest cedar, and then just another of the many Very Tall Trees at the entrance to the rain forest.






Now Steve and I both have Golden Eagle passes and can go to the National Parks as often as we like.



The Rain Forest is dark and mysterious, and it actually started raining when we were there. Unfortunately (?) I did not find any banana slugs to photograph, but I've seen them and they're at least 6" long...pretty impressive.

One small piece of ART, I'm hoping that I get back to painting in August...sometimes there just isn't enough time for all I love to do. The days are still pretty long, and I've been working on my Art yard...where the lack of rain, yes, actual lack of rain in the summer on the Peninsula, has made my succulents look very phallic in their urge toward procreation.



I must have been feeling my farming roots, because this year I decided to try tomatoes one more time...in spite of long, cold winter/spring/summer, I have eaten my second Sungold tomato from the plants on my back deck, staked to rebar that I bought for an Art project. The tomato is the size of a large pea, and tasted delicious

There will be more Art, although not my own, in the next installment of The Art of Family.

If you look very carefully, you'll see the second pea-sized Sungold that I ate today....Yum!

RIP 7/22/11: Winnie the dog, friend to David and Brian. I was there from the beginning, and even though I'm not a dog person, she was a good one, and brought out the best of David's large mothering potential.


April (?) 2010, Love at first hug.