Friday we went to Deception Pass beach. It's the third absolutely stunning Washington State Park I've spent time in lately. It's a rock beach (and I love those) with a gorgeous view. We walked and rock hunted, and I sketched two quick watercolors. I'd love to go back on another nice day. Part of the joy was just sitting in the sunshine after so many rainy and cloudy days.

Jude Dippold took a photo of me sketching that captures the color and pattern of the place, as well as the peace.

As well as Rockport, my early love of a park here in Washington, I've been taking walks at Rasar State Park. It's about 8 miles in the other direction from Rockport, so both are quite easy for daily walks. Rasar has more changeable scenery and is flatter, which lets me do my brisk powerwalking without as much danger of turning an ankle.

The topography goes from wooded trails to river beach to mountain meadow, all of which are lovely. I stopped and sketched along my walk the other day, and I will definitely go back to paint further as the weather allows.

I got a perfect afternoon in the Badlands of South Dakota today. I'm heading across the country to Washington State, and it was a gorgeous afternoon to stop. Plus it was early enough that almost no one was there. I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful afternoon. The place is transporting. It's hard to believe it can exist even as you're standing in the midst of it. To top it all off, and afternoon moon was hanging low over the rocks.

Mr. Darcy has been unsure about this whole traveling thing, but he's decided he likes having his own hotel bed, and he was utterly fascinated by the prarie dogs today. He also just looked good against the backdrop of the Badlands.

I got to spend one lovely night at one of my favorite places on earth recently and catch up with old friends there. It was great to sit and paint the mountains before breakfast with a pot of tea.

My friend Mark Goshorn Jones was shooting a movie short at the Annesdale Snowden mansion in Memphis not long ago and invited me to sketch on site. I submitted a sketch for my sketch feature in the Daily News, but I stayed a while and had a good time doing several sketches. Here is the full set. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the cameras and working action with the grand old house.

I've had rotating house guests lately, plus my sister has been in town, mostly for our annual dance weekend (which explains my recent silence here). I managed a hat trick of teas/chai out being festive with people and sketched all three. It's nice to have happy memories in my journal.

I took another hike in Rockport the other day and tried a new and lovely trail before coming back around to the Evergreen one. I'm going to have to do some more serious painting in there, but in the meantime, here are two sketches from my journal.

I fell in love with this enormous, dancing cedar tree and had been thinking about it. The second time past I had to stop and sketch. I may go back out with oils as well.

Here is a photo of me painting at Rockport that Jude Dippold took.

Jude took me to Hilt Run waterfall yesterday. It's a mad scramble down a slope to get a good view, and I'm only just learning to use poles. It was raining a little as I painted, and then I had to close the book to put it in my pocket for the climb back out, so all my nice white areas got splotchy. Watercolor just doesn't dry at all quickly in the humidity here. I do at least have this memory in my journal, though it's not as pristine as I would like.

The lower part of the falls is 90 feet, and it was stunning to sit there and drink it in. Here's a short video I took so you can hear the water.

We took the ferry today as a day trip to San Juan island. It's a bit over an hour's ride, and it's utterly beautiful. The ferry weaves between tiny humps of islands that dance on the water. I sketched almost nonstop. Here are the full set of sketches from the outbound trip.

The trees at Rockport State Park in Washington State have been calling to me. I came back out this time with a set of oil paints, a portable easel, and other on site painting equipment. I've done pastel and watercolor plein air painting for years, and all of my work begins with at least a sketch from life, but I haven't done oils on site since I was in college. The richness of the forest, though, made me decide to try. I set up and did two quick ones this afternoon from the easy trail next to the ranger station.

They're both quite small. 10x11" paper or so. I'm hoping I can get them back home with me on the airplane. I'll be leaving all the gear, however, for my longer trip this spring, once I get my show done and seminary work in a good place.

Here's my set up as I was cleaning up. The brushes are back in their holder already, but you can see the rest. I was sitting on the ground because my lightweight travel easel isn't tall enough for me to stand. I'll try to bring the French box back with me later, but it's too heavy to hike terribly far with. It would be nice to have options though.