Jungle Dream

I'm working on this image for Illustration Friday this week. The theme is 'jungle" so I thought I'd incorporate Rousseau's painting "The Dream" into my drawing. I'm going to add color next but I wanted to get posted before Friday rolled around again.

"Robot" Illustration Friday

Catching up on my Illustration Friday post! Hey, it's only Wednesday!

California Travels

While I was away from home, and not posting on my blog, I was traveling around parts of California with eight of my college friends. We've known each other at least 35 years, and we began holding summer reunions four years ago. Thanks to Facebook, we resumed our friendships. Now that the youngest of our children are 18 years old, we planned a big trip to California, to meet up with the two who have settled there. Two of us still live in New England, the others are in Maryland, Virginia, and Connecticut. The landscapes and the temperatures in the areas we visited are quite varied, and I'll share some of the pictures from my trip.

 Brunch in Santa Barbara

                                           The Art Fair along the beach in Santa Barbara

 Pacific Coast Highway

Elephant Seals

 Stopped for pie at Linn's in Cambria

 San Francisco Trolley Cars

 They say this is the pub where the first Irish Coffee originated. Good place to warm up as it was very cool and windy in the city

 The Golden Gate Bridge

 The "Painted Ladies" (fans of the Full House television show will recognize these)

 The view of San Francisco from Sausalito

 Muir Woods National Park featuring the giant Redwood trees

 Taking a break on the trail

 Napa Valley

 Rutherford Hills Winery   Beautiful flowers everywhere!

 Wine casks in Castello di Amorosa (nice and cool down there as it was a warm day outside)

 Lake Tahoe beach

 Heading down in the tram at Squaw Mountain

 View from the tram of windswept rock

Emerald Bay in South Tahoe


Now that I'm home again, I need to get back to creating some new artworks. I think my California vacation will be the inspiration for my next block print. Choosing from so many great images will be the biggest difficulty.

Illustration Friday "Protest"

"Eat your vegetables!"

Another hot and humid week in the forecast! It's hard to get any work done when everything you touch is sticky. I don't have central air, but I am making-do with fans.

I used an "AutoStitch" ap to combine a series of pictures from my back yard. The day lilies are all blooming this week. My husband has been working on a new path, and expanding his perennial garden. I think his goal is to eventually get rid of as much grass as possible, so there'll hardly be any grass to mow!

Equality

Illustration Friday---"Equality"

A week of hazy, hot, and humid, mixed with thunderstorms has been the description of our weather. The garden looks lush after all the rain and heat. My husband spends most of his free time planting and weeding all his perennial beds, and this week he's creating a new path and enlarging another area. I did help with some weeding yesterday, but it's really his passion, and I stick to my little vegetable garden, and the annuals.

The forecast calls for more of the same through Thursday, but hopefully more sun on Friday! This is a big vacation week as the Fourth of July falls on Thursday. I'm just happy I'm not camping in my tent this week!

"surveillance"

Illustration Friday "surveillance"

Official last day of school today!! I have a few things to finish up, and will probably have to go in for a bit tomorrow, but it's nice to be done teaching for the summer. Very hot and muggy here---thunderstorms rumbling around this evening---some nice rain for the plants. Looks we're in for a heat wave this week---so thankful we didn't have this kind of weather the last few days of school. When there are 1,800 teenagers in the building, it can get stifling!

Stay cool and enjoy the longest days of the year!

"worn"

Illustration Friday "worn"

Feeling a little worn out myself as the school year winds down. It has been a busy month with all the end-of-the-year activities. We graduated our class of 2013 last Saturday, and I enjoyed marching in with fellow teachers, as we led the procession of over 450 seniors to their seats. Everything went smoothly, and I marvel at our principal's ability to read and pronounce all those names.

One more graduation this week for my own daughter, and a few more days of school for me! I'm looking forward to getting back to work on some new prints, and having the time to do it.

Hope everyone is having a good week as summer officially begins on Friday!