Pacific Northwest Travels

Swamped a bit lately recovering from the trip and finishing up some deadlines..but finally a chance to make a post here… :D

For the final leg of our Western adventure, we quickly toured Washington State.  …going to several wildlife facilities and visiting friends.  Lots of beautiful things to paint and inspiration. :)  ( more pics here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=111793&id=503663762&l=f19d3224eb )

Near the Canadian border, we stopped in to see our friends who are missionaries to the First Nations, Jack and Carolyn…very sweet..spoiled us terribly..  Carolyn has been a family friend for as long as I can remember. :)  (She’s also an artist. :) )  We had a wonderful tour of Whideby Island!

We took a trip with our friend Dee Dee (Wildlife/animal artist – www.deedeemurry.com / Blog –UPDATE, link now functioning… ) and spent a day seeing animals to paint. :)

It was a bit on the soggy side, but the Quinault Rainforest was beautiful. :D  A stroll on the wooded trail makes you feel very small very quickly surrounded by such enormous trees.  I was disturbed a bit to see large areas clear-cut for logging nearby on private/reservation lands.  Farther up the peninsula, the cliffs (and haystack rocks) along the Pacific coast are gorgeous in that area as well. ..the sky cleared from the light rain we’d had to a foggy haze with the sun..seemed magical.

After crossing the sound, we toured through the North Cascades National Park and a stopped for a hike.  The vegetation was so interesting..I had never seen so many mushrooms. :)  It was sunny but snowing over the pass, so we had a quick (and crisp) look around there as well.

Finally, we made a stop at a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center to tour their facility and see their beautiful animals, coming away with a lot of beautiful references for new pieces.

It was a bit of a whirlwind tour, and wish I could have had time to see more, but so much fun! :)  Now..back to the studio to catch up..