Travel

Knaresborough, England was our home for a few weeks last year. It was such a delightful setting that I kept having the sensation that I was in a movie depicting a Jane Eyre novel. The trestle supported the train that I took often to York or Harrogate. Houses along this part of the river had checkerboard siding and thatched roofs -as you walked down to the river (most of the town was at the trestle height) the trails were so steep that you would touch the straw on the roofs of the houses down below as you walked behind them.

This is one photo that would be better than a painting. I loved the long alleyway to the back -these are used like they are city sidewalks -perhaps they are. There were benches to sit and people watch and I made good use of those.

In England, we took a two day trip up north past the home of James Harriott who may be the patron saint of veterinarians, at least an important person to our vet Lexy. We went on to the coast. It was quite a hike down to the water but worth the effort. We past by the scene with the bench on the way down (and up).

When I was a kid, there was an ad on TV for Hertz that said "Let Hertz put you in the driver's seat". They would "fly" a man on wires down into the seat of a car. This display looked just like it was out of 1963! a wooden car,crudely painted, sat in the Hahn Airport -the screen behind it (if turned on) would have a rear screen projecion of some scene and all designed for a photo op like this. It was so simple and yet cute that I thot it would be a good idea to use a setup like this for a kids carnival or such.

The Amsterdam airport is my favorite worldwide. This is a seafood and wine bar in the middle of the airport. It beacons youall the way from the other end of the concourseas it is 25' tall.

It is probably this painter's biggest plein air thrill to actually paint along the canals in Venice. This was handy as it was right in front of our hotel, Hotel American. Thankfully, nothing American about it. I got up early and finished the painting before the restaurant keeper next door opened for business.

In front of the train station in Venice, what looked like a large black cylinder from the outside, was an art installation. Mona Lisa's face was repeated on the colors of a color wheel on the inside. I stopped inside it each time I happened by the station.

Delightful!

This is the studio of Joaquin Sorrola, one of the finest impressionists I know. Several of my teachers talked about Sorrola and I was very interested to stop here at his former studio and home (now a museum).

I love visiting the workspaces of the artists that I admire to see how they set up their work environment. I have seen many that I wanted to emulate but this space was exceptional as is the work of the artist who resided there.

I call this one

"Terrarium"

photo from Guam

Maybe my favorite photo of my hubby.

Grandaughter Madison in red going her regular speed.


Bernkassel-Kues oompa band performing	Vines ripe for the picking along the Mosel River