Spring Fever

Refuge Resting Spot 8x10

It's only been a couple of weeks since our return to the cold weather. A few nice days and a little sun and it's off to the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge.





It was a good day to get nice shadows and work on painting snow.

Perrot's Backyard 8x10

Over by the canoe landing you can get an unobstructed view of Trempealeau Mountain and Brady's Bluff.

Still Frozen 8x10

A stop at the overlook to see if any eagles have return to open water.


Maybe a little early.

Furry Friends

Bill 8x10

Family pets are the best. Their time with us is cherished and I'm honored to help with their memory through my painting.


 
Never met Bill, but I met his guardians Evelyn and Bob while cruising. Thank you for letting me share.

Remington and Truman

Guatemalan Girl

These two best buds are now on display in their home.

Thanks Nancy





Another meet up on our cruise, Phyllis and Yogi. They've returned home and framed up Guatemalan Girl.

Thanks for sharing and so glad we met you.

At Sea-Ship to Shores

Hualtico Bay-8x10

It's a different perspective while on board a nine story tall floating hotel. From wide open skies to decked out levels.




Coming into a Mexican port I found lots of interesting rock formations. Moving water is one of my challenges to conquer. Quick paint stokes seem to be more sucessful than laboring slowly over details.

Swabbed Sporting Deck- 8x10

I then tried for the highlights of water reflections on a recently washed deck. Yes they do swab the decks every day. It's coming along but I know I'm having new difficulties on architectural elements such as railings.

Note to self!

Interrupted Sunrise- 8x10

Star Search on the Sea Deck- 8x10 

I tried to get up early every day to catch the sunrise. Always stunning. This pose I liked because it had some interesting clouds. Most sunrises and/or sunset compositions seem to be more interesting with other formations like land and clouds.











I returned to ship architecture with a try at a nocturnal scene. A lot harder than I anticipated, but I think not so bad for a first attempt.


Unfortunately not much star gazing on ships since the have lights on for our safety.

On Shore- Streets of Guatemala

 

Street Vendor-8x10 

I chose to paint from some of the photos I took while traipsing around Antigua, Guatemala.





The cobblestone streets and ancient buildings caught my attention.There's something about the colors in other countries.


This beautiful Guatemalan lady with her wares greeted passerby's. I hope I did her justice.

Street Ruins-8x10

It was a nice bright day which created great shadows.

Old buildings destroyed by earth quakes and volcanoes wait to be repaired.

I think they are beautiful as they are.

Street Sidewalk-8x10

It was a little easier walking on a narrow broken sidewalk than the cobblestone streets.

However distracted by all the beautiful colors you could end up walking into a gated window that protrude a little to far.

Music and so much More

Just another sunrise somewhere at sea

When not in port, doing an excursion, you have a day at sea. Starting with a beautiful sunrise, the days were filled with entertainment and activities.

A Stairway to Heaven

The entertainment varied all day long from concerts, comedians, singers and magicians.

The Lincoln Stage Center music was amazing. Violins, Viola, and Cello accompanied by Piano.

Inspired by their pop performance of Stairway to Heaven. In my drawing I depicted, Violinist Jiyeon Klarfeld of South Korea. Creating a composition of her expressions as she played. I was proud to gift her this drawing.

Computer painting

Or you could take a Microsoft 10 class. Here I got to discover an amazing painting program. It may not replace the real thing but it could save you a lot of money in art supplies.

Sunrise Port Entry

The main cruise event was the narrated passage through the Panama Canal. One of man's wonders of the world.

Gatun Lake along the Panama Canal

We passed through from the Atlantic to the Pacific in about 7 hours, Rising and dropping 40 feet.

 A bit larger than the lock and dam system of the Mississippi and at a greater cost. Our ships passage fee was $250,000. roughly.


Only the tops of mountains remain in this dammed man made lake, which provides the water to fill the locks and transport passage.

Photo of Pilot coming aboard

The art of navigating was apparent at each port.

The ship was always escorted by the local harbor pilot, who had to nimbly jump on board. Skillful driving and a leap of faith in the early morning hours. I hope he had his coffee already.

Aztec Goddess of Death-Mictecacihuatl

Another favorite program was presented by a cultural ambassador from Mexico. He covered everything about Mexico in a nutshell. What a lovely country of traditions and people.




Drawn image from Day of the Dead presentation and photos of workshops creating paper flowers and paper banners.

Paper Flowers

Paper Banners

 


















Of course the best part, is always the people.

The service crew was primarily from the Philippines. They worked an eight month contract. Every day, 14 hours a day. Some have been working on a cruise ship for 30 years and can still smile about it.













They graciously repaired, replaced, cleaned and prepared for our daily needs. Thank you to the services provided by these people keeping us safe.












The ship catered to 1500 passengers, mostly the US and Canada, with a staff of 800. Every meal we had in the main dining room we would sit with different people. It was very enjoyable hearing about where they were from and the adventures they had.

At each port my big souvenirs are magnets. It makes life so much more tidy.

I also have over 2000 photos and 32 drawings to remind me of our latest adventure.
















Along the way we (myself but mostly Yogi from Oregon) collected bottle caps for friend and philanthropist Kayla's artistic efforts for fundraising Heart2Heartpet.org, she makes key chains and jewelry among other creative crafts.



So it's back to painting. Where do I start?

Ports O'Call-Pacific

Waking and Ready for Another Excursion

After the Panama Canal we had 5 more ports to go.




Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Huatulco, MX ad Puerto Vallarta, MX

Antigua Remembers

Of all the excursions Antigua, Guatemala was my favorite. This ancient city has been rebuilt so many times due to the still active volcanoes. They really have endured.

Jaded

A visit to the Jade Museum, watching them carve and shape Jade was interesting and inspired me to create a composite of workers overlapped with images of Mayan artifacts.

Antigua Forgets

Huatulco Bay Beach

Huatulco High Rises

A few favorite photos to share as well.

Guatemala Active Volcano

Puerto Vallarta, MX Guadalupe Church

Huatulco, MX Port

Ports O'Call- Caribbean

Arriving Sunrise to Start the Day

On the eastern side of the Panama Canal we stopped at the islands of Curacao and Aruba.

Aruba Docks

Sometimes we just walked around the port city and sometimes we took an excursion.

Pelicans

The stops were only about 6-8 hours and if you didn't make it back to the ship in time, they do leave without you. Sometimes I just wanted to stay behind but it was always exciting to move on to the next port.

Parrots of the Caribbean

Streets of Curacao

Aruba Island Getaways

Photos of Willemstad

The port city of Willemstad, Curacao was by far the most beautiful. This Dutch city doesn't allow a building to be painted white.

The port city Oranjestad, Aruba was definitely a  close second for architecture and color.

Many other ports were in the shipyards and full of containers. Interesting but not as pretty.

Inspiration Everywhere

Another reason to get up and get creative

The Holland America ship Rotterdam was filled with artwork from paintings of tulips, sea souvenirs and sculptures in every nook. All tastefully decorated.

Greeters of the World Stage

Guards of Guest Services

I had to walk every stairway and look around every corner so I didn't miss a thing.

I'm a very early riser and often I'd be the only person up in the wee hours. We had 5 different time zone changes and I wasn't going to let a clock tell me what to do.

It gave me the opportunity to pull up a chair anywhere in front of a sculpture and draw to my hearts content.

I don't consider myself a cruise lover but it was very rewarding and comfortable to move about ship and discover areas of creativity.

Stampede to Lido Lunch

Lido Love by the Pool

Flowers for a Friend

Sea Souvenirs

Table Art 1

Table Art 2

Table Art 3

Main Dining Room

 I was impressed by all the beautiful seating areas. From Crows Nest loungers, library reading rooms, and cocktail club chairs