Bonding on Blue Boats

by | Aug 3, 2018 | Camping, Desolation Canyon, Friends, Musings, River Trips, Rivers, travel, Water

When leaving Laramie for my 2nd Desolation River trip, I had no clue it would turn out to be one of my favorite trips of all time. It had nothing to do with the actual river. That part of each trip is usually my favorite. This trip was different from the word go. Small talk flew out the truck window within minutes of starting out. We had amazing conversations all the way across the states we traveled. These continued on the raft as we marveled at our surroundings, wondering which came first, the chicken or the rock. We laughed until we cried. I had just lost my father, so other times I just cried. I couldn’t have asked for better friends on this trip if I had tried.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink.

by | Jul 27, 2018 | Camping, Friends, Grand Canyon, Musings, River Trips, Rivers, travel, Water

Organization is key on a long trip in the desert. I love it when everything is color coded and has a specific spot on each raft. Atmosphere Mountainworks always plays a big part in my trips. They have the best bags and have fixed my tent zipper more than once. I also have one of their bags that I have dedicated to just art supplies for my rafting trips.

Rivers and Tides – Ode to Andy Goldworthy

by | Jul 23, 2018 | Grand Canyon, Musings, Rivers, travel, Water

Andy Goldworthy has long been my favorite landscape artist. I have watched his award-winning documentary, “Rivers and Tides” numerous times. I love that it is a quiet film…letting his powerful artwork speak for itself. I had recently watched this again right before my last trip down the Grand Canyon, inspiring my own ephemeral artwork in a side canyon. I’ve often wondered if anyone else saw this, added to it or took their own pictures.

Won’t you be my neighbor? Oh wait, you are!

by | Jul 19, 2018 | Laramie, Rivers, travel, Water, Wyoming

This is Jenn.

Jenn is Rad.

She is patient, kind and encourages everyone she meets to be a better version of themselves.

Jenn smiles and laughs more than anyone I know.

On this day, we took her boat and put it in as many different bodies of water as possible.

Dressed as barmaids.

In July.

Just because.

I am so lucky to have a great friend who lives next door.

Put your feet up

by | Jul 16, 2018 | Ceramic Tiles, Friends, Laramie, Water, Wyoming

Reasons to your feet up after celebrating all weekend!

A 30-year reunion full of friendship and laughter ~ 150 years of celebrating Laramie ~ 78 years of Jubilee Days ~ Dancin’ in the streets ~ Staying up until the wee hours of the next day with friends you haven’t seen in years

And, because I love any excuse to take a long bath surrounded by tiles I made.

The above photo was taken at night with the ambient light of a candle and this cool light fixture below that I made from an old, glass funnel from my dads’ lab.

Below are the true colors of my bathroom thanks to BHP Imaging.

Water Reflections

by | Jul 11, 2018 | Sailing, travel, Water

These water reflections are the first I captured, leading me to take many, many more, especially after getting a waterproof camera a few years after taking these.

Seeing the curvature of the earth is pretty cool, not something I see too often living in the landlocked state of Wyoming.

The green water…this color just blows me away…

Reflections

by | Jul 10, 2018 | Figurative Sculptures, Musings, Old and new, Recycling, travel, Water

Reflections

This is one of my favorite sculptures I have made. I have not spent as much time on sailboats as I would like, so whenever I see them, I reflect on the time I have and dream of being rocked to sleep… This boat is made from an old oak planter that fell apart in my yard. The texture of the wood, the blue glass beads from my trip to Turkey, handmade paper rolled into waves and an old silk shirt are just some of the reclaimed items in this piece.

Shooting stars in the desert

by | Apr 3, 2018 | Musings, New Mexico, Trees, Water

It’s good to go on holiday – aka vacation.

To get away from the everyday and be reminded of the magic

The magic of sunsets in a new place

The magic of afternoon naps in the front seat of the car on a cold, windy day

The magic of birds chirping and owls hooting as winter fades to spring

The magic of coyotes howling as the light changes in the desert

The magic of doing nothing, nothing but simply living

The magic of no phone reception for days on end

The magic of rejuvenation

The magic of soothing soaks in hot springs

 

These all do wonders to ease my mind and body of stiffness and rigidity

So grateful to see a shooting star while soaking after waking up from a nap in the hot springs…I had the place to myself, just me and my dad