Saltwater State Park - Des Moines, WA

This was done on a warm June afternoon at Saltwater State Park near Des Moines, WA. A rare occasion that I had the will power not to embellish with ink.

World Wide SketchCrawl - Volunteer Park, Seattle

Did you ever notice how easy it is to get up in the morning for an activity you really enjoy. For me our Urban Sketchers get togethers are one of those events that I effortlessly rise for. We met on this cold and cloudy day at the Conservatory in Volunteer Park. When we were let in you are instantly warmed by the climate needed to preserve the tropical and desert plant life. OK, it was cold, but not that cold (40 degrees) I'm just a cold weather wimp.......

I did a couple of outdoor sketches that lacked any inspiration as soon as my fingers went numb. We had a great turnout (more than twelve) and joined by a reporter Florangela Davila from KPLU who interviewed most of us and will be airing a story about the Urban Sketchers sometime after Thanksgiving.

In a mad scramble (my time management sucked today...) and with help from fellow sketcher Tim Taylor, I met Tamra and Kiersten at the Key Arena to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. The last sketch was done during the post-concert dinner at Fuller's (Pike Place Market) on the paper table covering of a gentleman eating dinner by himself and enjoying a good book.

A fun, long day...need to remind myself not to take it for granted.

Could Be The Dumbest Thing I've Ever Done

I'm putting down hardwood bamboo flooring in our house and was at the point of framing the fireplace hearth, this meant ripping floor pieces the long way on the table saw. Instead of a normal table saw we have a ShopSmith which gives you the option of using the lathe, joiner or the now dreaded table saw. Unlike a normal table saw, the blade under the cutting surface is exposed and after cutting the wood I reached under the table to turn off the saw and stuck hand into the running blade. As luck would have it, I just mangled the end of the ring finger of my drawing hand, it could have and should have been much worse.........

Down Time

We been dealing with a lack of Internet access and cable TV, seems our 23 year old cable connections no longer support the new technology. So off to the library to use their wi-fi and sketch. Comcast is in trouble, we are starting to get used to life sans cable....

Dad's 80th Birthday Celebration

With a lot of help from friends and family, Dad's 80th birthday celebration turned out to be a fun day of basketball and food. Reporters from a number of papers showed up to cover the event, the following link is to the Seattle Times article written about Pete still playing basketball at the age of 80. My thanks to all who participated/attended and donated to the Maple Valley Food Bank, you made his 80th a very special day.