Hi!
I've just received word from the National Park Service that I'll be spending two weeks in late May/early June as the winter Artist-in-Residence at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. (If you're a flatlander like me you're probably reacting the same way I did when I received the call; "Winter? In May?" Yep, they tell me that I can expect 8 to 12 feet of snow on the ground when I arrive!)
In addition to studying and recording my own take on the natural history of the Park, I'll be working with the Park Service to visually communicate threats to this natural wonder (there are two: global warming, which threatens the lake itself; and Rust Blisters, a fungal infection which is expected to kill off 90% of the White Bark Pine -- the only tree species that will grow at this altitude).
And I'll be depicting the Park's architectural heritage -- the buildings of the CCC and USNFS eras (one of my favorite reasons to visit any national park or national forest in the country).
I may find it necessary to revisit the park in summer to see what the ground floor of some buildings look like.
I went to a design conference for modern quilts in Austin, TX recently. The buzz at the conference was that more than a dozen of the "girls" got tattoos during the week at the conference. Not this girl. Quilting has gone mod. 
I've been driving past this lot full of rusty old cars for years now, but recently began to eye it as a sketching possibility. I think someone once thought they would rescue these classic beauties, but now they've been left too long and I always think of it as the place good cars go to die. Honestly, drawing cars is another area where I need practice, but this place just called to me. A few lines are pretty wonky, but all in all I'm pretty happy with the result.
Oh, and I finally broke down and got myself a Lamy Safari, so there's the added advantage of a little practice with the fountain pen.
