Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Pastel Dust is moving...

With 2010 coming to a close, I am ending the year with one of the images from the series of 100 small works that is visual of what the northwest can and does look like this time of year.  A few days before Christmas we had several inches of snow, only to be washed away with the rains.  This is part of the world where the saying "Like our weather? Wait a minute and it will change..." must have come from.

Now, I am also closing this blog site and entering my blogs on the bonniegriffith.wordpress.com  site.  I have transferred all the old blogs from this one, but what I don't seem to be able to do is to transfer "followers" to the new site.  Please take a moment to sign into the new site to follow the journeys painting through the 50 off the 90 series and more.  I have some plans for painting in a couple of different areas this year and I am sure there will be some tales of interesting bits along the way!  This landscape artist is always looking for something of interest- whether it is in the back yard, by the river, in the mountains, etc.

We traveled the 82 to the 90 to the 5 over Christmas to visit family and friends in the Seattle area and what we saw was something akin to the painting above,  as well as sunshine on the west side of the pass in the Cascades to rain to fog and more sunshine.  Mid mornings the clouds lifted and the sun shined on Rainier for one of those spectacular views.  Driving through the Tricities and onward to Yakima was a little tense as the temperature dropped to about 27 and the rains came down.  A few cars were in the ditches, but as we got further west, the temperatures increased and the rains stopped.  Sometimes driving you see things that are just bizarre.  We witnessed such with the adventures of a little BMW of vintage age with a less than well kept convertible top and its lone driver drive sort of oddly through the hills and valleys from Yakima to Ellensburg.  He was zooming around semis and cars and then slowing up, passing again, etc.  Now, as you crest the last big ridges and look over the valley where Ellensburg lies, it is a beautiful site any time of year.  Snow covered on the 22nd of December, roads are clear except for some snow along the edges.  As you come down the long hill into the valley, the semis are gearing down for the distance and at the bottom is where you get to make the decision to get on to I-90 east or west.  82 ends there.  So this little car and his driver have now sped past everyone and we are watching as he opts for the I-90 east exit.  WRONG!  He really wanted west!  He slams on his brakes, skids around and is just about to make it back onto the lane that takes him to I-90 West when he skids into one of the interstate sign poles.  It seemed like all is good until the sign starts to sway and then falls over on the car and then bounces onto the ground creating a cloud of snow as it hits.  The driver seemed unscathed however, sitting in his seat, both hands on the wheel with that look of bewilderment on his face.  It was probably one of those things you had to see for yourself, but it was quite the site to see this sign give way and attack!

So it is back to getting some painting done.  First thing is finish the poster for the Snow White production and work on some backdrop designs...so remember to go to the new blog site and follow from there.  If you have difficulties...contact me: bzgriff@charter.net .  In meantime...happy painting and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

1 comment:

  1. Bonnie, I'm seeing the blogger follow list way down on your sidebar and I still am there. This post showed up in my google reader so maybe all is well.

    You should check your feed setting. I'm not showing an rss or atom feed option in the address bar of my browser which is another way to subscribe.

    Love your winter scene - it do look like that here! And I "enjoyed" your description of the erratic driver. You gotta wonder what some people are thinking.

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