Travel | sbhansen ART

Watercolor Workshop in Italy!

By sbhansen2014 on May 1, 2017

I’m flying out to Italy today at 3pm to teach a painting workshop in Tuscany! I can’t wait! I have a couple of layovers, and will end up in Florence tomorrow at 5pm. So excited. Can’t wait to experience the beautiful light and sights of amazing Tuscany. LOVE Italy.

Italian Farmhouse we will call home for 6 days!

View from one of the beautiful little towns in Tuscany last year

Roman spa from 2016 tour

Montepulciano window box. Gorgeous.

I have uploaded Google Drive to my devices, so that I can send my phone photos to my tablet and post a blog update every day. That’s the plan anyway. We’ll see how it works. In any case, I’ll be posting on Facebook and Instagram. Watch were we go, what we see, what we paint, and (probably) what we eat!! Oh, and the wine, of course!

Follow this blog, my FB page and Instagram to share the adventure with us!

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Enchanted

By sbhansen2014 on March 7, 2017

My backpack trip into the Enchantment Mountains proved worthy of the incredible challenge I faced just to arrive. It was extremely rugged country. Mountain goats, waterfalls, lakes, icebergs, glaciers, and sheer cliffs astounded us with views at every turn.

I am no stranger to backpacking. I backpacked as a kid in the Colorado Rockies with my family. Later, I explored the Pacific Northwest with my husband and our kiddos, once they were old enough to hike (or be carried, as the case often was…ha…). Camping out in the wilderness rejuvenates my soul. I usually feel as though I have been holding my breath and when I get into the mountains, I finally exhale, and breathe deep for the first time in a long while. Ahhhhh……there it is. I’m whole again.

When my husband suggested we hike into the Stuart Range in Washington for a family trip, however, I was a little reserved. What? No, no, not for the kids, but for me! Our boys, ages ranging from 14-20 at the time, were completely able to carry their own food, clothes, and selves deep into the great outdoors. No problem. In fact, strong, young boys with tons of muscle and energy? Hiking was a breeze for them. All I had to do was organize the food and get myself and my own backpack to the destination. Easy enough, right?

Problem. Errrr, yes. Twelve miles in and 7,000 feet elevation gain of steep, rugged wilderness awaited. I was nervous about the sheer amount of physical energy needed to arrive at the campsite. Nevertheless, excited to go, I envisioned the beauty and couldn’t wait to begin. We made plans, reserved our permit, packed, organized, and headed up. Oh, and I DID pack my watercolor journal. Extra weight, sure, but I could handle it.

HA.

Every ounce practically killed me by the end. In fact? Just the weight of my own body proved almost too difficult to bear.

Difficult. But worth every step. It was so beautiful, so challenging, so scary, and so amazing, and I’ll probably never see it again.

Here we are, in all our pre-hike glory.

The hike started out extremely steep, rising up out of the valley just outside of Leavenworth, Washington.

Me, with my three boys and friends, on our way up to Snow Lake

Me, with our three boys and friends, on our way up to Snow Lake. Hubby took the pic. It was a little steamy, as you can tell by the boy’s hair.

Our goal for the first night was to hike in and camp at Snow Lake, a 6 mile trek.The hike in was gorgeous, steep, but not terribly difficult.

Snow Lake. View from our camp, first night. Mt. McClellen in the background.

No worries, I thought! I can handle this! The next day we headed out for the upper lakes.

By the second mile on day two, my knee was giving me a bit of grief from the steep climb the day before. THIS day, the climb was even steeper, working our way up boulder fields,

Boulder fields above Snow and Nada Lakes.

over tumbling waterfalls,

Hubby and I, posing for an "excuse pic" i.e. RESTING!

Hubby and I, posing for a pic (i.e. RESTING).

across a dam, with floating trees on one side and a waterfall on the other (we had to cross the 12″ concrete dam while water rushed over the top…yikes!!),

This was scary for me. Death by drowning on one side, death by OUCH on the other! CONCENTRATE, Sarah! The dam was slippery!

and over a rounded, dead-drop boulder with rebar as footholds so that hikers would (hopefully) not plunge to their death. I have no photo of that, sketchy enough that my legs quivered and I was SO NOT taking my camera out. In fact, I may have cried. That’s just a rumor, mind you.

It was hot, gorgeous, and tiring.

Some of us rested in the shade. Kid 3 tired out from helping me up the boulders.

So, yeah, gorgeous, but (ouch)knee, fear of heights, and water/drowning issues came to the front of my anxiety on that day. I worked it all through, though. and was rewarded with the most amazing high-alpine location I’d ever been.

Once we arrived at Vivian Lake, we re-grouped with a water filter re-fill, lunch, and a much-needed rest.

Son 1, refilling his water with a water filter system.

We rested among the no-fear mountain goats and spent the next day exploring the area before heading down the following day.

We hiked the entire 12 miles out in one day. By the time I reached the truck, I could barely place one foot in front of another. My legs were jellyfish, seemingly only marginally attached to my body with painful connections called joints. My back, shoulders and neck were stiff and my feet? Ugh. Too much. Only the memories of my family in one of the most gorgeous places I’ve been, and the photos I took, kept me going through some painful muscle aches for the rest of the week. Oh, and quite a substantial amount of Advil (and possibly wine…another rumor).

This past weekend, paying homage to this amazing hike, I worked on a landscape of one of the waterfalls we found at the lakes. I wanted to capture the raw beauty of this location, the way nature molds the landscape, the resistance and strength of the alpine trees, and the simple glory of water in erosive action. I’m bringing this to you, in the hopes that you can experience a part of The Enchantments, without the pain of the hike!

Enchanted, 12x32, original watercolor on textured Plexiglas

Enchanted, 12×32, original watercolor on textured Plexiglas

“Enchanted” was created for a group show at Tumalo Art Company, and is hanging at the gallery during the month of March. It’s delightful to see in person, with collaged texture and watercolor crayons capturing the rugged feel of the cliff bands surrounding Vivian Lake.

Enjoy the new work, and find it and other paintings of mine at Tumalo Art Company, and Hood Avenue Art.

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and follow this blog to be informed of amazing new paintings and events! Contact me to receive my newsletter so that we can meet at showings and to receive notifications about classes. I will be planning a workshop painting class in the fall of 2017. I will post more when I know the dates. Every one of my paintings is available as a print, and I sell signed greeting cards of all my images

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View Through an Artist’s Eye

By sbhansen2014 on October 23, 2016

Artists see life differently.

I recently traveled to Colorado to visit my folks and take a mini-vacation. I grew up in Colorado and LOVE, LOVE, Love it.. I still consider it my home. We drove several times into the mountains to see fall colors. I think I took around 500 reference photos…just of trees, mountains, and landscape. Crazy, huh?

On one drive, we drove from Montrose towards Telluride to see broad views of the San Juan Mountain Range, along with several (or what seemed like thousands) of people pulling off the road and taking pictures of magnificent peaks. As we pulled out of a forest access road, facing the opposite (read: boring) direction from the mountains, I stopped our Subaru and hopped out, taking photos of a ridge across the road. My parents didn’t see anything amazing in the general direction of my camera focus. But I popped back inside, all excited, proclaiming, “THAT will become a painting!”.

Here is the “inspiring” ridge photo that so sparked my interest:

Ridge of trees in Colorado

Now, MOST people look at that picture and think, “meh…”. Am I right? Do you see the potential? When I showed the picture to my husband, he could not believe I would be inspired by such a bland scene.

I, on the other hand, could not wait to get into the studio and begin the process of translating it into beauty I saw in my eyes and imagination. This, I think, is the magic of being an artist; the ability to translate and re-interpret daily scenes from life. We can explain it through a title or inject it with colors; perhaps with a feeling of emptiness in space around the focal point, or nostalgia with color choices, maybe impact with composition and value. In fact, I could take this picture and pull completely different emotions from my viewers with several different paintings.

Seeing a lone tree, a bottle, a slice of fruit, or a mundane landscape can provide an artist with an opportunity to speak about issues we all face in our lives and our world. Artists see life differently and give us a chance to join in that view.

That ridgeline? NOT boring. Instead, beautiful and metaphorical. Here is how I interpreted that very mundane ridge in Colorado:

The Ridge, original watercolor and mixed media on Plexiglas, 30x22

The Ridge, original watercolor and mixed media on Plexiglas, 30×22

Texture, ridgeline placement, empty space, color, and a sense of being on the edge introduce a thought of past and future with this painting. I am at a turning point in my life right now. I’m in the space between raising my children (one left…a senior in high school) and choosing my next step. Metaphorically, I’m looking at the ridgeline as a point of view, a destination to see the goal. Once I get up there, I can view past and future paths from the same point. I must work towards that ridge, though, and getting there might be rough, as you can see the landscape is tangled with roots, sand, and textural challenges.

Like I said…Artists see life differently. Would you be inspired by the photo of the junipers on the cliff? What type of connection would you have drawn between that photo and your life? Have you taken photos that you find meaning in, not necessarily just in the subject matter?

To see this painting, go to Hood Avenue Art in Sisters, Oregon later this week, where I will be featured artist during the rest of October and most of November. Make sure to come by the gallery and see me and visit about the new landscape work. I’ll be there Fourth Friday, this Friday, October 28th from 4-8pm.

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and follow this blog to be informed of amazing new paintings and events! Contact me to receive my newsletter so that we can meet at showings and to receive notifications about SB Hansen Watercolor & Wine Painting Classes. I am planning an upcoming workshop on Textured Watercolors in January. Let me know if you would be interested in the 2-day class. Every one of my paintings is available as a print, and I sell signed greeting cards of all my images.

Cheers, people! And Feed the Beast!

Petals…or Pedals?

By sbhansen2014 on April 19, 2016

I had so much fun at the Willamette Valley last weekend! After hiking the Silverton Falls (10 falls, 7 miles…we shortened our hike and had 5 falls in 5 miles…gorgeous), we toured Frank Lloyd Wright’s Gordon House (my favorite architect of all time…what a treat), then managed to fit in a stop at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm before calling it a day…yep, all that in ONE day, and heading back to our VRBO in McMinnville.

I was somewhat amazed (and a little disgusted, frankly) at the commercialism of the Wooden Shoe. I had different visions of a quiet, peaceful field of tulips, but instead, there were inflatable kid toys, bungee jumping, rides through the tulips on a “train”, a hot air balloon, you name it. But for my purposes, we headed straight into the fields, where I managed to shoot about 200 photos of tulips and people in the tulips. It was incredibly beautiful.

You will see several paintings from this trip, but the first one I had to do was this one, a man on a bike, riding through the field. PERFECT! I took several shots of him. He seemed to be leisurely poking along, glancing down at the flowers every now and again, clearly out for a casual ride to see the sights.

First wash of teal and yellow

String, paper squares, produce netting and scribbles dance in the canvas, providing a crazy, fun background for the tulip colors.

Details:

In the background, I suggested trees and a distant field of pink flowers. You can see the squares of paper, produce netting grid, and string

Up close of Mr. Tulip Guy, where there is gridded pattern of netting and paper squares as well as a fruit tree in the background.

Here is a detailed view of the bike, with string, painted grids, and paper collage. As you can see, the flowers are not painted as such, but suggested by mass and color.

Finished original on Plexiglas! One of my favorite areas is the background, where it seems a little surreal, or suggestive of trees, clouds, and haze. This turned out to be a fabulous painting!! It strikes the perfect mood.

Petals, 20x16, $750 original watercolor and mixed media on Plexiglas

Petals, 20×16, $750 original watercolor and mixed media on Plexiglas

The question was…Petals? Or Pedals for my title. After some deliberation, I decided on Petals. Why? Not sure, other than that I just love the flowers.

Cheers!

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and follow this blog to be informed of amazing new paintings and deals! Contact me to receive my newsletter so that you see me at showings and receive notifications about SB Hansen Watercolor & Wine Painting Classes. Every one of my paintings is available as a print, and I sell signed greeting cards of all my images.

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Texture and Contrast in Portland

By sbhansen2014 on March 1, 2016

There must be contrast for interest. Really. If life/art/people/etc. were all just the same, we would find ourselves uninspired and bored. Ethnicity, culture, race, skin color, height, houses, food, personalities, paintings; if it were all the same, where would be be? I shudder to think. The blandness of sheer repetition would cause dullness of the senses.

And so it occurred to me this past weekend when I went to Portland with a friend of mine (katherinetaylor.com). We went in search of potential gallery representation, as well as to enjoy Portland’s art scene. I was struck by the need for contrast. Not only concerning styles of paintings, but contrast within a painting. Contrast is an absolute necessity to create compelling interest.

We visited a variety of galleries. There seemed to be a disturbing amount of art that I wouldn’t want in my house. Much of it was seemingly simple, with dark themes, many hung without frames, and at exorbitant prices. Nonetheless, some of it was striking. Of the galleries we visited, a few stood out as representing accomplished artists of a range of styles, all employing the elements and principles of design in a compelling manner. Those galleries were Butters Gallery, Gallery 903, the Augen Gallery, and the Froelick Gallery. Again, we didn’t have time to see them all, but these were the best of those we visited.

Of the most noticeable common themes, texture seemed to be often employed element for many artists. Mixed media, tangible texture, and visual texture abounded. In addition to texture, contrast of value, such as darks against lights created compelling visuals. For instance, in a high-key painting of mostly light values, a shape, or line of black added at a focal point made the work sing. Or, in a mostly black/dark painting of war and oppression, bright spots of flags gave some relief in contrast and made the viewer look closer…longer.

So! To that end, I have come home very inspired to add contrast and increase texture surface to my paintings. As a result, I took one of my photos from my favorite artistic inspiration locale, Pikes Place Market in Seattle, of a flower vendor.

I began with a basic reference photo.

I loved the way the flowers surrounded this girl as she carried a huge bouquet to a customer. In planning my painting, I cropped in closer to the girl and mapped out my values on a small thumbnail sketch. I wanted to produce an edgier painting, so planned a dark mass of value that connected her shirt, hair, and the bouquet to the edge of the painting.

Value study. The arrows indicate visual movement of the dark value moving out of the edge of the painting.

Once I began painting, the texture came through from all the applications in the base of the gesso. This was a recycled painting, as well. It had a former life of being something else (that clearly didn’t work…). I had covered it and textured it up, but a little remained of the painting beneath, adding further interest.

Plenty of whites were left unpainted here in a detail of the flowers around the vendor’s face

Produce netting was used in various spots to create a honeycomb or a grid-like pattern.

Detail of produce netting pattern

I added many pops of color onto a neutral background of black/grey/and cobalt. Above, the vendor’s shirt takes on many textures. Produce netting squares, small squares of paper, scribbles in the gesso base, and 3D lines were painted into the surface before the paint was applied.

The edge of the bouquet. This detail describes both the netting honeycomb pattern and the painted-in squares of color for interest.

More texture.

Watercolor pencils add a line element

Scribbles and underscoring create complicated patterns in the painting.

And finally, the finished painting:

“Transaction of Color”, 20×16, $550. Original painting. Watercolor on gesso and collage.

This painting has a very fresh, open feel, accomplished both by the texture, the massed values, and the bright areas of color. Hopefully you get a chance to view this painting in person. I will be installing it at Hood Avenue Art as soon as it is sealed and framed. It is very interesting to view the different textures and colors up close. All in all, I believe I captured the contrast I was going after with the almost-blacks, the neutrals with pops of color traveling in pockets throughout the painting, the gestural strokes, patterns, and texture. Look for these qualities to come up in my future work. Expand the mind, people!

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and follow this blog to be informed of amazing new paintings and deals! Contact me to receive my newsletter so that you see me at showings and receive notifications about SB Hansen Watercolor & Wine Painting Classes.

All images and paintings on this site copyrighted by Sarah B Hansen unless otherwise noted.

Alpacas!

By sbhansen2014 on November 9, 2015

Alpacas! Son3 and I decided to take a few hours this Saturday and stop by the Snow Diamond Alpacas farm just outside of Bend. Armed with our cameras, we took the scenic drive out to the open areas northwest of Tumalo. I was probably a little more excited than son3, having imagined alpaca paintings since I first saw their ad in the Bend Bulletin a few weeks ago. But my son got to drive the Jetta, so…And, since he has a photography class in high school, this provided an opportunity for him to increase his photography portfolio.

When we arrived at the ranch, there were a few small signs directing us back to a large barn on the property. The owner, Don, took us out into the field among the beautiful, fuzzy, puffy animals. I was surprised at how docile they were. Don knew each one, it seemed. He estimated about 180 alpacas lived on his farm!

I was not prepared for just how cute these guys and girls were! The color variety in their coats, their personalities, and their beautiful eyes captivated us.

A small family of alpacas. Their collars defined family ties.

We got a bunch of close-ups.

Ms. white puffy alpaca, surveying her surroundings.

Check out this baby! Isn’t she beautiful. I mean, look at those lashes! They must be 5 inches long!

Young alpaca. Was this Carmel? I cannot remember. Maybe Carmel’s child.

Apparently, some decided their best end was their back end, and presented such for the shot.

“If we ignore them, maybe they will go away.”

One posed handsomely.

“Ahem…The lighting is perfect for my coat…”

The obligatory selfie, just to show how cool we are. Was I standing in a hole? I must have been standing in a hole. Really.

My son and myself selfie. How’s the hair? Just great, Mom.

The owner decided to go in for the kiss.

Hows about a kiss, sweetheart?

Son3 had a few fans.

Oh, hello. Do you want your pic taken?

And I’m sorry. Yep. I apologize for doing this to you all, but I must end this blog post on a cute factor of plus ten. If you look at the next pic, you will never be the same. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

OMG. Cute factor? Off the charts!!

Whhhaaattt? Can an animal really be that cute? A real, live animal? I think I’m in love.

Anyway, best day ever. Son3 and I had the best time taking photos. The owners were amazing; so kind and educational. They have a wonderful shop there, full of beautiful alpaca scarves, throws, hats, socks, etc. You must stop by and see them if you are going through the area. It’s not that far off Highway 20.

You can bet I will be painting these beautiful creatures in the future. I already have one in process. Stay tuned!

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and follow this blog to be informed of amazing new paintings and deals! Contact me to receive my newsletter so that you see me at showings and receive notifications about SB Hansen Watercolor & Wine Painting Classes.

Keep creating to Feed the Beast! Support each other, people!:)

All images and paintings on this site copyrighted by Sarah B Hansen unless otherwise noted.

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Adventure in Alaska

By sbhansen2014 on September 14, 2015

I prepared myself for a grizzly encounter. I planned. While hiking, I would make plenty of noise, clapping, talking, and having my pepper spray in-hand (though you have to be 16 feet from the bear to use the spray…uhmm…wow…really?…yikes). More importantly, I had griz-photos all pre-determined in my head, imagining paintings of huge Alaskan brown bears, swishing around in violent rivers, sleek salmon in their massive mouths.

Alaska. I’d never been before. Growing up in Colorado, I thought it would be same-same. Just bigger and colder. Not so.

We headed up at the end of August for a week-long family trip, which included more family than the usual crew of myself, my husband and our boys. We were a group of eleven; extended family members as well as friends. We happily co-habitated in a home on the Kenai River near the little town of Soldotna (we all had to train ourselves to pronunciate the Russian name, Sol-DOT-na). And little town it was, gearing down from a busy summer. Some of the shops and restaurants were shuttering for the year. Fred Meyer, our oft-visited grocery store, however, buzzed with business every day. Mostly ours.;)

Back view of the house we rented on the Kenai River.

Most of our crew of 11 people fished every day, sometimes all day long! They could fish directly on the Kenai, just a few yards down a path from the house.

We lined the river, fishing for Sockeye Salmon

Our crew lined the river, fishing for Sockeye Salmon

While my family and friends fished, I painted in my journal, enjoying sunny, warm weather.

Painting in my journal on the back deck

On one particularly sunny day, a nuthatch flew into the house through the open door and ended up confused, flying into a window with a clonk. I threw a shirt over him and took him outdoors. He wobbled around a bit, sat on my thumb until he was mindful, and took off.

Poor little nuthatch on my thumb. Cute, isn’t he?

In spite of the amazing fishing and the nuthatch encounter, I had my mind focused on bears, scared though I was with the prospect of an actual teeth-slobbering, claws-slashing encounter. BUT! Never, ever let anything come between a woman and her vision of a great painting. Even big brown scary bears. Even that.

We planned a hike to Russian River Falls, which is known for bear activity. Specifically, bears fishing.

Lower Russian Falls

There were plenty, plenty of fish in the Russian River

The hike was a 2.5 mile stroll along a wide, pedestrian-friendly path down to the famed river and falls. Apparently, I wasn’t the only person who wished for an encounter with bears. The path was well-worn, but since we were there at the end of the season, we encountered only a few groups of people. When we arrived at the overlook to the falls, I was dissapointed to find NO BEARS. Not a single bear anywhere! We saw fresh bear scat, but no bears. There were, however, millions of fish packed in the river, trying to head up the falls, exhausted though they were, to spawn in their own special spawning spot. No other spot would do. They were driven to jump the falls to reproduce. Their jumps were amazing, seeming an impossible feat for a fish. Hello? Note to fish: You are supposed to swim, not fly…

We headed back after a lunch of sandwiches and tangerines by the falls. We all had plenty of chances to take photos of amazing Alaskan terrain. You can bet I found plenty of subjects for future paintings.

On our way back, we met up with a friendly Fish & Wildlife guy, who offered to take us up to see the fish dam (or weir, as he called it), near Lower Russian Lake, where they count salmon on a daily basis. Wonderful! He was a trove of information on the fauna, and even the flora of the area. We arrived at the lake…gorgeous!

Russian Lake. Gorgeous!

Wonderful hike. I would love to spend time in one of the lake cabins that the F&W guy mentioned, painting and hiking the area every day. Maybe I would even become a bear-whisperer.

One day, in spite of some major vehicular problems in which we spent all morning at the dealership then ended up renting a HOT Dodge Charger…(hello power, and welcome!), we drove to Homer.

Posing with two of my sons, in front of the famous Salty Dawg Saloon in Homer

Beautiful Homer. It featured a long spit on which rested the famed Salty Dawg Saloon (of course, we had to pose in front of it) as well as cute little tourist shops. Glacial-formed mountains swung steeply down into Kachemak Bay, providing shelter for many seabirds in its wind-swept waters. Stunning.

Homer Spit Marina

The next day, we decided another hike was in order. This one, called Skilak Lookout trail, promised incredible views of Skilak Lake. Everyone performed back-bends to get 11 people to their different needs and locations with one car this day, having returned the rental.

Skilak Lookout Trail

This trail was a little more sketchy than the other, being less used, more brushy, and in serious bear country. At one point, I heard a very deep moan-groan (no, it wasn’t me) that was “something” (“something” being an inside joke that family members from the trip will enjoy…). That “something” was probably a moose, we decided later, as we had fresh tracks all the way up to the lookout. At the time, though, we considered the very real possibility it could be a bear, and were on hyper-alert, our bear-spray warriors in the front and the back of our group, thumbs on triggers.

Selfie on the top of Skilak Lookout

My boys and I at the top of Skilak Lake Lookout Trail. Skilak Lake below

Amazing, amazing views. The guides online and at the trail site were a little confusing. Online, the hike was supposed to be 2.5 miles round-trip. Turns out, it was 2.5 miles in, 2.5 out. No big deal for any of us, but took longer than what we had planned.

No bears(sad face). Bonus, though! On our way home, we spotted a moose!

Mama moose with her baby

Alas, we had to pack up and go home eventually. No bear sightings! I still cannot believe it! My visions of superb paintings of bears must be shelved! I took many photos, though, and have paintings planned and canvases primed to convey to you my impressions of Alaska.

Fish for home

Also? We had around 250 pounds of fish to take home and put into our freezers. Yum. Thanks, fishermen!!

Alaska. Bigger than Colorado indeed, but also more wild, more rugged, more extreme and wayyyy less tamed.

View from the plane of Alaskan glaciers on our way home

Goodbye, Alaska. I’ll be back… 🙂

All images and paintings on this site copyrighted by Sarah B Hansen unless otherwise noted.

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Throw Down the Brush!

By sbhansen2014 on June 15, 2015

Sometimes you just have to throw down the paint brush(or place it neatly on the table, since they are so spendy…).

This weekend was one of those times. After a miserably-failed painting(yep, I actually wiped off all the paint and then globbed gesso over it…it was THAT bad), I ended up spear-heading an impromptu camping trip. My middle son had returned from his first year of college, my youngest finished his sophomore year at high school. My husband wrapped up a crazy work week. It was time.

We had a blast.

Kayaking with the boys and Sheba

We camped at Hosmer Lake in nearby Cascade Range. With our campsite right next to the lake, we kayaked a-plenty.

Kayaking with the boys and hubby. South Sister in the background

Sheba enjoyed a little down-time.

Sheba, watching her crazy humans.

Warm, sunny days filled with relaxation. And a comfy lawn chair.

Hubby relaxing at the campsite. Mt Bachelor in the background.

I talked my husband into a selfie…

Selfie at the campsite. Yep. That’s a cold beer.

On Sunday, amid crazy bird cacophony, we scrambled out of our tent in the early morning and went for another kayak trip to see if we could scout out some otters. To our surprise, ice had formed overnight on the kayaks! Brrr!! But it was beautiful that morning. I took so many photos my fingers are sore. Just kidding.

Early morning kayak trip with South Sister in the background.

Okay, okay. I’ll admit to a little bit of painting. Just a quick sketch to remember the moment.

Watercolor journal painting on Sunday.

Now, I’m filled with energy and can’t wait to pick up the paint brush. I took photos of a man fishing with a dog for my dog series, took some pics of our wine with Mt. B in the background (I know, right? Another wine painting for my friends!!), set up flip flops with lake and dock backgrounds for my flip flop series (thanks to my peeps for loaning me your flip flops) and took GREAT up-close photos of a mama duck and her ducklings. Can’t wait, can’t wait to paint! Next plan, draw all these out for my annual Colorado Paint Retreat!!

All images taken by and copyrighted by Sarah B Hansen.

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Art Adventures

Posts from the ‘Travel’ category

Watercolor Workshop in Italy!

Enchanted

View Through an Artist’s Eye

Petals…or Pedals?

Texture and Contrast in Portland

Alpacas!

Adventure in Alaska

Throw Down the Brush!

Posts from the ‘Travel’ category

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