A Weekend in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

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Last weekend my wife and I spent a four day weekend in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. Yes, I said 50th….blows our mind. We got married in college and waited to start a family until our late 20’s. We both talked about remembering when my grandparents had their 50th and how old we thought they were. Doesn’t seem that long ago…….

Anyway, our girls and us have talked about what to do for our 50th. A lot of ideas surfaced and international travel destinations were discussed. We have traveled quite a bit through our life together both internationally and domestically. One of the things that kept popping up was how much fun the two of us have on road trips where we get in the car and drive to areas we haven’t been to before. Since moving up to the Pacific Northwest, we keep talking about checking out the beauty of Coeur d’Alene Lake (and the town) in Idaho. Idaho is one of only 4 states we haven’t traveled to. The girls thought it would be a great romantic getaway for us. It was and as you would expect I took a number of pictures of the natural beauty of the area. I’m sharing six of them to give you a feel of the beauty of the lake and surrounding forest.

We stayed in a time share right on the shores

I took this shot on a trail that led out from a park into the forested shoreline by the town. (telephoto lens)

This capture was along the same trail, but a bit further along it. You can tell that the shoreline goes in and out of the lake creating a variety of perspectives.

This is the Coeur d’Alene Resort which is in the downtown area of the town. They have an awesome upscale restaurant “Beverlys”, which is located on the 7th floor (which is the dark band of floor to ceiling tinted windows about half way up). The view was incredible looking out over the lake with the large covered boat docks sitting at our feet.

On another hike I did, I came across this capture. At first I thought the shape on top of the rock was just more rock, but then it turned and I saw the head of a deer. Kind of a fun thing to see and it was looking out at the trail around the bend from where I was standing.

Right after the original deer shot, I was turning around to get back to the trail, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement in the underbrush. It took me a few minutes and the telephoto lens to realize the movement was another deer.

Just wanted to share some of my captures from a beautiful location and a great weekend.

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions.

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Wenatchee River Cabins

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I just came across some captures I took a few years ago and decided to share them. It was early spring and our Los Angeles family (our middle daughter, husband and two of our three grandchildren) came up to the Pacific Northwest to spend some time with “Grandpa and Grandma” and our other two daughters, husbands and our youngest grandchild. We all rented a large house just outside of Leavenworth which is on the eastern side of the Cascade Mountains from the Seattle area. The house we rented was still in the mountains along the Wenatchee River which flows down into Leavenworth. Near the house I captured these three shots of a couple of cabins lining the river.

Cabin On The Banks Of The Wenatchee River

Same cabin, but I liked both perspectives and couldn’t pick just one so included them both.

Different cabin, but was across the river and liked the way it was snuggled in the trees. I also liked the look of the spring snow that was lining the river valley.

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions.

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Hiking Trails in Watercolor

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With spring in full bloom here in the Pacific Northwest, it hasn’t taken me long to get back out hiking in the forests. I have attached five new art prints I created of local hiking trails. I used a watercolor technique depicting five different aspects of three of the local hiking trails.

The first one is a trail that takes you from the valley floor outside of North Bend in the mountains just west of the Seattle metropolitan area to a panoramic ledge overlooking that same valley called Rattlesnake Ledge.

From start to finish this particular hike is the most dramatic of the ones I’m sharing today, so I have included a capture I took looking out at Rattlesnake Ledge. Note the lower right hand where you see people on this trail coming out to the ledge.

From there I take you onto Cougar Mountain which is located in the Issaquah, Washington area. Issaquah is an eastern suburb of Seattle at the foot of the Cascade Mountain Range. Below are two art prints depicting different aspects of that hike.

And then from there I take you up to the northern part of the Seattle metropolitan area in Everett. This trail is located in a park along Possession Sound, so this particular forest is right along the water which you lose sight of once you start the hike.

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions.

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Cherry Blossoms – Seattle & Everett, Washington

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Spring has sprung in the Pacific Northwest. In the Seattle metro area we are at our peak of cherry blossoms. They are all around our neighborhood and pretty much wherever you go up and down the sound. I picked two locations where I could get multiple shots of the trees and also highlight the age of these trees as they keep blooming. With that I’ll start with the campus of the University of Washington. It is renowned for the spring cherry blossoms across the vast campus.

This is only a tease of the extent of the blooming trees.

Notice the obvious age of the the tree trunks. It’s indicative of how well these trees have been taken care of over the years.

Moving to the northern portion of the metropolitan area is the city of Everett. The next series of pictures are from Grand Avenue Park which overlooks the Possession Sound.

The park is narrow and wraps itself up and down the coastal zone overlooking the sound and the islands across the sound.

One of the things that caught my eye, was the obvious pruning of the height of the trees which only highlights the aged trunks of the trees.

This last capture I framed with an obviously large and aged trunk of a very large evergreen tree.

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions.

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Rogue River Pavilion

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This week I’m going to start with one of the finished art prints and the capture that inspired it. Next, using the same subject matter, but slightly different framing of it and the resulting three different prints and the original capture that inspired them.

The first one is titled The Pavilion By The River Sketched. The setting in all of the following examples is a natural reserve along the Rogue River in Rockford, Michigan.

Next is the photographic capture that inspired the sketched print in color.

For the sketched version, I liked the idea of including the lamppost in the final sketch.

The next three art prints were inspired by another photo of the same subject. I like the way it centered the entrance bridge. In the first one, I used a gothic painting technique which focused on the earth tones of the setting and the general appearance of the structure. This creates an overall look without all of the details of the setting.

When I see a lot of detail in one of my captures, I always explore what it looks like as a black and white photograph. I liked the way this approach highlights all of the detail of the pavilion and the natural surroundings (the photographs were taken during the winter months – thus the detail of the leafless tree branches).

This approach then inspired me to create the same view in a sketched black and white art print.

And then finally the original capture that inspired this series.

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions.

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Still Life Fruit

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For todays post, I wanted to share the process I went through in creating some “fruit” still life art prints. The art prints started with photographic captures I took of decorative fruit. The fruit pieces in question were decorative elements we had on our dining room table.

I took a picture of a decorative pear and apple side by side –

From there I created an art print using a basic watercolor technique –

Then I decided to really get creative and did this abstract watercolor print based on the same subjects.

The next series of photographs I took were individual captures of two pears of different colors and two apples of different colors. I then cropped the four different fruits into a square with the brown and red fruits diagonally across from each other.

I then created an art print using the same abstract watercolor technique.

And then created an art print of the same subject using a fauvism style.

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions.

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The Seattle Great Wheel Sketched

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This week I’m featuring two black and white sketches I created. Each sketch is of an “up-close segment” of the Seattle Great Wheel. The Seattle Great Wheel is a ferris wheel standing 175 tall with 40 gondolas each seating up to 8 individuals and was built in 2012. It’s located at the end of pier 57 in the downtown harbor area overlooking Elliot Bay. The visual aspect of it drew my attention and I took a number of pictures looking for some type of artist inspiration. After studying the pictures the thing that drew my attention was the “delicate” look of it compared to the high-rises in the downtown core. The vision I had was sections of the ferris wheel from unique perspectives done in black and white sketches. Attached are the inspirational captures and the resulting sketches.

The first picture is of the Seattle Great Wheel at the end of pier 57 with some of the downtown high-rises along Elliot Bay.

I also took a number of shots on the pier under the great wheel itself. Those captures are what led to the ultimate art prints I created.

Inspiration number one….

The Inspiration for “Going Up On The Wheel”.

This resulted in the first sketch….

The next inspiration was behind the second sketch…

The Inspiration for “Seattle Great Wheel”

Resulting in the next sketch…

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions.

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Heceda Head Lighthouse Complex in Oregon

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More Oregon scenery as I’m featuring the Heceda Head Lighthouse complex along the coastline using two different captures. The first series is of the entire complex showing the lighthouse and the caretakers house. The second series focuses on the lighthouse itself. As I usually do, I show you the process I go through starting with the original capture.

This is the original capture of the complex. You will notice the fog and the impact it has on the capture.

I took the original capture and eliminated the fog thanks to digital photography programs. Resulting in…..

Heceda Head Complex – Capture Cleaned Up

From this capture I created two final prints. The first one is this scene presented as a watercolor art print.

I liked the details of the setting with the forested coastline and the architecture of the lighthouse complex, so I also prepared it as a black and white photograph. Black & White photography highlights detailed elements sometimes lost in a color presentation.

The details pop out highlighting the architecture of the structures within the natural environment of the forest and the ocean waves.

The next series focuses on the lighthouse itself with the architectural elements as a contrast to the surrounding geography.

Heceda Head Lighthouse Capture – Fog Cleaned Up

I took the same approach on eliminating the fog, but I also cropped the frame to bring the entire focus to the lighthouse itself.

And the final print uncropped as a black and white photograph.

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions.

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Two Oregon Covered Bridges – Two Types of Watercolor

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I did a photoshoot of covered bridges in Oregon a few years back. I wanted to share the original captures of two of the bridges I shot. I then turned them both into two versions of watercolor prints. The first version is a soft watercolor technique (a more traditional look) and the second version is an abstract watercolor technique (a more contemporary look).

The original capture of Neal Lane Covered Bridge –

Neal Lane in a soft traditional watercolor –

Neal Lane in an abstract contemporary watercolor –

The original capture of Horse Creek –

Horse Creek in a soft traditional watercolor –

Horse Creek in an abstract contemporary watercolor –

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions.

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Abstract Ocean Sunsets And Full Moon Set

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I’ve been sharing this year some of the photographs that have been the inspiration or original version of my art prints. This week I’m sharing my abstract art interpretation of two coastal sunsets and one coastal moon set. All three are along the Pacific Ocean coastline…one in San Diego County and two in Northern California.

The first one is based on an actual photograph of a sunset I captured from the bedroom deck of our house. Our neighborhood was built on a ridge of hills that was located next to the Carlsbad Water District retention pond (Carlsbad is a coastal community in Northern San Diego County). I mention that because the bulk of the land to support that retention pond was a wide open field that will never be developed. It afforded all of the homes along the western front of the neighborhood great ocean views. The house we raised our girls in was at the end of a cul-de-sac that was on that western edge of the development affording us a view of the coastline and the Pacific Ocean.

Using this photograph I did a digital re-creation of the scene for my Abstract Art Gallery.

The next two art prints were created from memory, again using abstract art as the focus of the creation. The two depictions came from memory of coastal scenes in Northern California that really stuck with me. The first one is a sunset with a typical evening marine layer of clouds coming in just before the sun actually set. The low clouds would part sporadically and allow the setting sun to shine through.

The next one was a full moon setting as a marine layer started rolling in. The low clouds would part sporadically and allow the setting moon to shine through very similar to the setting sun creation above.