travel: driving in WA USA

After a night in Yakima, we headed south to the Columbia Gorge.

We were surprised by the strength of the wind, quickly realising why this area is so popular with para-sailers

We were heading for Mt Hood – ready for spectacular views …
but it was shrouded in a heavy cloud cover

travels: Canada- B.C. to WA USA

Driving south with my daughter, we were struck by ways the landscape varied every hour: scenic lakes and soft hills giving way to arid, rolling dry grasslands, then a meandering river.

… and then all changed again

travels: Canada – BC- Okanagan

Driving south from Osoyoos BC to Yakima WA – these quick watercolour sketches capture the changes in landscape with line and colour.

Start of a drive with my daughter, following lunch with my fun-loving, zesty mother
. Taken from an old sketchbook

Osoyoos BC landscape along the lake

Travels in Argentina

At the end of my travels, I sit drawing, in a peaceful garden in Pinamar unwinding with a pencil, thinking about Salta and all I have seen. Next day, with paints I sit under this pine, listening to parrots chattering and squawking. These small green birds are wild. In summer, they party in a cherry tree once lower branches are picked and fruit has begun to ferment. The result: rowdy drunken parrots falling onto the lawn; their large messy nests must be filled with hung-over birds.

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Travels in Salta … cont

“Bajo la luz y se llevo todo.” The light dimmed and everything was swept away … when a storm washed out the road to Tilcara. The intense reds and ochre are complimented by the greens, make the land sing. Yet as I celebrate these colours, I am told this is a harsh, challenging place to live.

We climbed up from Purmamarca: Purma atop – marca is settlement. Mesas here are eroded into gothic cathedral-like shapes. They are bare of animals, we are told. Ines is sitting quietly in the back. At the summit, I ask how she is doing. OK, she smiles but she has a touch of siroche. Selfishly I feel fine.