Demo at the County Fair!

Did a demo at the Clallam County Fair last Friday night. It was fun to have so many people stop by and say hello. This composition came about after a trip to Kiana, Alaska with the Air Force Art Program last spring. We were there to document Operation Arctic Care, a program where our men and women in the reserves spend their duty time providing medical care to people in the villages. The 2010 program, based in Kotzebue (33 miles north of the Arctic Circle) was sponsored by the Air Force and included 12 villages. I was able to visit two- we were flown out via Blackhawk helicopter. While we were in Kiana, the mail/commuter plane came in, and as in all rural Alaska villages, when the plane comes in, everyone turns out for the event. The passengers are going to Kotzebue and beyond- if they are travelling beyond, they have to go through "Kotz," hop on the jet and go to Anchorage via Nome. So this is my interpretation of a busy scene when the mail plane comes to Kiana. I loved getting so much done in one night, but today am working on another piece that has lots of rivets......

Where have I been?????

Well, where have I been? Everywhere, I guess. May brought the annual American Society of Aviation Artists Forum, held this year in Pensacola, Florida. We celebrated 100 Years of Naval Aviation along with the 25 year anniversary of ASAA. It was a great time to reconnect with aviation artist friends from all over the world. Part of my duties as education chair were to organize a Youth Drawing Session. We had nearly as many helpers, for which I am grateful, as we did students. In June, my husband and I drove down to Vancouver, Washington where we met up with two of my sisters and their families. There we enjoyed a visit to the Pearson Air Museum at Fort Vancouver. Those little known places are certainly treasure troves and I hope they have lots of visitors to spread the word about aviation in the Pacific northwest. In July I attended Barbershop Harmony College in Tacoma with my quartet, Loonie Tunes. One of the other quartets in our Chorus also attended and we had a great time taking classes and learning more about our hobby of barbershop singing with a Sweet Adelines chorus. I continue to take voice lessons with a fantastic coach and participated in a student recital. We have plans for another get together closer to Christmas.

As for painting, I have three pieces in the Clallam County Fair next weekend and am scheduled to do a demo on Friday evening, August 19 from 4-7 PM. The idea for this composition came from a trip to Kiana, Alaska with the Air Force Art Program in April of 2010. While we were there the commuter flight came in. As is normal in Alaska villages, when the mail plane shows up, the town turns out to see who arrived from town and to send off travelers. The canvas is 24x36- Let's see how much I can get done in the three hours I am there. My biggest fear is getting a wet oil painting back to the car without having someone run into me with cotton candy or ice cream. Well, we can't be afraid of those things, can we?