Teton Pass - Watercolor

“We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.”
– Carlos Castaneda



Teton Pass – 6″ x 6″ Watercolor & Sharpie

I have a terrible fear of heights.  When I was driving back from Driggs, Idaho to Jackson Hole, Wyoming across the Teton Pass, I pulled over and took a picture of this view.  I stepped way closer to the edge than I was comfortable with, in order to get some good painting references.  Isn’t it funny what we’ll do for the sake of our art?

Of course, you could NOT get me to make that drive in the winter… EVER!    Check out the link on Teton Pass above to see what I’m talking about.

About Carlos Castaneda

Carlos Castaneda, the Peruvian-born new age writer, is known for his book series about his apprenticeship with Don Juan Matus, the Toltec shaman, including A Separate Reality and Journey to Ixtlan. The books are about the nature of perception and include many hallucinatory experiences. It is unknown how much of his writing was factual. He wrote the first three books as an anthropology student at UCLA, and they quickly gained cult success. He was born in 1925 and died in 1998.

Near Jackson Hole, WY Airport – 2009 – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor

“Kind words are a creative force, a power that concurs in the building up of all that is good, and energy that showers blessings upon the world.”
–Lawrence G. Lovasik



Near Jackson Hole, WY Airport – 2009 – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor

This was the last thing I painted before I left Jackson in 2009.  Tomorrow, I will be back there.  YAY!!  I’m going to spend a few days with family and a few days on a solo painting retreat.  I am so ready for that! 

I was born in Laramie, WY, then lived all over the place.   My parents were born and raised in Idaho.  My brother ended up back there first, then my mother followed.  She has been there 20 years.   It’s very beautiful.   Bonus:   Tomorrow, in Eufaula, OK, it is supposed to be 109 F.  In Idaho, I’m going to be enjoying 82 F.  YAY!!!!

In looking for a biography on Lovasik, I found the book he wrote, titled “The Hidden Power of Kindness”.  I found the book on Amazon.com and saw the greatest review.  Check it out….. 

“I was recently on a pilgrimage to Rome. My pilgrimage director was so atrocious, had I not taken this wonderful book with it’s simple guides on charity, patience, and kindness, I would certainly have killed her. The simple pledges, and easily applied steps, helped me not only hold my tongue, but led me to enjoy what could have been an otherwise unbearable experience(…even though the surroundings were spectacular!) If you’re serious about improving your daily relations with the people you deal with, you have to read this book!”

“Strength of character means the ability to overcome resentment against others, to hide hurt feelings, and to forgive quickly.”
— Lawrence G. Lovasik

Fr. Lawrence G. Lovasik (1913–1986) said that his life’s ideal was to “make God more known and loved through my writings.” Fr. Lovasik did missionary work in America’s coal and steel regions, founded the Sisters of the Divine Spirit, a missionary congregation, and wrote numerous books and pamphlets emphasizing prayer and the Holy Eucharist.

Idaho Ranch

“Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever.”
– Isak Dinesen

Idaho Ranch – 5″ x 8″ Watercolor

Over the weekend, I booked a trip to Idaho to see my mom and my brother.  I will fly in and out of Jackson Hole, WY and drive to Blackfoot to see them.  When I did this in 2009, I took lots of photos from that drive.  It really was beautiful!  I painted this from one of those photos.

This time, I am going to spend three days in a cabin in the Teton Valley, painting, before I go home.  I am so excited!

About Isak Dinesen

Isak Dinesen was the pen name of Karen Blixen, the Danish author famously portrayed by Meryl Streep in the film of her best-selling memoir, Out of Africa. She was born near Copenhagen in 1885. In 1914, she and her new husband moved to Kenya to run a coffee plantation. She stayed on after divorcing her husband ten years later, living an unusually independent life. Her book of stories, Seven Gothic Tales, sold well, but Out of Africa made her a worldwide success. She died in 1962.

Aspens Aglow - Sptember 29, 2009

Miracles are not altogether made out of dreams. Often they are put together out of plain, everyday, nonglamorous facts.

Norman Vincent Peale
Positive Thinking Every Day

Aspens Aglow
W&N Watercolor in my 5" x 8" Moleskine Travel Journal

Those aspens were glowing all around Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I was fortunate enough to be there late enough to see them turn yellow, yet early enough to miss the first snow and cold weather. I painted this on my way to the airport Saturday morning. I actually took two hours going that 11 miles to the airport. It was just too beautiful to rush.

Jenny Lake Plein Air - September 28, 2009

"Luck? I don't know anything about luck. I've never banked on it and I'm afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else: hard work — and realizing what is opportunity and what isn't."

– Lucille Ball

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Jenny Lake Plein Air
4" x 6" Watercolor on
Indian Village Handmade Paper

What a beautiful place! I walked in to this spot and climbed on a rock and began my first plein air painting.... ever! I usually paint from photos, so this was an amazing experience.

I left Idaho on Friday morning and spent the day in The Grand Teton National Park and in Jackson Hole. I saw some incredible art in Jackson!

Saturday, I did a little more painting, then headed to the airport for my noon flight. I walked in the door to my house after midnight! What a day! It's good to be home to my honey!

This is a page from my 5" x 8" travel journal, that I did on the flight to Minneapolis.

About Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball, the beloved redheaded comedian, was born in 1911 in New York. She enrolled in drama school — where she was told she had no acting talent, so she became a model. That career led to her discovery by Hollywood. Ball and her bandleader husband, Desi Arnaz, pitched a sitcom to CBS, which refused it, but they went on the road with it as a vaudeville act. The act — about a ditzy housewife and her bandleader husband — was a success, as was the ensuing TV show, I Love Lucy. The show made TV history when Lucy's sitcom character was pregnant on the air. She died in 1989.