Taking Commissions

I just received a memo from our Shameless Commerce department
informing me that if we wanted to keep this job I would now be
accepting commissions to paint from any of the incredible places we've
been. I'll be in the studio for only a couple of months before we go
again, so take advantage of this rare opportunity to direct my
creativity. If I can paint your favorite place email me at wowrealart@aol.com
. If you would like to support our continued adventures and aren't
ready at this time for an original watercolor painting then please
visit our new gift website pauljacksonart.com. Treat yourself or a
friend to a tshirt, coffee mug or many other products featuring my work.
Thanks for joining us on this amazing inspirational adventure! Stay
tuned for more...we're still 1200 miles from home.

Full Steam

Old Faithful finally gave me the gusher of boiling water and steam. It
only took me three tries to catch the fairly unpredictable geyser.

Waiting on the Faithful

It was finicky last night and didn't erupt until after dark, so we
stayed for another chance to catch an eruption at sunrise. Old
Faithful is just not that faithful. She blows every 90 minutes, give
or take a half hour. This morning we are firmly planted and will catch
her yet!

Old Faithful sunset

Like clockwork, Old Faithful is not. Predictions are off by 10-30
minutes average. Waiting for a sunset eruption was one of those "oh
well" moments. Just didn't happen. It was still a great place to watch
sunset. Maybe sunrise will be more faithful.

Yellowstone!

After a quick stop at the headwaters of the Missouri River, we made
our way down to Yellowstone through Gardiner, Montana. This is the
first entrance to Yellowstone and has the big stone gateway. Only a
couple of hours til sunset and so many options to choose from!

A day in Glacier is not enough

The gravity of home is pulling stronger, having been gone over three weeks now. There are bills to pay, dogs to feed, treadmills to walk and stresses to have that I guess I'm just not ready to resume just yet. It's hard to pass by these incredible places and not stop. We've been giving each as much time as possible, but it never seems enough. We hiked a little in Glacier, but barely scratched the surface. It deserves months, but we could only spare a day this time. After all, Yellowstone is just to the south!

Beautiful Obstacles in the road

Apologies to anyone who gets behind me on the road. I'm slow moving and paying attention to everything at once. I do manage to keep one eye on the road so as not to have a wildlife "encounter" or rub fenders with the cool old cars they shuttle folks around in, but I do have a tendency to stop at every pullout, and occasionally when there isn't one!

Glacier Wildlife

Somehow the wildlife didn't seem very wild, as if they had perhaps seen folks with iphone cameras before. :)

Glacier National Park

We took the "going to the sun" highway as slow as humanly possible, taking every pullout along the way. Every turn brought a new array of sunlight through the clouds and trees. We started early enough to avoid any crowds so it was as peaceful as it was picturesque. There was construction at the top where snowmelt had washed out the road, but that just offered me a chance to drive even slower. It's a 50 mile drive in total, climbing to 6500 feet and plunging back down again. Somehow it took us all day and we never noticed.

Glacier Sunrise

The clouds are parting as we approach the "drive to the sun". We
stopped in Apgar for Huckleberry pancakes before we attempt the climb.
The "No-Stress Express" has 207k miles on her, so we are a bit timid
about taking her up the 6500 ft climb on the narrow, winding road.
She's roaring to go though! Time to climb!

Big Fork, Montana

After a boat ride on Lake Pend O'Rielle with new friends, Curtis,
Travis & Kayla, we drove Northeast to Big Fork, Montana to catch the
beautiful views over Flathead Lake. Big Fork has a cute downtown area,
but views of the lake are best found out of town. It started raining,
so we pushed on to West Glacier for the night.

Sunset Hope Idaho

Thanks to a recommendation from friend, Mike Zimmer, we set our sights
on Sandpoint, Idaho. For sunset we made our way around Lake Pend
Orielle ( pronounced: pondoray), to Hope, Idaho and the Hope Marina
with the Floating Restaurant. What an awesome end to the day!

Northern Exposure in Roslyn, WA

If you are a Northern Exposure fan, Roslyn, Washington is a must-
visit. The remains of the set can still be found, from KBER radio, Dr
Fleischman's office and the Brick to the infamous Roslyn Cafe sign.
It's a cute town otherwise. We had a beer at the Brick and got our
Northern Exposure fix.

Pikes place market, Seattle

Marla loves it! Not only do they have the original Starbucks, but
great food and flowers galore. It was crowded, but colorful and tasty!

"Neon Rain" accepted into NWS

The National Watercolor Society's 2009 Exhibition will include my
painting, "Neon Rain" among the 90 or so paintings selected. This
piece hasn't been shown anywhere yet. What better place to make it's
debut?!

Seattle

I've always liked Seattle, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to live here. It's crowded and busy and there are already enough weirdos here. Yesterday we made a pilgrimage to the Original Starbucks at Pike Place Market, visited the Space Needle and the Seattle Music Experiment. The Seafarer's Parade is going on this weekend, so it is extra busy and the atmosphere is electric. Last night a group of 30-40 nude bicyclists past us on the street. It may be time to head for home!

Sunset Orcas Island

Watching the sunset from Orcas Island was magical. We can't go any
further west on this adventure and this was a nice way to end our
pacific fixation.

Tomorrow we'll ferry back to the mainland and spend some time in
Seattle before turning inland and east toward home.

The view from Mt Constitution

The highest peak on Orcas Island offers stunning views of the San Juan
Islands. The trail up is quite vertical and not something I wanted to
traverse after sunset though. I'll bet it would be spectacular from
here, but a beach location would be awesome too.

Cutting lavender

Marla really liked the "cut it yourself" option and had fun in the
lavender fields.

Buck Bay Farm Lavender Fields!

Oh my gosh, what a find! Orcas Island is awesome! Buck Bay Farm is one
of the jewels in the crown!

Orca moon!

Whale watching in the San Juans

After our fantastic visit with friends in Portland, we drove up past
Seattle to catch a whale-watching boat from Anacortes. We met up with
more friends from Texas and went out looking for Orcas. We saw plenty
of them! The trip was so much fun that we stayed in Anacortes
overnight and are ferrying the No-Stress Express over to Orcas Island
for a day or two.

Checking out the floating houses

The Columbia River has some great floating houses, much like
Sausalito, only they aren't influenced much by ocean tides. Some of
these houses are unbelievable in scope and scale. Our on-the-water
perspective and easy maneuverability made for a great afternoon of
checking them all out.

Open Water Cycling

Being on the road for a few weeks means too much great food and barely
enough exercise. This morning we went back to the Columbia River for a
different kind of cruise. These open water cycles are a blend between
a kayak and a bicycle. No paddles, just pedals! These things really
fly through the water. We made a lot of distance, going upriver for
lunch at the Island Cafe. Pedalling back down the river was a lot
easier though!

Portland from a new perspective

I've driven and flown into Portland before, but have never been by
boat. The traffic was nonexistent and the views were nonstop. This was
definitely the best way to see Portland!

Cruising the river

As if the winery tour wasn't enough, for our evening entertainment we
cruised up the Columbia River and the Willamette River on a friend's
awesome boat.

The Wilamette Valley

Just south of Portland is the scenic Willamette Valley and a string of
wineries. We made it to four of them. This view is from the Anna Maria
winery. The whole day was picture perfect!

Touring the Oregon wineries

Biking thru wine country just didn't sound as appealing as the limo
tour, and wasn't as dangerous either! No navigating, no driving, just
enjoying the time with some awesome friends!

Painting on Rialto Beach

Rialto Beach is one of my favorite places. The giant driftwood makes
for excellent seating and is fun to paint as well. Our weekend flew
far too quickly and we parted ways with our new friends after some
fantastic times painting the dramatic scenery on Washington's Olympic
Peninsula.

Painting in the Hoh Rainforest

Day two of my workshop was much drier, even though we were in a
rainforest. We had a blast painting amongst the giant spruce trees and
all the moss and ferns.

Plein air painting on Ruby Beach

Ruby Beach, south of Forks, WA

This was the view for day one of my plein air workshop on the Olympic
Peninsula. It featured some great atmospheric effects as it was
steeped in fog all day long. The moist air made it tough for our
paintings to dry, but made for an eery classroom and an awesome place
to spend a day.

Cannon Beach OR

One remarkable seastack makes Cannon Beach very recignizeable. We
caught a very late sunset here, but enjoyed the bonfires on the beach.

"Tillamook Bend"

Tillamook OR

This place holds special memories for me after our last visit. We
found great sunset views here and neat rocks on the beach. Also there
is a giant "Octopus tree" for those adventurous enough to seek it out.

Tidepooling in Coos Bay

On our last western adventure we followed the pacific coast from
Vancouver BC down to central Oregon, but had to turn east after Coos
Bay and head for home. We only saw it in the dark, but heard the sea
lions barking in the moonlight. This trip I was determined to be in
Coos Bay in the daylight and see those sea lions. We made it during
daylight, but the fog was too thick to see anything! Still heard them
barking!

We did get to do some exploring during low tide though.

Bandon, OR

The nicest coastline we found in Oregon was in the sleepy town of
Bandon. We caught sunset and sunrise here with the dramatic sea
stacks. This is definitely a place we need to come back to and spend
more time!

The Victorian houses in Eureka

For some reason it seems odd to see the cool old Victorian houses in
northern California, but they are everywhere along the coast. This
huge place is in Eureka where we spent the morning at the farmers
market.

The Chandelier Tree

I'd seen pictures of cars driving through these massive trees and
figured our van was way too big. As I crept up to the opening it
looked like an incredibly tight squeeze. The "no-stress express" has
carried us 204k miles so far and I didn't want to end our journey with
her wedged into a giant redwood, so I chickened out!

Into the big trees

In Garberville CA we took the Avenue of the Giants through the
Humboldt Redwoods. The magnificent giants dwarf even our big van.

The Glass Beach

Up the highway from Mendoccino is Fort Bragg, a charming seaside town
with a Starbucks and a glass beach. Thanks to a recommendation from
Birgit O'Conner, we found the glass beach and collected pocketfuls of
jewels.

Olaf at the beach

In our travels we meet all sorts of great characters. This was Olaf, a
schnauzer mix. He really should be in Hollywood as he is such a ham.
He loves the camera and strikes some pretty cool poses. Apparently he
likes to dig for rocks at the beach and is very determined. :)

Sunset Gualala

Upon the recommendation of our dear friend Adele, we made our way up the coast to Gualala, a charming coastal town with dramatic seacliffs for sunset. We spent the night here and caught the sunrise too. This is definitely an area we'll have to come back to and check out more thoroughly when we have the time.

The Coastline Highway North

The Coastline Highway north of San Francisco is a visual treat, from the Muir Woods to the Goldengate Recreation Area. We spent the afternoon at Point Reyes, dining on the local fare, barbecued oysters! Back on the road in search of sunset we encountered all of the normal road hazards of a curvy coastline highway, plus a few of those damn Happy California cows!

San Francisco

My heart was back in San Francisco, once the fog lifted. We made our way around the city for a quick tour of the highlights. It was Sunday and traffic was light, so we took a lot in over the course of a day. We stopped for a climb up the steps to Coit Tower. Exercise! We needed it after logging so many miles in the No-Stress Express.

Sunset Sausalito

The floating houses on the bay in Sausalito are a peaceful retreat from the conventional overcrowding of San Francisco. Just across the Golden Gate bridge, Sausalito has amazing sunrise and sunset views that don't disappoint. We made it here just before the sun was gone, and had only time for one photo and some twilight exploration. We'll be back in the morning for more!

The Arcangeli Bakery & Deli

This was the scene of our overindulgence. They bake artichoke bread
all day. You get it still warm and we ate our first loaf before we
made it out of the parking lot! I have never had such yummy bread! If
you find yourself on the Pacific Coast, south of San Francisco. Stop
into Pescadero and you'll find this place on the main drag. You can't
miss it...and you shouldn't!

Do Not go to Pescadero!

Unless you want to spend all your money (willingly) on all sorts of
scrumptious stuff at the bakery! Oh how we feasted on artichoke bread, artichoke marinara, pesto, hummus, honey mustard, pomegranate tea, beer and garlic-herb turkey.

We had a feast of a picnic out at the beach! Now we have to sluggishly make our way to Halfmoon Bay, to discover what other fates await us!

Seahorses!

The Seahorses at the Monterey Aquarium are without a doubt the most popular new addition. These bizarre and amazing little creatures are full of personality! They are not very easy to catch a photo of though.

Big Moon Jellies

Jellies!

They are a magnificent, silent and graceful ballet to watch. One can
become so mesmerized by their movements that you can almost forget to breathe.

The Monterey Aquarium

This is definitely a spectacular place, but I would never come here on
a Saturday again. Unfortunately they oversell the tickets and the
crowd is simply crushing. It will sure teach you a lot about human
behavior in tight spaces. This was a very small crowd compared to the
seahorse and jellyfish exhibits.

Moon jellies!

Our visit to the Monterey Aquarium has only just begun and I've seen
some amazing jellyfish in a jar, passed around while waiting in the
mile-long cue for tickets. If you plan a visit here, definitely buy
tickets online in advance. This is way too popular a place!

Driving up the Pacific Coast Highway 1

Driving up the Pacific Coast Highway, south of Monterey is an awesome experience, but dangerous! The views are so breathtaking it is hard to keep one eye on the road. At 20 miles an hour, with frequent stops, it took us all day to make 120 miles. The reward was incredible sunset views around every bend.

The Pelicans at Pismo Beach

The Pacific Ocean is teeming with wildlife near Pismo Beach, CA. We watched the Elephant Seals and Pelicans fight for space on the rocks and the very active fishing patrols of the cormorants. I don't think I've ever encountered a larger community of pelicans in one place. They seem to be nesting everywhere they can, from vertical cliff walls to the roofs of houses.

Measuring the Marigolds

Lompoc, California is America's flower garden. I have never seen such
a display of color. It smells pretty nice too! How wonderful it must
be to live amongst all these blooming colors!

My girl and her iPhone camera

What a great tool this gadget is! It brings out the creative spirit in
everyone who has it. Way to go Apple!

Beach treasures

Wandering up the coast we stop at every beach along the Pacific Coast. There are lots of them and each with it's own collection of treasures to find. Marla has found her inner artist, making still lifes of her finds. I think they are incredible!

Palm trees

Santa Barbara is lined with awesome Palm trees everywhere. I guess the lack of hurricanes promotes growth! :)

These monoliths make for excellent silhouettes in the sunrise.

Rough living

This was our hotel in Santa Barbara for the night, thanks to the
generosity of a good friend with a spare yacht. It was a cool night
and we were gently rocked by the incoming tide. The sunrise was a
treat in the harbor. We'll be back when we have time to stop and paint!

Three Amigos

What great guys! Any chance to meet up again will be highly
anticipated. We stayed rather late, so not driving into the sunset
tonight. The Pacific Coast Highway by the light of the full moon was
pretty awesome though!

Dinner with friends in Malibu

In a spectacular house above the Getty Villa in Malibu we had dinner
with some dear old friends, Shawn Scott, Anthony Hitt, and a sweet
Newfoundland named Kiko. The sunset was a pineapple and the company a peach. We had such a great evening and hated to push on, but there's a lot of Pacific Coast yet to explore.

Venice Beach originals

The folks on Venice Beach are the most colorful collection of
characters anywhere! Their "street performances" are unusual, original and sometimes dowright strange. I love to watch the freaks at the beach do their thing. They are excellent character studies for doing portraits, and in no way camera shy. I think I should do a portrait workshop here. You just can't miss finding someone interesting to paint at every turn!

Venice Beach

The drive from Tucson to LA was great, up to the LA part. After three
hours of fighting traffic, we reached the Pacific Ocean and landed on
Venice Beach. The graffiti here is great, but we came for the people
watching!

Saguaro National Park

Just outside of Tucson we stopped in to visit the greatest collection
of Saguaro cacti. These giants don't sprout their first arm until they
are almost 75 yrs old. Marla wanted to give one a hug, but he was
prickly so she decided to mock him instead. :)

94 yrs young

In Tuscon we had lunch with my Grandparents, Paul & Norma Niemann. Grandad is 94 and acting 70 still! Norma can't be over 65, but she's not telling. :)

What a fantastic opportunity to have lunch with the greatest man on planet earth. I can't wait to do it again!

The Grand Canyon

I guess I've got some catching up to do after being out of wireless range for a bit. We left Page, AZ, headed for Tuscon, but stopped at a big ditch along the way. Every view of the Grand Canyon is breathtaking, but it is almost too much to take in. It is simply overwhelming and one could not possibly ever spend enough time here!

Antelope creek canyon

Artist's paradise!

Monument Valley, Utah

Exploring the Navajo nation is a visual dream! Everywhere you look is a watercolor waiting to happen. Today we drove out on some seriously washboarded roads to find this view from Muley Point. You'd think you were overlooking the Grand Canyon, but this is just a primer for bigger things to come.

Missouri to Utah in a day

We chased the sunset into Moab, Utah 21 hours after watching fireworks in Columbia MO. This sunset put on a better show! First thing the next morning we hiked out to the Delicate Arch to revisit an old friend. Somehow I always forget how much of a climb it is to get there!

Adventure on!

We watched fireworks in the rain, then hit the highway, crossing half of Kansas in the dark. We had breakfast in Manhattan and are pressing westward toward Colorado.

"Manhattan Tapestry" featured in the latest issue of Watercolor Artist Magazine

I was a bit surprised to find my painting, "Manhattan Tapestry" in the Aug 2009 issue of Watercolor Artist Magazine when I was looking for my friend, Chris Beck's featured article. Tapestry is included in an article about painting at night. (I think I've seen this article before somewhere). Still, it's great to see this awesome piece again! I spent many months working on this masterpiece, but the memory of the struggle has faded for me and the reality of the creation now shines through. :)

Plein Air setup

This is my "plein air" watercolor setup for working out in some rugged terrain. It is fairly self-contained and very sturdy. The board is 3/4" plywood but doesn't weigh that much after cutting a few holes in it. I've attached a tripod cleat to the back side for quick mounting on location. The palette has a spot of velcro on the back so I don't knock it off. :)

Yes Lance, it has cupholders! They fit a couple of Shakespeare's cups, but you don't want to be drinking out of them. They are for paint water! I made this board to accommodate a 16x20" piece of paper.

All done! Let's go paint!