Not Much Goin' On

It's August, and I always feel like there is this stagnant air to this month.  We're all trying to slowly savor the last days of summer before the world kicks into gear again in September.  The heat is oppressive, though not so much today.  Our air conditioner broke, so we keep the shades drawn and the lights off all day, which contributes to this feeling I have of pungent, melancholy bliss.

I should really get out of the house and go do something.

I went on vacation a little over a week ago.  My mom and I went to Seattle for my sister's baby shower, then I went to Olympia and hung out with my friends Nick and Carlos, then back to Seattle, then to Portland with my sister and Carlos.  It was busy, and I guess I was expecting inspiration that didn't come.  We went to the ocean, and it was dreary and ugly.  We went hiking around the Cascade River Gorge and saw a lot of pretty waterfalls, but I never got that breath of air that felt like I was really somewhere else, unique and different.  There were too many other people around.  But I have come to the conclusion that I need to live somewhere like Portland where I can go on day or weekend hikes at the whim.

I have one new painting, and it is about the Northwest.  Oddly, I had finished most of it  before I even left.

Northwest
Acrylic on Canvas
20" x 16"

I remember being at beaches in Washington that had these really cool caves and rock formations  when I was a kid.  Weird things wash up on the beaches, at least they are weird to me.