Fox on Hood Canal

My young friend Fox continues on his journey on Hood Canal. This is one of my first pieces outside of class last summer. Tim and I had just returned from Washington State where we attended his Peace Corps Reunion at Hood Canal when I painted this picture.

"FOX ON HOOD CANAL" by Donna Hacker

acrylic on round canvas
2008



OLIVIA and EMMIE

MADELINE and EMMIE




Tim and I attended his Peace Corps Sri Lanka reunion at Hood Canal on South Puget Sound in July while we were vacationing near there. One of the couples at the reunion had their little boy named Fox with them. I was captivated by him; he was so precious! This weekend I created this painting of Fox. My friend and neighbor's 10 year old granddaughter asked me yesterday, "Why do you want to make him famous? Don't you want to paint my portrait too?" Yes, Madeline's portrait will be next. Oh, and Madeline's 6 year old sister, Olivia, wants to know why she can't have her portait painted too? I tell her it's because Madeline is 10, and when she is 10, I'll paint hers. That won't do she tells me. "Pretty please, Donna, won't you paint mine now too?" Okay Olivia, you'll be next in line; maybe I won't wait till you are 10.


This afternoon Madeline and Olivia spent a few hours with me in my studio. They created some fabric art while I prepped a canvas for Madeline's soon-to-be portrait. It was so much fun having two young friends working in here with me. Madeline introduced me to Loretta Lynn's "Van Lear Rose," and Olivia entertained us singing songs she made up as she painted her pictures. These gals will be here one more week at their grandmother's before returning to San Francisco. We sure are going to miss them when they leave!

My Review

Originally submitted at OhNuts.com

Trail Mix of Cranberries,Sliced Almonds,peanuts,Papitas, Black raisin, Golden Raisins,

I wish I had bought more!

By Hackity Hack from KY on 8/24/2008

 

5out of 5

Pros: Flavorful, Unique, Healthy

Best Uses: Snack

Describe Yourself: Frequent Diner, Health Conscious, Foodie

This is a great snack before dinner while my guests are waiting for dinner to get on the table. It's a hit with everyone!

(legalese)

Seaside Lily

Bright day lilies I saw in someone's garden in Cannon Beach inspired this fabric art piece. An article in Quilting Arts magazine featuring Karin Winter's (http://www.karinwinter.com/apps/blog/) fabric art work caught my attention afterwards, so I incorporated her approach here with the lily. My new Bernina made this project a whole lot of fun! Thank goodness for all of those wonderful resources online that guided me through the bias binding with mitered edges! It was an excellent refresher. The purple petals are from fabric designed by my friend, Elizabeth Tipton, who is an amazing artist (www.elizabethtipton.com) and a great inspiration to me in many ways. As soon as possible I am going to mount this piece on a fabric-covered panel for wall art. I've decided now to create three of these so I can practice my technique, hoping to improve each time.

Yellow Flower Blossom

The cool breezes off of the Pacific Ocean create great conditions for gardens to flourish in the NW. Here is a sample of simple, natural beauty found there in abundance.

Tattoo Sampling

Pictured here is a good reminder of the growing popularity of tattoos for women, especially in the NW. Seemed to me that at least one out of every three women we saw had a tattoo.

This lady was with a group of girlfriends who were wine tasting at the vineyards.

An Oregon vineyard with Mt. Hood in the background.

I would hate to imagine a trip to Oregon without sampling some of their delicious, crisp wines! Here is a shot I took in the sample room at Dumaine Serene, Yamhill County.

Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach, as seen directly across from our room.

Night Fires, Cannon Beach

A view from our balcony in Cannon Beach, OR. This strip of the Oregon coast is one of my favorite places. We were here two nights and I could have stayed forever!

Bing Cherries at Cannon Beach Farmer's Market

It was cherry season in Oregon. These were being sold at the Farmer's Market in Cannon Beach, just up the street from the inn where we stayed.

Sunday Market Lunch

Sunday Market in Milwaukie, OR: A Mexican American prepares my quesadilla for lunch. I believe it was the best one I ever tasted! It contained seasoned pork with freshly shredded, stir-fried vegetables.

Vacationing in the NW

We recently spent 11 days in Oregon and Washington. One of the places we like to return to is Astoria, OR. Tim's great uncle used to live there, and this shot was taken from the street where he and his wife lived for many years. We walked around downtown, making a particular point to visit one of their art galleries featuring work by regional artists, and a special tribute to Harry Bennett. Dinner at the Cannery Cafe on the waterfront was as delicious as ever!

Oysterville, WA: The Old School House

Photo Entries Accepted for Exhibit

I am pleased to announce that two of my photos taken last May in Cordoba, Spain were accepted recently into a juried exhibit for the Paducah Summer Festival . You can see them on display now through Aug. 30th at Tribecca Restaurant in downtown Paducah, KY.

The top photo is titled, "Isabel Believes She is Big Enough and Brave Enough to Ride the Ferris Wheel."

The second photo's title is "Embracing Tradition." There also are 52 photos taken by other photographers that are featured in this show out of 400 submitted.

BREMER PEACHES Best By Far!

Until Saturday it had been two years since I tasted a fresh peach due to a bad freeze in our area killing last year's crop. Little did I know that my planned trip to Paducah for a morning sewing class and an afternoon spent on getting a photo for the Paducah Summer Festival ready for framing, would end up with an insider's tour of a peach orchard in southern Illinois.

While waiting for my photo to be reprinted at an office supply store, which was a test of patience when it took over three hours, I met another customer beside me. We struck up a conversation about his peach orchard business. It was easy to see that he had great pride and passion for growing many acres of peaches and nectarines these past thirty years.

He was getting copies printed of a reflective letter for his customers about the history and future of his peach orchard. As he waited his turn he asked me if I could do a favor for him by editing and lettering a few lines on his original paper before copies were made? He had no idea he was standing beside one of the world's biggest peach fans! Of course I was happy to help him! In return for his appreciation he said his first crop of the season had just come in and he invited me to come by his orchard so he could give me a box of his delicious peaches. He was now throwing in a tour of his orchard. You bet I would be there!

Later that afternoon there I was heading to southern Illinois, a short drive from Paducah. It was beautiful country there, and rather amazing how quickly the landscape changed into rolling hills after crossing the Ohio River. Boy, I bet it is pretty in the fall when the foliage changes!

Soon I was at the orchard's main shed where pecks of peaches sat waiting for the next group of customers to arrive. It was so clean you could have eaten off of the floor! Dale and his wife Jane greeted me warmly and introduced me to some of their "family," their migrant workers who help make this orchard the success it is.

Here is one of two little boys who lives here on the property. He is five years old and loves to draw. He jumped up on this picnic table to show me how he can draw one of the tractors pulling a peach wagon.

My trip to the orchard was highlighted by a guided tour of the property in a John Deere four wheeler with Dale. What a peach crop! Seventy acres of twenty different varieties of peaches plus a few acres of nectarines creating its own Garden of Eden.

Here's Dale enjoying the first nectarine of the season! If you are ever in the area, you should stop by and discover what I think are the best peaches by far!

Gwynnie Girl

What a great opportunity I had last weekend participating in a three day workshop on face painting with DJ Pettit of Medford, OR! Our class was sponsored by the Kentuckiana Calligraphy Guild, and about 15 of us met in downtown New Albany, IN at Preston's Art store for the workshop. We all had a terrific time working on fabric and canvas with our Golden acrylics!

I don't know if you've been there or not, but downtown New Albany is an interesting jewel of a river town. I think it would be fun to live there. It's just across the Ohio River from Louisville, one of my favorite cities. I liked that place a lot---it was probably its tall, ornate, old buildings from the turn of the century that appealed to me most.

I stayed with my calligraphy mentor and dear friend, Jan Hurst who lives in Jeffersonville, IN. We had a whole lot of fun painting together! It was so much fun, in fact, that I didn't want the weekend to end, even though I will confess I did miss my husband Tim, my dog, and cat who were keeping cool indoors back in Fulton, KY where we live. However, I discovered through the workshop that there's something inside me that just wants to keep painting.

This was the first time I ever painted people or pets with acrylic paint. I have lettered a little bit on fabric prior to this, but had given little thought to painting people's faces with acrylics. I'm totally enthused after this class though, and I am bound and determined to finally launch my blog.

My first piece was of a lady I named, "Halida," but her nose kind of looked like a pig's. Tossed that one out as a learning experience! The second piece that I did was on a 9 x 12" canvas. I decided to add my corgi, Gwynnie, to this lady's picture. Several students in the class thought my picture was a self portrait, but I think it was the hairstyle that I chose that made them say that. What do you think?
DJ often finishes off her fabric pieces by machine stitching lines around and over them onto a heavy duty watercolor paper before framing. I can't wait to see how well my machine can handle this. Please stay tuned!