End of Summer Updates: Part II

Well it truly is the end of summer here. We had a gorgeous weekend - warm, sunny, clear skies - days that you want to go on forever. Two of our friends were married at the Wayfarer Resort, a rustic little vacation spot on the gorgeous McKenize river. And now the gorgeous gloom has set in. There was thunder heard on my run today along the river and the rain came down in the wee hours of the morning. The wind picked up and blew off the newly orange hued leaves off the trees. It's my favorite time of year here in the PNW. We get just enough sun light, the foliage fills me awe, the air is crisp and clean, and football season leads to many potlucks and good PNW beer. So here I'll share a final few pictures from the summer. While I'm sad to see it go I'm ready to nestle in for the fall and winter.

The first picture is the new bedspread for the guest room and pillow. You might recognize them from the DWELL line at Target. We had quite a few house guests this summer and I just wanted to snazz it up a bit. This room still leaves quite a bit to be desired (it's very small). I'm thinking of pulling out that robin's egg blue from the pillow and painting the wall with the window. Now below I'm sharing 2 new Tiny Showcase prints we picked up. There is now definitely a water them in the living room. This was not intentional. I just bought what I liked and there it is. I wanted to hang the new pictures like they were hanging in the trees on the wall but Mr. Monkey did not approve so they are just floating below the branches now. Somehow I think it works allow I could be on the lookout for a third or a more few prints to hang out with the water collection. Hmm. The picture is of course the whole kit and kaboodle. I'm getting the itch to switch around the furniture. That might have to wait for the full blown winter. For now it's working and I'm still working way too much to do the shuffle. To round off the summer I'll add some pictures from our weekend vacations this summer up to Washington and Vancouver, B.C. and then finally the fence discussion will be back! Thanks for reading all! I hope the sun lingers in your part of the world a bit longer. Cheers!

Options for Print Art. . .

My eyes are opening to the world of print artists. There are so many talented people out there and the internet is allowing people like me  in smaller cities like Eugene to discover all the talented artists in cities of all sizes. One of my recent discoveries involves two great websites.

First up: Tiny Showcase. If you are a competitive art and bargain hunter than this is the place for you. Once a week - every Tuesday they release a limited signed edition from one artist. What has happened recently is that I would show up to the tiny showcase Wednesday morning to check out and possibly purchase the latest masterpiece and it would be gone gone gone - that's right - totally sold out! So this is getting frustrating. Until this last time I figured out when the release would occur on Tuesday and I was there and waiting ready to pounce if the print caught my fancy. Well it did and I bought it (a total deal as far as I'm concerned). What I discovered is that within the first 5 minutes of the print being released at least 40/200 were gone! So if you like, you must buy right away because it will not be there tomorrow as I so sadly discovered. Here's my latest artistic purchase for our slowly growing collection. . . This piece titled "Corral Canyon" is from Cole Gerst otherwise known as Option-G. He has designed many things including Vans tennis shoes and skateboards and CD jacketwork and concert posters - basically he's talented in a multimedia sort of way. It's going to go in our bathroom - where the color scheme involves black/white and shades of blue. Plus it gives a shout-out to my SoCal roots as Corral Canyon is a natural space in the Cleveland National Forrest just outside of L.A.

Second up: Thumbtack Press. This site is better for the slightly less competitive art shopper. Here you can browse at you leisure and there is a wider selection of styles and artists. Most prints are an open edition which is why you can get a larger piece of art for about the same price as a smaller piece on tiny showcase. I haven't purchased anything from here yet but I'm going to keep my eye on for when we start decorating our bedroom - you know it's always the last room to get any attention. Anyway that sums up my recent discoveries in the word of print art. Enjoy and have a fabulous 3 day weekend!