Asheville Trip - Canton Trainyard with factory behind.

Canton Train Yard, Watercolor on Paper, 11"x14"

So throughout my time in Asheville I kept saying to my mother, "Can we go to a train yard?"

There were lots of trains going by in Asheville but the consistent motion made it difficult to draw. So Mom thought a bit and drove about half an hour to Canton, North Carolina, where there is a huge paper factory and lots of trains and tracks.

We sat and I worked on this watercolor until it began to rain.

"Trains, like time and tide, stop for no one."
~ Jules Verne

Asheville Trip - Blue Ridge Parkway

Blue Ridge Parkway, Watercolor, 8' x 11"

This is the second painting I did for my Aunt Dana to raise money for the Mustard Seed Mustard Seed Charity. 

This was a great and beautiful day. A truly glorious day in North Carolina. The sky was clear and the sun was beaming. The original plan was to do yard work that day, but Steven, my step dad, looked at me and said, "We have to go hiking."

We drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway. We went up with Kolo and she was in heaven. It was a little crowded on the trail and everyone had their dog.

I sat down for an hour and painted this landscape. The ridges of the mountains were impressive, very different from Hawaiian mountains.

I like how this painting came out. The different depths of the ridges were inspiring and difficult to capture. 

"I never saw an ugly thing in my life: 
for let the form of an object be what it may - light, shade, 
and perspective will always make it beautiful." 

~ John Constable

Watercolors left for my mom

Asheville Trip - Bent Creek

Bent Creek -Asheville, Watercolor, 11"x14"

My mom's good friend, Aunty Dana, wanted a painting for a charity auction for the Mustard Seed that does a whole bunch of really cool charity work around the world.

So in an effort to help her out I did a few paintings to give to her for her cause.

This one was a Sunday afternoon trip to Bent Creek in Asheville. That place was a hub of activity with continuous kayaks and canoes launching into the French Broad River. We even saw a white truck hit and run another car.

It took awhile to paint this watercolor, but we had a great seat under the tall trees. The river is really beautiful. I had a lot of fun setting up this drawing and it came out pretty great. 

"Art is as important to the access of knowledge as any text ever written." 

~ Laura Kruger

Quiet Bent Creek Moment

Kayla on her Cell Phone - Final

Kayla on her Phone, Oil Pastel on Paper, 18" x 24"

So here is the completed drawing of my sister reading on her cell phone. I really like how the background makes the figure spring forward. I also like the shadows under the chair.

"Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties." 

~ Erich Fromm

Asheville Trip - West End Bakery

View from the West End Bakery, Ink on Paper, 8"x10"

It was a hot afternoon and I was relaxing while drinking a iced tea at the West End Bakery in Asheville. The sun was hot and the iced tea was great.

Across the street there was construction going on in the service station and I had a good time sketching the cement truck that was parked there.

I wished I put some of the workers in the sketch.