Working On Re- Entry

I always seem to have trouble with re-entry after a trip but this time its been especially hard. On Christmas Eve we learned that our sweet niece Britney lost her battle with brain cancer. She was only 21, engaged and planning a wonderful life.  Its so sad.

On Christmas morning we packed the truck and headed out on our 1800 mile journey across the country. You know when you travel on Christmas Day nothing is open. I was happy we had brought a cooler with a few things. Christmas dinner was yogurt, cheese and crackers and Apple pie. The roads were good going out the trip is just long.

Amidst all the sadness there was new life to celebrate.  My sister-in-law Sue with daughter Leslie and Leslie's son Cody.  We spent a few days with family in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and then headed to lower Michigan to visit my sister, brother and cousin.

Here is a view going across the Mackinaw Bridge, it connects both parts of Michigan together. It was wind and cold, this bridge is 5 miles long and not my favorite bridge in the world. As you can see there was very little traffic that day.

















This is a view of all the ice on the lake. I got a very frozen tundra like feeling looking out the window.

This is my sister Peggy with her two boys Casey and Jamie.  They are all grown up now. The last time I saw them they were little boys, how time flies.

This is me with my favorite cousin Norah, and my sister Peggy and brother Tom. It was so great to reconnect with family.  It had been a really long time. I always feel closer to my mom when I am with Norah. I learned a few new things this time.  It was fun reminiscing with her, she is such a joy in my life.




















I didn't do much art on the trip but here are a couple pages. I call them Light unfolding. I needed to see some light amongst all the sadness.

They were both created with Faber-Castel Gelatos.
Just layers of color smeared together. Its a favorite way for me to use this medium.

In addition to the gelatos I had brought my Koi Watercolor traveling set. I drew this in pencil first and then just added the color. This piece has a lot of light coming through too.