Art Camp's Fall Party

Art campers got together for a painting party this Fall.  It was great to see everyone again and share stories of the start of school and new friends.

Fantastic ceramic monsters created this summer came alive with color!

Painting madness continued throughout the afternoon...

and ended with a communal paint extravaganza! Huzzah!

Tomegbe Well Photos

These recent photos are from the village of Tomegbe, just down the dirt road a mile or so from the village of Game, where I was a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Tomegbe is a village of approximate 200 people who traditionally get their water from a stream nearby.  The water is transported on foot, usually by women and girls, and is very labor intensive and time consuming. 

  

The village will greatly benefit from having this clean water source nearby.

The hard work of digging a well.

  

Digging was particularly difficult because of the hard laterite soil.

Diggers abandoned the first site to start over at a different location.

A meeting of the village management committee.

Many many thanks for your continued contributions to the Togo Well Project. 

Well building project starting in the village of Tomegbe!

The Harmattan winds are blowing down from the north and the dry season continues in Togo. This is the time of year to begin a new well and the people of Tomegbe have been busy the last few months collecting sand for the bricks that will line the walls.

Walking long distances with cuvettes of sand on their heads, a pile of sand is dumped near the well site.
With the gracious contributions of Art Camp parents, family, friends and collectors of my ceramic birds and bowls, we were able to wire $4,000 for the construction of this well. This is the 5th well funded by the Togo Well Project. Many thanks to all who are helping bring clean water to this village!

Inspiration

This is a painting I did of our recent trip to Mexico. We had an open air casa with this ridiculous view. Whales in the bay, frigate birds, horned cows, spectacular flowers, butterflies everywhere and blue footed boobies! I was so inspired when I returned that I painted for 3 days straight.

Holiday Market this weekend!

Come see me at the Capitol Hill Holiday Market Friday and Saturday. I'll have nesting bowls and little birdies as well as some paintings. A fund-raiser for the PTA, lots of artists and crafters will be there so come and get in some last minute shopping!

Mt. Adams Serenity

Early fall backpacking trip before the weather turns.

Lots of huckleberries, bears and mystical night skies.

Art and Writing Camp for Girls

I spent part of a week in August at the Art and Writing Camp for Girls in Cove, Oregon. It is sponsored by the Cove Ascension School and E.S.T.E.A.M. Many girls don't have an opportunity to work in clay at their schools so I was really happy to show them some techniques.

We made art in this beautiful old building that was actually rolled to Cove from La Grande on wooden logs many many moons ago.
It's filled with old wooden benches and an assortment of colorful supplies.
This is my 2nd summer teaching art in Cove and I'm already looking forward to next year. I hope to make it to the cherry festival!