Taking a selfie is very unusual and uncomfortable for me but for the sake of this blog I thought I should take my phone on one of my sketching/Stand Up Paddle board adventures. The photo above is me sitting on the Hyde Mountain Golf Course docks on Mara Lake B.C. with my happy hour/dinner snacks and sketching set up. The photo below is of my board and supplies. The last photo is of one of the places I stopped on the way to sketch...how lucky and I!

I had an absolutely wonderful time at Dody's Art For All second camp retreat at McKenzie Camp on Mabel Lake, B.C.. This year Kathy (our hard working organizer), Dody, Raelene, Shirley, Pam, Jean, Marg and I were in attendance. Half this group quilting is their art and the other half are painters. We were well fed and worked away or rested as our bodies and minds dictated. Pam won the decorated hat award and we all won at multiple fun evening games. The weather did not co-operate for plein air but Marg, Pam and I got out when the rain stopped to sketch or paint. The second photo is one of the rare onlookers that visited me, we call them stink bugs because if you squash them, they really stink. The stink bugs look prehistoric but are slow moving, erratic fliers and don't really do to much. He visited for quite awhile and I was grateful I was painting with acrylics and not oils so he was able to fly away after his rest.

I have loved living and painting in the Sicamous, B.C. area this summer. One of my favourite past times is paddling on my stand up paddle board (SUP) and travelling by water to stop and sketch along the way. If I can work it right, I usually go at happy hour time taking a beverage and snacks with me. I will often paddle to the Hyde Mountain Golf Course docks and sketch something around me (picture #1 and 2). The bouncing dock and water from all the boat waves offers a challenge so I can't get to focused on making a piece of art but instead try and capture the moment with my homemade sketch book. It is becoming a wonderful diary of my outdoor adventures. Obviously selfies are not my forte, especially looking into the sun on a bouncy dock!

I was really fortunate this summer to enjoy W.O.W. (Wednesday On The Wharf) evening concerts at Salmon Arm's Marine Park as well as the Music In The Park at the Sicamous Public Beach Park, both weekly. I brought my sketch book and practiced sketching people. Some sketches were unfinished as the person got up or moved and others I had more time with so added more details. It was a wonderful way to experience live music, very aware of the musicians and people around me.

This fabulous view of Mara Lake is taken from the roadside before going into the town's landfill (dump). Arriving before the landfill opens, it is very peaceful and serene. Painting in acrylics once the sun began to shine was challenging it was drying so quick as was the changing light and colours. This is a view of my en plein air set up. My paint box had fallen but the lid was still on so it was messy but still usable.