On the Road Again

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On the Road Again

Stayin’ at Home Well, here we are on the umpty-third day of stay at home but I ain’t complaining even if it is 49° and raining. Sitting here in my studio with the aspen trees along the drive budding out, lots of little birds flying around, and some good music filling the room. I’d turn on the fireplace but there’s a damn woodpecker that’s drilled a hole in the chimney and I’d hate to roast him. I do have a slingshot though. Gonna nail that sucker one day. Hope this finds everyone safe and secure in these perilous times. I understand Read more »

Christmas in Paris, 2012

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Christmas in Paris, 2012

Lynn and I journeyed to Paris for Christmas in 2012. As you can see from the photos, the weather was dreary most of the time. We still had a good time with lots of food and good French wines. We stayed at a wonderful small hotel, the Hotel Jeu De Paume on the Île Saint-Louis. We liked it so much we returned in late November, 2013. Notre Dame is just a few blocks away on the Île de la Cité. If you’re hungry for steak while in Paris, you have to go to Relais de l’Entrecote. They’ll bring you a Read more »

Scenes from the Bay

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Scenes from the Bay

Remembering Thanksgiving, 2017 I must have been feeling a bit nostalgic this afternoon. I was stumbling through my catalog of images trying to find something to occupy my mind when I came across the ones you see here. It was a beautiful Thanksgiving evening on Matagorda Bay at Port O’Connor, TX. The evenings aren’t always like this or like the sunrise two days earlier at the top of this post. And the water is almost always brown as the bay is so shallow. But this night was something to behold. The house sits across the street from a small county Read more »

Third Time’s A Charm

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Third Time’s A Charm

First, on a serious note… Early February, 2020 found me back in Joshua Tree for the third year in a row with Don Messec of Making Art Safely. Early February seems almost like a lifetime ago with covid-19 now confining us to our homes. We had heard that there might be some people quarantined at the nearby Twentynine Palms Marine base but it didn’t seem to be that big a deal. Boy, was that wrong! So please pay attention to the medical professionals and not the politicians. This is and will be a trying time for our country but come Read more »

Joshua Tree 2019

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Joshua Tree 2019

Back for a second go round Here I am back in Joshua Tree National Park during February with Don Messec from Making Art Safely in Santa Fe. It’s my second “on location” platinum/palladium (pt/pd) printing workshop in the park with Don and just a load of fun. He packs up the Epson printers loaded with piezograhy inks for making negatives plus all the chemistry, trays, brushes, etc for making prints. His next location trip is the Big Island of Hawaii. Wouldn’t want to pay the baggage fees for that trip. Jim Hamstra was back as mentor and kibitzer. Jim has Read more »

Ancient Olive Trees in Crisis

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Ancient Olive Trees in Crisis

Journey to Puglia Lynn and I traveled to Italy with our friends Joe and Mary in September of 2017. After a night out in Rome we met up with our Italian friends and tour guides, Stefania and Orazio of Casa Stefazio fame. They planned and accompanied us for a journey around the Puglia region. We were treated to so much good food – too much really. And we drank our fair share of wine as well. There were so many wonderful overnight stays in places we would never have found on our own. Our stay was for 2 weeks but Read more »

Lynn & Charles headed Down Under in 2018

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Lynn & Charles headed Down Under in 2018

A long flight and recuperating in Sydney Lynn and I took advantage of a United sale and headed “Down Under” in early September to explore the East Coast. A 16 hour direct to Sydney flight is a little more bearable when you’re setting up front. A couple of glasses of bubbly, a little whiskey, wine, and an ice cream sundae certainly encourages napping. We spent three nights in Sydney which let us hit the normal tourist spots and museums with all the other tourists. We also managed to get a little way off the beaten path to places like Paddington Read more »

Focused on Creating a Real Black & White Print

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Focused on Creating a Real Black & White Print

So I’m retired, now what? For the past two years or so I’ve been focused on creating a good black & white print much more than a color print. Call it getting back to my roots. My spousal unit may not be completely happy with that but she is supportive as always. I post images in half a dozen Facebook groups, my Instagram account, and lately in SmugMug. That’s fine because it reaches a bigger audience than trapping friends with a slideshow. But at least we give them food and drinks so they tolerate me, I hope. In the end Read more »

Out and About in Chile and Argentina

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Out and About in Chile and Argentina

Part 1 – Santiago and Valparaiso January 2017 found Lynn and I traveling out and about in portions of Chile and Argentina with our friends Mary and Joe Studlick. Joe spent a considerable amount of time going back and forth with Jeff at Off the Beaten Path (OBP) to plan a 20+ day trip to visit the Atacama Desert and Patagonia in Chile and the Salta area in Argentina. And OBP did a great job with airport to hotel transfers, guides, restaurant reservations, wine tours, and trips back and forth across the Chile/Argentine border. We were looking for good food, Read more »