So....summer?

Um...where did summer go? It seems just like yesterday and I was cleaning up my classroom and saying farewell to all my students for the summer. And now we are just weeks away from textbooks, notes and new classes! CRAZY!

I still feel like I'm in catch-up mode after such a crazy and busy summer. I'll have to do another post about teaching this summer with Arts Outreach, we did a lot of fun projects that I can't wait to share! 

Here's some of my favorite photos from our family trip to Utah this past week. Still forever one of my favorite places on this continent...

1. The roads out in Utah are pretty incredible. Miles of desert and hills and rock formations and fields with NO ONE around. 

2. I brought all my travel gear with me to watercolor and get some work done while we were there (no such thing as a real vacation anymore I guess...)

3. There were SO MANY wildflowers this summer! This was just a small sample of all of them. 

4. Our grandpa has a few horses on this ranch and they're very friendly and photogenic. 

5. My sister snapped this photo of me while I was sketching on the edge of Horseshoe Bend in Arizona. SO happy to be able to cross that spot off the sketching bucket list, it's an amazing view. 

6. This is my little watercolor of Horseshoe Bend. I was pretty terrified the wind was going to pick it up and carry it all the way to the bottom of the canyon! 

7. Before we hiked out to Horseshoe Bend, we visited Lower Antelope Canyon. INCREDIBLE! I've been wanting to go back here ever since I first visited the upper canyon a few years ago. Lower Antelope Canyon was SO MUCH BETTER! Much longer and fewer tourists. 

8. This was my backpack I snagged during a road trip to Texas a few years ago with all my travel gear. 

In other news, I'm working on a brand new newsletter with some special downloads! Sign up here and get in on it!  

bits + pieces of Utah

My family and I spent Thanksgiving in southern Utah at my grandparent's house. Utah is definitely in the top three for favorite places in the world (tied with California and Castiglion Fiorentino of course). We were there for a week and we crammed SO much into that week! I found an arrowhead, we went off roading, found petroglyphs, got seriously lost for hours in the boonies, went to the Grand Canyon, shot skeet (and rocked it!), found an antler, chopped wood, had hydraulic grease explode all over me, drove through Zion and ate copious amounts of food! So much stuff in just 7 days! 

We were also in Utah over Black Friday + Small Business Saturday + Cyber Monday and I'm so excited with how well it went this year! THANK YOU! There's still time to snag some goodies in time for Christmas, and if you sign up for the Sketchy Notions Newsletter you can snag 10% off your order! 

1. This guy almost didn't make it home but we were able to squeeze him in at the last minute! I'm still searching for the perfect spot to hang him! 

2. The view from my grandparent's house outside of Kanab. Best view to wake up early to. 

3. All my weapons of creation for arting in the wild. Armed with my trusty sling shot and favorite Bird Trouble pouch! 

4. A great off-roading ride that leads to the coolest petroglyph location!

5. Freja, our Danish foreign exchange student, and I got separated from our group another day we were off-roading. We were a bit lost for a couple hours but we got some great adventuring done and even some sketching. 

6. There's an old movie set by my grandparent's house too, where they filmed old Westerns. Now it's just a cool ghost town to wander through.

7. Dusty sunset after some off-roading. 

8. This is Freja just after we saw the Grand Canyon! Hooray! (She's also a fashion blogger!)

9. Sketching the Grand Canyon. I can check that off the sketching bucket list! 

10. We drove through Zion National Park on our way home. Zion is one of my favorite National Parks in the whole country. 

How was your Thanksgiving? Any good adventures or traveling stories to share?

Antelope Canyon, Arizona

I've been meaning to share photos from our adventure through Antelope Canyon, way back on our road trip to Utah this summer. For those of you that are unfamiliar with this magical place, Antelope Canyon is a naturally formed canyon that at produces the most incredible light shafts and shadows throughout the narrow crevice, tucked on the Navajo Reservation in Northern Arizona. You've probably seen some of the iconic photos of it on some form of USA calender at some point. It is beyond words, and you must add it to your bucket list. 

Unfortunately, we were a little unprepared for our visit. We decided that same morning we were going to make the trek, which resulted in us waiting in line in the hot sun for an hour to secure spots on a tour another hour later. 

We waited our wait then were hauled in the back of trucks across the desert. It was a really fun ride over, which ended at an unassuming chasm and a parking lot of other tour trucks. Within moments, our group was hustled into the darkness. 

After finally entering the slot, describing the canyon as packed is a gross understatement. It was insane how many people were crammed into this narrow space at once. It lost a bit of it's magesticness (yes, magesticness) as we were being herded through it, all the while timing our photos for when the group ahead or behind rounded the corner. I was jumping between my camera and my Iphone the whole time, while trying to sketch. I must have looked insane! But we still ended up with some epic photos without people! Sketching Antelope Canyon was even crazier but so very worth it. 

All that being said, at some point in your life you must visit this insanely gorgeous site! It is worth the lines, heat, waiting and crowds. Absolutely. One day I'd like to go back for the photography tour (longer time in the canyon and smaller groups) and next time, with a reservation made in advance! 

Utah road trip mini sketchbook

I finally got around to photographing my mini sketchbook from the Utah road trip. I wish I had been able to sketch more while we were on the road but I love the small collection that I was able to make. Here are my favorites from the trip, but the whole sketchbook can be seen on my Behance profile. I put it on my website too but there's a lot in flux with the site right now and it's just not quite ready to hit publish but stay tuned for that launch...it's coming soon...

Sketchbook documented: check! Sleep schedule back to normal: check! Now if only I could tackle the giant pile of laundry left in the wake from the trip...

1. Just a quick little title page in homage to all the hours on that bloody highway...

2. This was the quaint little cabin we stayed at in Glendale!

3. Zion will always be one of my favorite National Parks to visit. It's so majestic, especially during the monsoon season when the thunderheads roll in!

4. Next time I go back to Antelope Canyon, I'm going to take the photography tour. Longer tour down there with less people = more time to sketch the light and curves

5. The Natural Bridge at Bryce Canyon was high on my list to sketch this trip

6. When we visited my grandparents in Kanab, I sketches some of the many arrowheads we've all found over the years.

a road trip to Utah

Somewhere in the middle of the desert along the 15

During this little week long hiatus, I took a road trip to Utah with J and some friends! It was a pretty incredible trip. We took our time driving over and stopped in Vegas for our first night. 

For the majority of the trip we stayed in the town of Glendale in the most perfect little cabin. It was a great home base for us to make day trips to Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon and even Antelope Canyon down by Lake Powell. On our last day, we drove over to my grandparent's house in Kanab for some epic 4-wheeling, petroglyph searching and little bit of shooting. 

I worked on another mini sketchbook during the trip too! It wasn't as productive as the Puerto Rico mini but I'm still really please with the results. Once I get it scanned up I'll share the results of it. You can get a peek on my Instagram if you'd like. These photos are some of my favorite photos from the trip. 

1. On our first day in Utah, we visited Zion National Park. We hiked a bunch of trails, including this pretty one at the Temple of Sinawava leading to the Narrows.

2. In the town next door, there was the Kane County Fair! We got to watch some of the steer judging and saw all the chickens, pigs and sheep. 

3/4. If you haven't heard of Antelope Canyon, put it on your bucket lists now! I went there years ago when I was little and haven't been back til now. It's an incredible space! I tried sketching during our tour but it was very tricky. I think I brought home about 100 photos of the changing light through that narrow canyon. 

5. We spent another day out at Bryce Canyon, another really gorgeous National Park. We got rained out unfortunately but we were able to see all the main sites and squeeze in a hike on the Fairyland Trail. 

6/7. Close to my grandparent's house, there's an old Western movie set. It's pretty run down now from lack of use and weather over the years but it's a great little ghost town to mosey through. 

8. All around southern Utah, there are some amazing petroglyph sites. There are some particularly awesome Anasazi sites close to the Utah/Arizona border. 

sketches as of late & a mini roadtrip

Been a busy week so very little (to none!) posting. I've been trying really hard to sketch more often, in keeping with my 24 before 25 (which reminds me, I need to do an update on that)...

Lots of flowers lately! Hooray for spring! The poppies were due to my missing Italy a lot this past week...then the little ones below happened today when I was waiting at lunch.

The mini sketchbooks have been getting the most attention lately, since they're the easiest thing to bust out while at work or waiting at a restaurant.

Speaking of restaurants, my littlest sister and I took a quick trip up to Monterey this past week during her spring break.

I'm a sucker for jellyfish! And babygirl looked too cute in front of this painted wall by the wharf.

She needed to see the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I needed to gorge on Italian food and see the amazing tables by Ariele Alasko at Il Vecchio!

We went to the family dinner night and, unfortunately, arrived kind of late so I only had the chance  to snap a quick (and sadly crummy) photo of our gorgeous table before dinner was served.

It was definitely some of the best Italian food I've had state side! The pasta al pomodoro was fantastic, the pollo arrosto was perfetto and our torta ricotta was incredible! And with a glass of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, it tasted just like home...

It was also just a really great space to hang out in. There's so much attention to detail inside, and it's a great environment for starting up a conversation with the people next to you.

And! As luck would have it, Ariele was actually at the restaurant that night so I got to meet her! So excited! She was so sweet, it was pretty surreal actually meeting her in the actual restaurant she made! Not gonna lie, I was a little starstruck! I wish Monterey was closer, I want to eat there every night!

I was really inspired by the tables so I did a quick sketch based on one of the tables at the restaurant. It's definitely doesn't do justice to the real table but there are a lot of interesting patterns and designs used in the tables and wood work that I'd like to play with more.

On other notes, Livi & Grace is making some big progress this week! I'll be posting photos of those girlies in the next few days....

Until then, a dopo!

a chair by way of Texas

I found a chair. THE chair. Long story...to be exact, a 2 week long road trip was taken in order to find this chair, unintentionally! A trip through Southern California, across to Scottsdale, Arizona, through Alpine, Texas to Austin, Texas and then back again. During the 14 day trek I was led to Johnson City, Texas where I found my chair... but first, the road trip!

I first went to San Diego to visit my sister and partake in the treasured family tradition of visiting Margaritaville, aka attending a Jimmy Buffett concert! Then the travels East led to family in Scottsdale, Arizona and further West to Texas. While visiting Alpine, Texas (a quaint little town off of Highway 10 in waaay West Texas) I stumbled upon these two cute little birds that kept me company the rest of my travels.

Now this was my first trip back to Texas since I bailed out of the United States and went to Italy, so a lot of catching up (both with friends and my favorite food and coffee spots) was needed! My trip also coincided with SXSW, the epic music festival that invades Austin every spring. I got a little sketching in that will come soon but unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures until my return trip home....when I stumbled onto my chair and where I encountered all sorts of crazy weather, including rain in Texas, then snow and sunshine in New Mexico, within about 20 miles.

Okay, so the chair. I have been hunting for a chair for a month or so now to use in the Chair Faire in Los Alamos, California. I was invited to participate through my friend's gallery, The C Gallery, and finish creating my chair on site the day of the festival.

While travelling through West Texas, I stumbled into Pieces of the Past in Johnson City. The owner Kathy had an amazing collection of reclaimed chairs, tables, windows, doors and other vintage pieces. Among their collection I found my chair, a lovely turquoise gem from Mexico!

I was completely smitten with this chair at first site! I had something completely different in mind before the road trip but this chair won me over...I can't wait to get to work on it!

Also while I was in Austin, I was able to do a little thrifting at Good Will and shopping at Buffalo Exchange. I found this awesome crochet shirt at Buffalo and the most amazing backpack at Good Will.

They all just look so perfect together. Yay! And so concludes probably the longest blog post I've ever posted. Such a great little road trip, and even better weather to come home to! Now time to get back to work...