Harts Pass no. 496

There was an actual rockslide in our little part of the world this summer... and then there is the proverbial rockslide of Covid-19 that has been crushing our ability to find our better selves and get things done. 3+ short months ago and we were ONLY at 150,000 dead. "I just want to cross the valley again and see some friends..."

Harts Pass no. 495

Still WAY too many people not willing to wear a mask. Some people are hitting home runs wearing masks... and some people are hiding behind inane right wing propaganda like their concealed carry permits will be invalidated if they wear a mask (not true!) It's not hard. Keep one in your pocket. Keep one in your car. Keep a buff or scarf around your neck and use it as a mask. My wife and I are coaching high school and junior high runners wearing masks. They do it. So can you. Save some lives. This is SUCH a huge little thing.

Harts Pass no. 494

Hiked a trail this week with a bridge out 4 miles in. You could cross the creek with some effort, but it was not an easy thing. A small metaphor for what we are supposed to be doing with our political divide. Build a bridge. Bring people together. Take two far off points and reduce the distance between. Statesmanship is in short supply. We need real leadership not a puffed up schoolyard bully and we need to build bridges.

Harts Pass no. 493

Lots of hiking for me this spring/early summer. LOTS of wildflowers too. Good to find some positive pops of color in all of the Covid gloom. Feeling very lucky to live where social distancing is easy... but also too far away from the easy ability to participate in important protest over social justice inequities that have persisted for FAR too long.

Harts Pass no. 492

I looked REALLY hard to find a good quote about FREEDOM and RESPONSIBILITY. And that's what it comes down to, people. With all of our American freedom comes a true responsibility to do what it right for the common good. Get off of your selfish high horse about not wanting to be told what to do. Think about YOUR high school graduation. Think about YOUR first year of college or your first taste of living on your own and going out and into the world. Now think about how your selfish need to indulge your every whim is keeping SO many kids or others from having that same experience. And I'm being young adult/millenial-centric here because you guys need to step up. You might be at a lower risk of getting really sick, but you also might still be contributing to a greater community spread. If people really want to get back to work. If people really want to get their kids back to school. If people really want the FREEDOM to go and shop and eat out and travel with ease again and all of that... then for the foreseeable future (until we get a vaccine) you need to settle down and do EVERYTHING with a nod towards the greater good. You need to put US and WE first. You need to recognize that everyone will be better off if you think about three other people first before you think about yourself. As it turns out, YOU will actually benefit as well. PS John Dewey has a lot of good writing worth reading as well. Nothing super pithy and quotable, but still. Check him out and realize how little we have progressed regarding ideas of freedom and responsibility and race in the last 100 years.

Harts Pass no. 491

Totally pandemic related, and totally school year/summer break related. There is a fine line for sure between what we were doing and what it felt like when we went on break. Like anything else these days a total recalibration of the norms is necessary. Summer IS hotter BTW!

Harts Pass no. 490

I feel like this is one of those where the concept is just a little off. Spring time rains in the north cascades ARE a little rare -- and rarer still as summer looms. It makes total sense to me that Thor would soak it up while the soaking is good, but just like Kit is stating, it seems a little strange. I mean I "guess" there is some humor in this impossibility (you can't REALLY soak up the rain to store it for later) but at the same time the leap of faith for understanding this is probably a little far. You win some you lose some. Next week will be better!

Harts Pass no. 489

Kids, parent, staff, teachers and schools this year made the best of it. "Happy" may be taken with a grain of salt, but it was still and important milestone and things will (eventually) get better. Onward and upward!

Harts Pass no. 489

Black Lives Matter. There is SO much going wrong. What is happening in our country right now needs leadership and compassion.

Harts Pass no. 487

Back from late May and a sneaking suspicion that many of my students might have started losing interest in school... funny that since SO many parents had been wanting more in the way of self-directed educational opportunity.

Harts Pass no. 486

It this time of social distancing, I have been closer to my family than just about anything else. Finally coming around to online social obligations and updates. Apologies for the absence. Hugs to all!

B.E.A.R. Episode no. 13

Getting a little ahead of myself, but I've been sitting on Episode 12 for several days now due to problems with uploading... Anyway, no. 13 is out "sequence" but here you go! Just a little drawing challenge where you can turn absolute and totally random watercolor splotches into something almost recognizable :) Give it try, and as I heard on the radio yesterday in a quote by the woman who invented the N95 mask, "If you don't stretch you can't find the edges." 

Push those creative boundaries! 

HAVE FUN * NO BAD IDEAS * GIVE IT YOUR BEST EFFORT

Harts Pass no. 485

One of those silent strips where I hopefully got the expressions and gestures telling most of the story :) Spring rain is good in the arid west. It seems even a little better this year with the relative suspended animation that is "shelter in place" pandemic-required relative isolation and persistent sameness. Worms in the grass now too for added company!

B.E.A.R Episode no. 11

In this video I demonstrate an observational drawing challenge using sad faces. Sometimes in class we would draw quickly, switch poses, draw again, switch again etc.. The pose or the amount of time given, could get gradually longer, but fundamentally, this is meant to capture MAJOR ideas and then maybe start building on form or shape with a little more time. Dramatic gestures, lines of action, general shapes and relative shapes (the size and scale of how things fit together in a subject) -- these are the building blocks that can help you with almost any kind of drawing :) Follow the two links below and give it a try after watching my slightly time-lapsed demonstration. Enjoy! 

SAD FACES: https://tinyurl.com/y7rxlcq3

19 MIN OF SPRING: https://tinyurl.com/yc9cmb5p

HAVE FUN * NO BAD IDEAS * GIVE IT YOUR BEST EFFORT

Harts Pass no. 484

In 1972 my little western town of Winthrop, WA decided to re-brand as a wooden boardwalk, "western" in the old fashioned send of the word, kinda tourist hub. It's generally worked and has been good for business. Like any place with a "code" there are certainly ups and downs - not to mention the fact that "western" expansion into once remote territories had many problems of its own. Putting aside all of that and in favor of a positive spin that might help squelch the politicization of mask wearing, when local business DO get the chance to open up a little more and get back to "norm" we have a ready-made opportunity to have a "costume" (bandana mask) that fits the town sensibility AND keeps the workers and the tourists necessary for livelihood safe and sound. Be smart people. Wear a mask!

Polar Bear Post Card Redux no. 4

The final polar bear post card painting from my B.E.A.R chat video late last week. If you want to see this painting in action take a scroll down the page and play away!

Harts Pass no. 483

Birthday week for Thor! And Kit too, for that matter, one day after dad :) That's a LOT o' miles riding the good 'ole planet earth around the sun. Take care out there. GRRR!!!

Harts Pass no. 482

An Earth Day comic from the slopes of Harts Pass! The four steps listed here are the same used by my wife's Methow Conservancy "School Yard Science" program when they engage with local elementary school students (or did anyway.) School in session or not, you can still engage in similar ways. Have a good week!

B.E.A.R. Episode no. 10

A little watercolor demo and the progress painting of a polar bear postcard :) Trying to establish an “art exchange” with other regional schools where my Drawing & Painting class can hopefully make a few smallish “postcard” paintings of their own, mail them off to some other students in similarly isolated “art class” situations, and hopefully then receive some surprise student artwork of their own. We’ll see if we can make it happen!

Weekend Polar Bear Paintings

This past weekend I painted polar bear. It made me happy. Enough said. Enjoy!