Painting: Rose

This painting is another one based on a photo from my America trip last year.

Portland's International Rose Garden has approximately 550 varieties of rose plant so there were plenty to take photos of during our vist. It's free to look around and you can get there on the shuttle bus that takes you all around Washington Park, which we were visiting for the zoo but the rose garden was an added bonus.

This painting is a small one and I decided to use acrylic paints as a change from my usual oils.

Thanks Portland for your inspiration and photo posing opportunities!

Seattle and Portland Travel Journal

When I went on holiday this summer to Seattle and Portland I took a travel journal with me like I did for my trip to Nashville and New York. Again, it was made from parts of old Paperchase planners. 

I stuck in things we'd collected during the day, like bus tickets and shop receipts, and then wrote about the day around them. I made sure to write about each day on the day, or the next morning at the latest, so I didn't forget anything.  

I found ways to include other things we picked up, like this leaflet for Huber's restaurant; Portland's oldest restaurant. That was a dining experience I don't want to forget! I threaded cotton through two holes I made in the leaflet and tied it around the center spiral.

Once we got home I ordered some prints online of our holiday snaps that I could cut up, punch holes in and add to the book. I love being able to illustrate the stories we'd written about with pictures.

This Summer I...

After a week in Seattle my boyfriend and I caught the Amtrak down to Portland. The four hour journey didn't seem too long and it was considerably cheaper than flying, plus we had some great views out of the window.

One of our favourite things we did during our stay was go on the Multnomah Falls and Columbia River Gorge Tour. The 5-stop tour lasted half a day and included three waterfalls and the Bonneville Dam and fishery. It was great to get out of the city and see some of the North-West's great scenery.

We also visited the Oregon Zoo in Washington Park. We found out beforehand that if you go on a Tuesday entry is only $4, so we did just that.

We used Washington Park's free shuttle bus to also vist the Japanese Garden and the Rose Garden.

We couldn't go to Portland without trying a Voodoo Donut. So good! And not as sweet as I was expecting considering America's love of super sweet frosting.

Another cool thing we found out about before we went was every second Thursday of the month Ground Kontrol Arcade holds a special evening where you pay $5 to get in and then all the games are free play. It was awesome. We played Pacman, Tetris, Street Fighter, pinball, some weird paper boy game where the controller is bike handle bars. $5 well spent!

Have you ever been to Portland or Seattle? Is there anything else we should have done?