You know, I get out and about a fair amount and I really like going but I have found that the best part about being gone is the coming home again. There’s nothing like the comfort and familiarity of home. There’s a fellow artist, from Kansas City I believe, who with his wife sold their house, bought an Airstream trailer and are touring and attending plain air events all over this great country of ours. They just make a schedule and sort of follow the weather I guess, painting full time and traveling. I’ve often thought I’d like something like that and maybe I would if I didn’t have the responsibilities of the gallery/studio/shop, and if my wife could join me. Hard to say.

I’ve talked to full time RVers who have stopped in the gallery and they all seem to like it. Each one has a different method for handling the bill paying, mail forwarding, etc. but they all manage to make it work. I suppose someday I’d like to give it a try but I’ll keep our house just in case it doesn’t work out. For now, it’s working out just fine to be gone for a week or so, make some money selling paintings and then come back and regroup. I do like visiting new places and meeting new folks, and I do like dragging my trailer around and sleeping in my own bed and doing my own cooking. Dietary concerns dictate the need for that as it is hard to follow a proper diet when eating out all the time. Plus it’s expensive.

If you’ve been following along, you know I was in Zion National Park last week for the Zion Plein Air Invitational in which 24 artists were selected from a national pool of applicants to paint in the park and sell their paintings for a week in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the national park system. I will have to say that the event was one of the better ones I’ve participated in and I was very honored to have been one of the 24 chosen ones. Yes, it was a success in many ways to include sales. The weather was perfect and the venue was one of the best. Well done on all fronts. The folks that put that event on are super stars. What a great time…thank you. Here are a couple of photos from the week.

Here’s one of the peanut gallery lined up watching while I paint. You can see the blonde one has no interest at all. If I’m not mistaken, one of them appears to be laughing…come on girls…I’m not finished yet.

Photo is courtesy of Dennis Bailey. He and his wife Carol found me painting in Grafton, Utah, a small ghost town just outside of the park. Thanks Dennis.

Meet Mike and Amy, proud owners of an original Simpson watercolor, purchased during the event. The Great White Throne was painted from the lawn in front of Zion Lodge where they got to watch me paint it. Thanks folks.

Another proud owner of an original Simpson watercolor is Savannah who watched me do this little watercolor of the West Temple from the back patio of the History Museum. Thanks Savannah. I appreciate all you did for us during the event.

With that behind me, that’ll be it for the remainder of the year. I plan on being in the gallery/studio/shop until spring when things will kick off again. I’ve got a couple of commissions to do for the holidays and new studio paintings to work on.

I’ve been very blessed to have such a good life and full schedule. Sure beats sitting around with my feet propped up wondering how I’l while away my time. No worries there. I’ve got living to do and a lot of it to do too.

Until next time, keep smiling, it’s your greatest asset. Thanks for following along.