As I’ve mentioned before, my husband and I try to take an extended weekend vacation each year. In December 2018 we decided on visiting Ouray, Colorado – mainly for the prospect of a relaxing hot spring vacation!
One of the reasons I’m able to travel as often as I do is thanks to my husband’s career. He’s a space physicist (cool, right?) and gets to go to a handful of meetings around the globe most years. Depending on where he’s going and my work schedule, I will frequently tag along. In December specifically, he usually goes to a large conference held at various locations in the states. 2017 had us visiting New Orleans – quite possibly one of the best work trips yet. (And if all goes well, we’ll be back there in 2021, too!)
My birthday was a few days ago, so I went hiking to Penitentiary Hollow at Lake Mineral Wells State Park in Mineral Wells, Texas. Now that’s a socially-distant way to celebrate! Penitentiary Hollow can be accessed directly by car, or by hiking the Red Waterfront Trail. Of course I chose the trail, and the views did not disappoint!
Cleburne State Park is an hour from where I live, making it just close enough for a day trip and just far enough to help scratch the travel itch. I decided to go hiking the Spillway Trail at Cleburne State Park yesterday to enjoy the continuing good weather here in Texas. The trail itself is short but with a nice elevation climb, offering some spectacular views of the spillway.
I decided to head out a bit farther from home for the day and went hiking at Benbrook Lake in Crowley, TX, this week. This reservoir is under the jurisdiction of the Army Corp of Engineers, and home to several small parks, boat ramps, and trails. At this time of year, many of the facilities are closed, but I enjoyed having the majority of the shoreline to myself on this warm, autumn day. The geology of the shoreline is visually interesting, and gives a hiker a different terrain compared to other trails in the area. And…did I mention the fossils?
In October of 2016, my employer sent me to Philadelphia for three weeks on a task force mission for one of our properties. I spend the majority of my time on the road for work at work, but occasionally I’ll get a rare day off. While in Philly, I spent one of those days visiting Eastern State Penitentiary. This prison-turned-museum is perfect for urban explorers – especially this close to Halloween!
As mentioned in my last blog post about the Halloween Wall mural I had the pleasure of painting in 2018, I bring you the main event: the Halloween Room mural! This project entailed doing a continuous mural on all four walls to be the background of a Halloween-themed layout. The client was looking for a silhouette-style twilight mural with bright purples and blues, bordering between realistic and fantastical.
The backstory:
The couple that hired me for this mural has an extensive Halloween-themed layout they set out in their house. Each year, the neighborhood kids come by and enjoy the layout during trick-or-treating. Moving forward, the homeowners decided they wanted to avoid the trouble of setting it up and tearing it down each year. Instead, they decided to make part of their garage a dedicated room for a permanent installation. I provided this Halloween mural on the outer wall before entering the inner room. (I also provided the mural in the entirety of the layout room, but more on that later.) Read on for a brief look into my process in creating this Halloween mural.
One of the more common decorative painting and faux finishing requests I get is for a faux marble finish. This is a quick overview of a faux marble fireplace project I did in a private residence in Longmont, CO.
Three years ago this week, I was visiting Portland, ME, while my husband was attending a conference. I used my few days in town to take advantage of the scenery, the beer scene, and the seafood!