Sunset

MAX sunset.
Originally uploaded by michele_maule
I took this photo last week on this day.

I was heading home from First Thursday on the train. That's the Fremont Bridge out there in the distance.

The city I live in is so lovely. I never want to take it for granted.

Mini Vacation

Nate's birthday was on Monday and we celebrated by taking three days off.

Found this little rug at one of ou favorite shops.

We mostly played tourist in our city. We ate delicious food, rode bikes around town and shopped in our favorite vintage/antique shops. I also treated Nate to his first professional massage. Needless to say it was a very fun, relaxing three days.

Coffee at Water ave Coffee after a ride around the waterfront.

Steel Bridge. 100 years old last weekend.

The rose garden at Peninsula Park

My two favorites.

I love how we can find so many things to do where we live. I'm also grateful that we had such great weather for our time off. We have another 3 day mini vacation planned for my birthday and I'm looking forward to it.

Goat are the New Chickens

So, I haven't been blogging much lately because I honestly don't have anything exciting to share with anyone. I've just been working, painting, gardening and running. Not a lot to report on...

However, today something fairly exciting happened. For the past week and half or so Pedalpalooza has been happening in our city. If you're not familiar with Pedalpalooza it's basically a two week even filled with everything bike related. There are many organized bike rides that range from riding naked (being nude is legal in Oregon under certain circumstances), a Ginger Ride (for redheads only), and a Goat Ride.

We went on the goat ride this morning and it was highly entertaining and we learned so much about goats! There were 4 homes that we stopped at to view their goats and what they do with them. Some people have turned their goats into a business. They make soap, milk and cheese. Some people have a goat co-op. There are 6 people who bought into the price of the goats, the feed, the shelter and they share the duties of caring for them. They also make things from goat milk and the proceeds of the products go towards maintaining the goats. another family had just a couple of goats, small goats, who recently had little babies! OMG they are so cute. The hooves alone kill me. anyway, they are smaller, pygmy goats, so those goats don't produce as much milk so they basically have their goats for pets, as well as small batches of milk and yogurt.

Chickens and uban farming have been huge here in Portland for several years now. Two of my neighbors have chickens and there are numerous homes around us who have dug up their front yards and turned them into veggie and fruit gardens. So really, goats had to be the next big thing.

Some interesting facts about goats:

Their pupils are oblong and they use a panoramic view to see.

Dogs do not like goats and they are a constant threat to them. I think Chloe would be terrified of goats, but bigger, tougher dogs want to eat them.

Baby goats develop very quickly. The baby goats in the photos were only born on Saturday! Not even a week old. When they were born they could already walk around and were ready to feed.

Not all goats like to eat grass and sometimes goats with eat grass, but will later stop eating it. I don't know why...

Male goats stink and are mean and generally are not kept in urban farm settings.

 apparently, the pygmy goats are easier to care for than cats or dogs. (I don't know how true that is....)

and they are a very social, smart, animal. You can't have just one goat.
They get lonely and they like human companions too!


Nate and I are not going to be getting a goat. They are cute, and it would be fin to make our own cheese and soap, but our yard is not big enough and I'm pretty sure Chloe would not be happy about it.

However, if any of my neighbors got goats it would make me very happy! :)

Alberta Morning Run

Alberta. #morningrun
Originally uploaded by michele_maule
I took this picture on Saturday morning. It's not the best, but it's hard taking a photo with little light...

I love my Saturday morning runs on Alberta.
I'm typically the only person out on the street. There's no cars. I can run down the middle of the street if I'd like.

I can see all the cooks, baristas, prepping their cafes and restaurants. I can smell the sent of freshly baked donuts on one block and the smell of carnitas on another block. I can see inside Pine State Biscuits where the cooks are cooking up Reggie plates for people.

In a small cafe there is an older man who is in the same spot, sipping coffee, writing in a journal every week. I run past cute boutiques with the cutest clothes. One in particular always has shoes that I would love to own, but could never afford. I run past art galleries and tiny jewelry shops.

It's one of my most favorite runs all week. It's just me and Alberta and the people who exist in these buildings.

Puglandia

My friends and I went to a pug parade! a pug parade!!

It was a benefit for the Oregon Humane Society, and it was so much fun.

Pugs + costumes + friends + beer = fun.


We left Chloe at home because we thought it might be too overwhelming for her, but in the end we really wished we had brought her. We not only saw pugs but Bostons, Boxers, and many other pups. Some were just tiny little puppies! cute! I turned into a squealing 6 year old for the afternoon :)

Tired.So. Very. Tired.

Wow.
I'm beat.
It's Tuesday and I'm still tired from the Crafty Wonderland craft fair.

It was a lot of fun. The sales weren't what I was expecting, but I got to meet some of my all time favorites.

I'm hoping to recoup over the next couple of days :)

Hope everyone is doing well!!
more posts to come this week :)

Work!

Still working on my craft fair show for Crafty Wonderland.

These are some of the things I made last week.
I'm in love with the Polaroid camera that I drew and painted.

If you live in Portland come by the Convention Center from 11-5 this weekend. I'll be there with 200 other artists having a great time at the Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal sale :)

24 Little Hours

What a difference between today and yesterday.

Sometimes I wish someone would just tell me to get over myself. I forget to tell myself this, and so I just live in my head worrying and tripping over my thoughts.

anyway, things are going a bit smoother today. I got an illustration done and I am really happy with it. I'm planning on doing another today, I just gotta get myself to the store to get some groceries before it gets too late. I'm planning on making some potato leek soup tonight! yes, I will be blogging about it...

We'll see how this goes. I haven't made it for sometime...

It's such a lovely day outside. a bit chilly, but the sun is out and I went and tried to absorb as much vitamin D as I could this afternoon! :)

Oh, I also wanted to mention that I will be doing a craft fair this Saturday at New Seasons Market on 33rd and Killingsworth! Come say hi to me! It goes from 9-5.

Okay...gotta get some errands done!

Untitled

I feel like I don't have really anything interesting to say right now.
I've been spending my morning drinking tea and answering e-mails...

I have a million things on my to-do list right now and I don't really feel like doing any of them.

This week has been pretty lazy. I've been doing things here and there, but mostly I feel like I am still recovering from my last show. It really took a lot out of me creatively and mentally. I'm hoping that motivation finds me soon and I can get back into making art again very soon.

I've been really enjoying being back in Portland, still. Just about everyday I think to myself, at least once, how lucky I am to be here.

Reminder

It's a beautiful day today!!

I wanted to remind those of you who are in the Portland area, that I will be vending at The Crafty Wonderland event this Sunday. It goes from 11-4pm, and it's located at the Doug Fir on Burnside. Come stop by and say hello!

I'd love to meet you :)

Hope everyone's Wednesday is going as well as mine!

Crafty Wonderland!

So I found out last night that I was accepted into the Crafty Wonderland Craft Fair at the Doug Fir on Sunday august 9th. It starts at 11am and goes until 4 pm.

So, if you live in the Portland area, please come by and say hello to me :)

In other news, I listed my 100th item in my shop today.
Wow. I never really thought it would be possible...but I did it.

Tomorrow morning I am meeting with a group of Portland artsy peeps for drawing and coffee. I am a little nervous. I'm so shy, and meeting people for the first time is hard for me. But, I know it will be fun, and I know that I really need to get out and meet more people. My work doesn't really allow for much socializing, so these kinds of meet ups are important.

Well, I hope everyone is having a good Thursday!

Summer Monday

It actually doesn't really feel like summer today. More life Fall. That's okay with me. The heat was getting to be a bit much.

I had a good weekend. I went out on Friday, and saw some old friends.
Saturday we headed to Silverton, Oregon to hang out with my friends Angie and Nicole. They live next door to each other, on kind of a farm. Nicole runs a bug farm, where she provides bugs for pet stores, and television shows. You know, those television shows where they get people to eat bugs for money? Most likely those bugs came from Nicole's farm :) It's true.

She also has chickens, turkeys, goats, and peacocks. Chloe escaped from us and got to chase after a chicken. She had a lot of fun.

Then yesterday we went to a friend's birthday get together in Peninsula Park. Good times. I'm happy to be back home. Very happy.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos this weekend...but here are some Chloe pictures I've been meaning to post.

Hope everyone had a good weekend too!

Monday!

Ok!

I had a great weekend!
Wow. I'm so happy to be home.

Friday night we went to an art opening that so happens to be in our neighborhood. The cite is called Mile Post Five and it's actually a live/work space for artists and artsy kinda people. I was going to write all about it, but I figured I wouldn't be doing it must justice. There is just too much for me to write out. This place is pretty cool, and I suggest you click on this link to read about more.

It was really great to be able to walk there...

The following day we rode to the Farmer's Market that just opened
up in our neighborhood. Very cool. It makes me so happy to see these kinds of things in my very own neighborhood. Things that I can walk to, events that I can ride my bike to. The simplest thing, yet it makes me so unbelievably happy.

I was telling Mike that all our neighborhood needs now is an art supply store :)

On another note, I have been thinking a lot about the comments that were left on my blog over the weekend. I totally agree with everything that everyone said. I'm just being way too hard on myself. Seriously. It's so easy for me to do.

I am loving the idea of the home show, and have been really putting a lot of thought into it. I'm still cooking up some ideas, but I'm hoping that either sometime in July or august to do one.
We kind of did one right before we left for Michigan, and it was a huge success...

So, I'm thinking that yes, we need to have another.

also, I picked up a "craft show" for this Saturday!
I know, I must be crazy...but I decided to do it anyway.

Handmade North West is participating in the KPSU 15 Year anniversary Bash, and the opportunity to vend kinda fell into my lap, so I decided to go with it.

I have no idea how big this is going to be or if I have enough things...but whatever.
I'm just happy to be doing something and meeting some new people, and hopefully make enough money to cover my bills! :D

Well, hope everyone had a great weekend. Sorry for the crazy long blog post!

Friday!

It's Friday.
There's always a buzz in the air on Fridays. I feel it anyway.

It's been a great last few days. Last night we rode our bikes up to alberta for Last Thursday.
Portland has a First Thursday, too, but a few years ago The Pearl District (where First Thursday is held) required you to have a permit to sell art on the street. So, all of the artists who sell art in the street decided that they would just go up to alberta, on the last Thursday of the month. It started out pretty small, but over the last few years it's gotten pretty huge. They have to close down a good portion of the street now, to accommodate all the pedestrians and street performers.

I'm not usually that into Last Thursdays, but just the idea that I could ride my bike somewhere, where a lot of people would be, made me really happy. It made me even more happier when I ran into a couple of people I know :)

We are almost done with moving in. I'm settling into my new office as I type this. There are a few things that still need to be done. as soon as they are, I will for sure post pictures to share with you!

For now I'll share the two new prints I posted today!
Hope everyone has a good weekend!! :D

This is it.

We leave tomorrow for Portland, Oregon.

Everything is just about all packed up and ready to go.
It's been a year and a half that I've been waiting for this, and it's here. It's incredible. I can't even describe how I feel right now. I'm just a mix of emotions.

I honestly don't even know what to write. I've been waiting to write this blog post since forever.
I just keep staring off into space, and my mind isn't able to fixate on just one feeling.

I've met so many amazing people along this little journey. Both physically and through the internets. It's been a really difficult journey with lots of ups and downs. Lots. and now it's almost over, and I can start a new chapter of my life.

I was telling my neighbor that this whole thing is probably not going to hit me until we're pulling up into our driveway at home...wow. Just the thought of that makes me smile uncontrollably.

Well, I want to say thank you to all of you that given me support and encouragement throughout this last year and a half. Thank you. Thank you so much. This would have been so much harder if I hadn't had your thoughtful and inspiring comments. So many of you have given me the confidence that I needed to go forward. So many of you have given me the support I needed to get through this. So thank you from the bottom of my heart. It means the world to me.

Well, tomorrow at 8 am we take off. We'll be stopping in Indiana to have lunch with my grandma. Then Saturday we're on our way to Madison, Wisconsin to have lunch and chat with Susan of artkitten! Whoohoo!
Then we're stopping in Badlands National Park, then to Devils Tower. Our next stop after that will be Yellowstone, and then a 13 hour drive home to Portland. Home.

We should be home in Portland in about a week. Give or take a day. :)

Ok. Hope everyone has a fantastic week!! I'll see you in Portland!
Lots if hugs and love.

Moving Sale!!

Okay peeps! We're just a mere 16 days away from moving to Portland!!
That's almost two weeks. It's like 2 more weekends! yay!

Sooooooo...I'm celebrating and holding a sale, in my Etsy shop, from now until May 10th.
Select items are 20-50% off, prices are as marked!

I hope everyone had a great weekend, and hope your Monday goes well too!

Catching Up!

Wow!
I feel like I haven't written a blog post in years!

It's been awhile...I'm not announcing the give away winner yet, I just felt like writing a blog today...

So I have been very busy.
The Spring ling Craft fair is next Saturday! Holy crap! Where does time go?
So I am making some things for that as well as making the decorations for it.
I still have four banners to make. Eeks!

I have also been working on a special piece for an ad agency out of Minnesota.
They wanted to see if I could do a painting of the Detroit skyline for a medical group they
are doing some work for. They wanted a happy healthy looking Detroit :) hehe. I sent in the image just now...I really hope they like it so far.
It's not quite done, but they needed something to show their client.

I've been running a lot lately and I feel so much better. It's one thing to work out at a gym and something totally different actually running outdoors without sweaty people and bad t.v on. Well, I guess they do have CNN, but, it's always the same bad news about the economy, AIG and Obama. I swear the 24 hour news stations are partly to blame for this economic crisis. They're on 24 hours a day and need something to talk about...so naturally they're going to talk about the economy 24/7 scarring everyone and their moms.

Well, anyway...other good news...I got my studio in the warehouse with a group of friends and people I know! whoohoo! I am so happy. :) It's small..about 100 sq. feet, but it has walls and a door, so that's nice. It's also right along the waterfront so I'll be able to go for runs and walks along the Willamette! Yes! It's one of my favorite running spots in Portland.

We've got about 6 weeks left till graduation. I can't believe it.
Wow. We're getting so close. So close.

Well, I hope everyone is well!

Blog Give Away Week 1

Hello!

Today marks the second day of March, and it also marks the beginning of my month long blog give away! :D This is the print I will be giving away this week ------>

So let's get this started.
My question for this week is...

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live, and why?

I think most of you know my answer to this question.
I would live in Portland, Oregon. My home is in Portland, along with my friends, and that is really important to me. I also feel like Portland is just where I belong.

If I were given a second choice, maybe a second home (which I can do because it's my blog and my rules, ha!), I would love to live in this little suburb of Paris, Monmarte. It just looks so cute! And living there would really help me with my French. I think it would be a very inspiring place too. It looks like a place that I could walk around for hours, just taking things in. Maybe I would find a sweet little cafe I could call my second home, and I could have a small studio that would look out over the street. Sigh. Yes! Montmarte. :)

Or....New York would be pretty awesome too..I think for obvious reasons ;)
Anyway, those are the places I would like to live :)

Now it's your turn!
Just leave your answer in the comments section, and on Thursday night I will draw a winner and post it on Friday's blog.

Friday!

It's Friday!

Yup!

Ok, I don't have a lot to talk about today.
The self portraits are slow going. It's really hard to do them.
Well, I have one drawn out and ready to paint...but the other one I am working on is tough.
I've drawn and erased all day, and in the end all I am left with is a gessoed panel.

Maybe today is not my day for drawing. Honestly, all I have wanted to do all day is drink Diet Coke and read People Magazine...maybe some US Weekly. Oh well....

So! Who's going to watch the debate tonight??
I heard John McCain already has an ad campaign that praises his winning the debate :)

Well, I think I'm done for today.
tomorrow is the farmer's market and steam cleaning the rugs!
Hope everyone has a terrific weekend!

Busy busy busy

Very busy day today.

Lots of printing.
Need to go to Utrecht.

Not a lot of time to write/talk.

Anyway, hope everyone had a lovely Wednesday.

Michele
ps. My treasury made the front page :)