Road Trip - An Artist's Reality Blog

Celeste Bergin and Casey Klahn
Photo Credit: David Burbach

The open road part of my road trip is over for now, and I am in Marin County. If you've never been to Marin, I will tell you that it is just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Fransisco, and one of the beautiful places in California. I am glad to be here.

On the way, I enjoyed stopping in Hood River, Oregon, which I blogged about the other day. The "When Bloggers Meet" photo of Celeste Bergin and I is posted above. Her post about the meeting is here. Then, I continued down the 5 through the great Willamette Valley. I couldn't help thinking about an artist friend whose landscapes define the Willamette for me, Marla Baggetta. It just so happens that Loriann Signori is interviewing Marla at her blog.

How can I get through Oregon without thinking about two master pastel painters, Kitty Wallis and Richard McKinley?

Further south along the 5 one travels through northern California. I well remember my climb of Mt Shasta many years ago. Today, she frowns at me as I pass by. Speaking of California mountains, blogger artist Terry Miura is posting his series about his annual plein air back country trip to the Sierras.

Tomorrow I drive onto the venue early in the morning and set up my booth. I hope to have pictures of that process for you as I continue this art fair reality series.

On The Road - Song Dedication

I don't know what Willie is singing about, but the music sounds nice. This one goes out to my wife, Lorie. I miss you and the kids, especially since they started school while I'm on the road.

On The Road Again - An Artist's Reality Blog

I Should Have Been a Country & Western Singer, Instead of a Painter...

To borrow the phrase from Willie Nelson, I am on the road again...to Sausalito. I intend to live blog the Sausalito Art Festival, which means I will try to write you a post a day. This year, the festival has cranked back the schedule, allowing me some breathing room to post. Artists sometimes spend 12 hours in their booths during event days, and that doesn't count the set-up day or days, which are brutal. Sounds like a reality show premise, huh?

Today I left home in eastern Washington, and traveled through the Columbia River Gorge. Since I follow Celeste Bergin's blog, I knew she would be at the Columbia Center in Hood River, Oregon and I made it a point to stop by. They are receiving paintings created en pein air - many during this week's plein air event in the gorge. I also got to meet Celeste's husband, David, who is the photographing this event. I enjoyed picking his brain about digital tasks. They will probably post the pictures taken of Celeste and I, to prove that bloggers do meet sometimes in real life.

The four or five oil paintings that Celeste will show make this exhibit well worth your visit. Her works are very uninhibited, and make me want to take up the oil medium.

I met an artist at the gallery of whom I am a big fan: Eric Bowman. He is humble, and I really admire his ease of expression in the landscape. He is very talented: Eric Bowman.

Cathleen Rehfeld is a friend of Celeste's. Her plein air oils of the gorge are inspiring, and they earned my "blue ribbon" rating. Judges take notice. She blogs here.

I am on the 5 in Oregon, and am taking a few days to get to the bay area and Sausalito. Stay tuned for more updates as I live blog on the road. Preview: you might get to see your author in his tuxedo on Friday. Woo hooo.

Need more country music for the road trip? I thought so. The Highwaymen Live.