Travel Post #2: Venice

We explored Venice all of Friday afternoon and into the early evening. We'd been four years ago, so it was nice just to wander and enjoy the surreal nature of the city.

We departed Venice on Saturday afternoon with an assist from a tugboat (or two).

On Saturday evening, the ship hosted the first formal, a Venetian Ball. We had purchased our masks in Venice, so we were prepared!

Travel Post #1: Up, Down, and All Around

We departed Portland at 7:00 am on Thursday, October 4th, which means, we were up and to the airport shuttle in Salem by 3:00 am. We flew from Portland to New York's JFK, then to Paris, then to Venice. All of our connecting flights required us to go through security and all of them were in distant terminals. We ran a lot through the airports, but made all of our connections.

We arrived on time in Venice and were met at the airport by a representative of Holland America, our cruise line. Here's a sampling of the Nieuw Amsterdam, our home for the next three weeks.

More later about the many amenities on board (unbelievable!). But for now, I must mention that they have floor mats in all of the elevators to tell us what day of the week it is!!

A Grand Adventure

We got our change cashed in last week (a vacation tradition).

I turned the calendar at my studio to reflect being gone the entire month of October.

I've packed my all important art supplies.

I'm taking a very cool handmade journal I purchased in New Orleans at the Contemporary Art Museum when I was there earlier this year. Did I mention it has all kinds of wonky pages? Including X-rays?

The packing is done, including scarves to wear on our flights (Portland to New York, New York to Paris, Paris to Venice). We leave on Thursday morning, arrive in Venice on Friday morning.
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Some fancy clothes have been packed.

I'm still deciding what books to take.

Curious about where we're going? Here's a hint:

Our itinerary goes like this (more or less):

Venice, Italy
Kotor, Montenegro (I'd never even heard of this country!)
A day at sea
Athens, Greece
Cruising the Dardanelles
Istanbul Turkey (two days)
Mykonos, Greece
Ephesus (like in the Bible)
Santorini, Greece
A day at sea
Split, Croatia
Back to Venice (two days), Italy
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Corfu, Greece
Argostoli, Greece
Santorini, Greece (again!)
A day at sea
Catania, Italy (Scily)
Cruising Strait of Messina
Naples, Italy
Rome, Italy
Florence, Italy,
A day at Sea
Barcelona, Spain

Twenty. Four. Days.

We'll disembark in Barcelona and head to an apartment we have rented for a whole week! Pinch me, please.

If you're interested in our travels, please join me on my blog. I blogged our way through Italy four years ago and then France two years ago. If you aren't interested in our shenanigans, please just excuse yourself until mid November when I'll resume my normal posts. But I hope you'll stay and follow along.

Dia de los Muertos - Portland Style

I was invited to participate in Guardino Gallery's  6th annual Day of the Dead Show, opening October 25th and running through November 18th. This is a huge honor because 1) all of the cool kids participate, and 2) it is curated by Stephanie Brockway and she always does a bang up job.

The opening night festivities will be held on Thursday, October 25th from 6-9 pm (Last Thursday on Alberta Street) and I know that Stephanie has some special things planned. I'm posting way in advance of the opening because I won't be around for all of October, which also means I had to finish my pieces early.

I auditioned several possibilities during September . . .

 

. . . and ended up with these pieces, which will be in the show.

Molly may or may not make an appearance (she's hoping she does).

I was working on this one right up until it was time for me to submit my pieces, but I didn't have quite enough time to get it finished. Hopefully it will make an appearance in one of the December shows I'm in.