Essex #2

Essex #1

Happy Easter!

Wooden Easter bunny family...antique?  German?  I bought them in the town
of North East, Maryland at a cool antique store.  I really like them a lot.

The Sketchbook Project Tour Visits DC

I got to visit my sketchbook today at the Hillyer
Art Space in Washington, DC.  It was good to see
that it is doing well on it's many travels...still intact!
It was also great, great fun to check out several
sketchbooks.  I could have sat there all day looking
at the different interpretations of all of the themes by
artists from all of the world.

A Visit to the National Arboretum

Today I visited the National Arboretum in Washington, DC for the first time.
You can buy a handful of special food for 50 cents to feed the koi.  Not only
were they beautiful, they were very hungry too!

There were many bonsai on display, all amazing, but this azalea bonsai in bloom really stood out as a sign of spring on a cold, rainy day.

Due to the windy weather and impending rainstorm, we headed out after seeing the bonsai trees.  I'd love to go back to explore more of the arboretum on a sunny day.  I'd even like to ride the tram to hear the history.

The Bradford Pears on 695.

The pear trees are in bloom along the beltway.

View of Courtyard 2011

I'm not sure how much the courtyard outside of the classroom where
I teach will change during the renovation, but next year I will no longer
be able to see the courtyard from my new classroom.  I will miss the
magnolia tree and the stone walls, so I painted this little painting.
My new view on hall duty will be a cinder block wall?  I hope the view
from the inside of my new classroom will be of the cool neighborhood behind
our school because I've always wanted to paint it during the fall.