Monday, March 21

I worked a little more on this piece today, along with a bunch of other chores that had to be done. Tomorrow I leave for Grand Gulch in southern Utah. A backpacking trip through a desolate canyon filled with Anasazi cliff dwellings. I would have loved to take the painting gear with, but since everything has to be contained in a pack on your back, there is no way I want to haul all that extra weight around. Instead I’ll just take a sketch book along and my trusty camera. I ride with Strayer and one of his students. In Hanksville we will meet up with Paul, from the river trip, his wife and somebody from Backpackers Magazine. They were interested in our last river trip and decided to catch the adventures of Grand Gulch with us.

On Saturday we had Lina’s birthday party, eleven screaming girls tearing through the house. A true test of parental patients and will power over frayed nerves. The decibel level was to the point, where even the dog shied away. Karin and Lina decided on a tie die tee-shirt event in the basement. I felt it best to line the entire room in plastic, including the girls; but that’s where she drew the line and said newspaper was enough. After washing them this morning and drying them all, now I have the task of trying to identify who’s is who’s. I actually though ahead and took digital images of the wet shirts with their names underneath, so hopefully it should make it easier, provided I can read the names clearly. They were scribbled on the plastic bags that held each child’s wet shirt.

The painting still has a lot of work left on it. I did add some apples to the composition, not only will they add some color but should also help with the design.

Richard Boyer