Decaf in Coffeland

I like art, horses, science, math, hiking, kayaking, aikido, the oxford comma, and sarcasm. I live in the PNW and can't drink caffeine.

[ramapithecus]

Urban Sketching

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[ramapithecus]

Winter Kayaking

I haven’t done as much this winter as in the past, partially because I got covid over Christmas, but I’ve made it to a few pool sessions so I don’t lose my roll. And I figured out a new trick: the butterfly roll. This just tickles me because it’s so very simple but I couldn’t do it for a long time, and now when I do it it feels like nothing. The Butterfly Roll! And just for fun. I don’t have a…

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[ramapithecus]

The allen wrench (story time)

Sometimes I have trouble not answering questions literally even when a literal answer is not what is wanted. When living in Albuquerque in my 20s I needed to go to the courthouse and at the time I was riding my bicycle a lot so I’d ridden it to the courthouse that day. As I’m passing through security I tossed my keys and and allen wrench into the basket as I went through the scanner.The guard…

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[ramapithecus]

Winter Kayaking

It’s getting colder and I’ve been thrown off my groove.Things throwing off my groove: driving down the freeway I hear a thunk and immediately flash back to the day before when my kid, helping me load, said ‘I don’t think I can get this hatch cover all the way on’. I glance back and see something that looks suspiciously like my hatch cover hit the road. I exit, circle back and drive slowly,…

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[ramapithecus]

Daily Art - color!

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[ramapithecus]

Daily Art - Black and White

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[ramapithecus]

Anacortes to Friday Harbor

More kayaking! Over the weekend I went to a 3-day kayaking ‘jamboree’ at Deception Pass where we had instruction and spent the rest of the time learning about camping, knots, and going on multiple paddles (one of which I led) But now it’s time for the real adventure. I’ve been wanting to do this paddle since last year but I’m not ready to do it alone and it’s only scheduled so often. So here it…

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[ramapithecus]

Sucia-Clark

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[ramapithecus]

Kayak Camping

I’ve been asked about how to prep for kayak camping trips, started writing it all out, and decided instead to make it a post.In general, kayak camping is very much like packing for backpacking except you have a lot more space, sometimes have to carry ALL your water, and the weight isn’t too important. It can be like luxury backpacking. But if your kayak is on the smallish side having…

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[ramapithecus]

Clark Island Overnight

This summer I really want to explore the San Juan Islands by kayak – as much as possible! And if I’m able to do it without getting onto a ferry, even better. Yesterday I left for a 1-night (Sat-Sun) trip from Anacortes to Clark Island. Clark is located just off Orcas Island and isn’t far from Sucia (where I need to get back to). Our route as mapped on Gaia. Anacortes to Clark (orange), 15.2…

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[ramapithecus]

Kayak Surfing!

On April 18-19 I took an “Introduction to Surf Zone” kayaking class with Fidalgo Paddle Sports. There were only 3 students plus the instructor and we met at Crescent Beach, west of Port Angeles.I had some misgivings about this – I can do some distance but I’m not a very technical paddler – and the closer we got to the date the more concerned I was about the weather. First – it’s mid April and I…

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[ramapithecus]

Oil Sketches

Going even smaller than a study, I have some Arches oil paper and I tried making very small (less than 4″ paintings on it to test colors or techniques. I think the winter scene needs a bit more of a focal point.  The kelp & fish: I brushed my hand over it while it was wet and blurred the lower left corner.  Violet tree:  I like it.  I'm not sure if I'll have trouble adding detail if I make it bigger, but probably not.  Lower right:   not happy with this at all, but that's why it's a sketchbook.

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[ramapithecus]

Still Life

I’ve been sketching out some more horses, I have several photos that I’m inspired by, but I haven’t got a good composition yet. I’m also in the process of rounding up skulls and props to set up my own still lifes but for now i’m using some free online images. 6×8 oil on panel

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[ramapithecus]

Pitcher Plants

Last year I bought a sundew plant to help with fungus gnats and fruit flies – and it worked great. I felt inspired by some of their photos (my house is already filling up with plants, but I still want more.) In any case, Predatory Perennials gave me permission to use some of their photos as reference.This is a 6×8 oil on panel. Hopefully there will be more soon. Pitcher Plants

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[ramapithecus]

Still Painting

I’ve been spending a lot of time doing quick sketches and practicing monsters. Monday I’m going to swoop through the thrift store to look for oil paintings that look like they need to have monsters added to them, failing that I’ll look for inexpensive frames to use for other paintings. These are all very small. they still take me longer than just one day, but I’m working on it. Maribel – the…

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[ramapithecus]

Sunflower

More attempts at ‘daily painting’ although this took me more than 1 day. I tried it because I think of flowers as being very difficult and I guess I wasn’t wrong, this gave me some trouble. 8×10 oil on panel I got my brother in law to spend a couple hours cutting down new panels into tiny sizes and I hope this will encourage me to paint more often without worrying so much about ‘what if I botch…

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[ramapithecus]

Larrabee Park South - Kayak Trip Report

This is from April 26, but I’m just updating my blog now. We launched from Larrabee State Park and paddled south. We had a bit of wind at the start but that soon died down and on our return it was glassy smooth. We seemed to have encountered a nude beach and another good resting point that was occupied so we kept going until we found ourselves in what looked like a commercial oyster bed, so we exited that quickly and started on our way back. What we did find that was interesting was a rock carving (I assume modern) and a bunch of wind-sculpted Chuckanut sandstone. Overall I found the paddle south to be not as interesting as going north, but it was a good day to be on the water.

Larrabee Park South – Kayak Trip Report was originally published on Blue Sun