At Home with the Artist: Hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu!

My husband's dream has been to hike the Inca Trail in Peru, all the way up to Machu Picchu. So this summer, we made it happen! I've already been to Machu Picchu once but I did not hike there ( I took the lame-o train). And man, what a hike!! It was almost all up hill, lots of stairs, and high elevation. All combined to create lots of work, but it was beautiful and wonderful and a totally once in a life time experience! Check out our pictures!

The start of the Inca Trail

Drinking some hot chocolate to stay warm at our campsite

The first Inca site that we saw!

The highest elevation that we were at (13,000 feet)!

We're so cute and you can see the Urubamba River behind us in that beautiful valley.

Another Inca site, they were an amazing people!

There's Machu Picchu

A view of the mountains around us when we were in Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

Check out that amazing view!

A Peak Inside My Portfolio: Flight Series Continued

About a year ago, I was working on a series of acrylic paintings that involved the idea of flight. They were based heavily on photographs and sketches I did of my husband's airplane that he is building. You can see those previous paintings here and here.
Anyway, I have decided to expand that series and work on getting some of the pieces into galleries and shows. So over the spring and summer, I have been working on another small work to add to that collection. I plan on doing at least two more, hopefully before the summer is done!

Original picture of the plane that the sketch and painting are based on.

Getting started!

Blocking in basic shapes and lines.

It's looking more real!

Almost done!

Finished product :)

A Peak Inside my Portfolio: Embroidered Bracelet

Still on my Fiber Arts kick! One my summer projects was to design and sew a cuff bracelet for myself. Embroidery is so nice because I can sit and do it while I'm watching TV or listening to music or relaxing out on the porch. Check out some of my other fiber arts projects here, here and here!

Gathering all my supplies! Embroidery Floss, material and leather. Don't forget a needle, scissors and a button to finish the piece.

Here's the sketch on the material and you can see, I've started to fill in the design and edges with a solid border.

I wasn't sure about filling in the area with yellow but I ended up liking the look!

Here's the finished piece with the button on the back to close it.

Finished bracelet!