I'm really happy with my painting progress this week. "Portrait of Jubenal" has a couple more layers to go, but it's finally starting to look like something. (The eyes won't be so spooky when it's done.) For a chronology of the painting so far, click 
here.
I also worked on "African Violet" this week. The entire chronology for the painting is here
On Friday, I'm heading for the beautiful Pacific Northwest to visit an uncle and a couple friends that live in Seattle. My uncle, I have not seen in over 20 years... we talk on the phone, but he doesn't travel any more and his health isn't all that great, so I figured it's high-time I made the trip. He's the last man standing of my mom's close relatives.
The friends I'll be visiting moved to Seattle over 10 years ago. They used to live in Muskegon... their kids were friends with our kids, and we socialized with them... and provided each other with love and support during our kids' teen years.
I am really excited about catching up in person with all these dear folks and enjoying the natural beauty of the Seattle area.
Tomorrow I'm focusing on engineering my one suitcase and my one carry-on for the trip, (I'm so not good at packing light) so I'm closing up my palette and my computer for now. See you next week.
