Drawing Classes at Amato's Gallery

Monday evenings, July 5, 12, 19, and 26, from 6 to 8 p.m., I'll be teaching Drawing classes at Amato's Gallery, 12320 1St Street, Beaverton 97005. Fee for the 4 classes is $90 and includes materials. Registration is limited to eight students.

It should be really fun to teach in the atmosphere of a fine art gallery - lots of imagery and inspiration on the walls and pedestals to peak your imagination. I'll use both real life set-ups and photographs as references.

If you, or someone you know, has an interest in taking a drawing class, please contact me to reserve a space. I taught drawing and watercolor for years out of my studio in California and for the Fremont Adult School in Fremont, Ca. My main goal as an instructor is to teach students to really see what they're looking at, by studying shape, value and relationships. Email or call me: donnasansonartworks@comcast.net or 503.477.0489.

Multnomah Village Painting Accepted into Show

My painting of the Multnomah Village overpass was accepted into "Art in the Heart of Multnomah Village," an exhibition at the town's art center from August 6 through September 1.

David Hooten at Pixel Point Artistry just completed imaging the painting and printing some greeting cards for me, and I'll be off to the framer's tomorrow to complete the product. The center will host an opening reception on Friday, August 6, from 7-9 p.m. I plan to attend and hopefully will see some familiar faces there.

Alaska and More

My husband Tom and our good friends, Doug and Julie Ward, just returned from a wonderful Holland America cruise to Alaska via the inside passage. It was a wonderful trip out of Seattle with stops in Juneau, Hubbard Glacier, Sitka, Ketchikan, and British Columbia, before returning to Seattle. We took Amtrack out of Portland and boarded the Rotterdam not far from the Space Needle. I did some sketching on board the ship - there were lots of beautiful pieces of sculpture and floral arrangements, and I also did a couple very quick paintings from our veranda, which looked pretty much like very quick paintings. I used my camera to capture some of the beauty of the ship, the scenery, the food, the adventures, and the Butchart Gardens, and wish to share a selection of those photos with you. There is no way to really convey the freshness of the air, the clearness of the water, the crackling sounds and thunder of the Hubbard Glacier calving, the aromas of the dining room, the musicality of The Neptune Trio each night in The Ocean Bar, the invigoration of our windy walks on Decks 3 and 9 each day, the trickiness of manuevering the ship when the seas became more turbulent - but perhaps these photos will give you some sense of why it was such a memorable trip. Hope to get a few good paintings from this batch.

I had a good day today - hope you did too. Donna

Well, I had high hopes to share a slide show of about 35 images, but the slideshow didn't transfer so you'll have to be content with just a hint of what we experienced. Sorry.