"With the danger behind them, Mother watched her two boys with pride as they finally got along."

I finally finished the tiger painting early this morning. I changed the title from "Mother's Pride" because I didn't want to give the impression that I was making a double entendre to a lion's pride. Anyway, as I keep "retro-writing" for my illustrations, I'm starting to get a little inspired to see some of these stories through.

Well, I'm back from Colorado. What a great time! I think to make vacations more enjoyable, you have to put as much into the journey as you do into the destination. We went as a family to see my brother-in-law and his family, and along the way, we stopped at The Great Sand Dunes, Lake City, Creede, Santa Rosa and even took the ole historic Route 66 back into Texas. I even had a little time to do some watercolor sketches at some of these places. It has been a long time since I painted outside. The colors are more vivid. You see things with your eyes and not a camera. And there's less restraint. I should do this more often!!

It's been a while, yes. I spent the last week and two days doing some freelance work for the agency I used to work for. It was a surreal experience to be back in the saddle again – in front of a computer doing design production work. At first I was extremely nervous – it had been 9 - 10 months since I designed or produced anything. Not to mention, I hadn't seen my friends there all year – up until just recently. So it was a strange experience – not a bad one – just "dreamy." I equate it to visiting your home and neighborhood that you grew up in, having not been there for years. It's a different neighborhood, with different people, and your old home is painted a different color. It's not bad. It's just that things moved on. But it was really good seeing my good friends there again.

Now, I must prepare for a trip to Colorado. I'm excited – haven't been there in about 3 years. I just miss the wide open space, the mountains and the cool air. And what I really want to do this time around is some "en plein air." I've got my travel palette and watercolor pad ready to go. In the meantime, I have a quick painting I did with this travel set. From "Lord of the Rings" – Liv Tyler as Arwen.