Paco

Follow My Adventures

Sign up to have new blog posts delivered straight to your inbox!

A drawer full of tiny paintings. When I remodeled the van to turn it into a mobile art studio, I built two drawers to fill a void. It's pure kismet that my tiny paintings fit into them so perfectly. Like a game of art Tetris. 🤗👩🏼‍🎨
That moment when someone points out your childhood resemblance to young James Hetfield. 🙄 #metallica #badperms #80skid
Thoroughly enjoying our time in Colorado. The weather is perfect, hikes are rigorous, and views are spectacular. 😍
These new little watercolor paintings came from a week filled with inspiration from the crisp mountain air. The first one emerged as a way to correct what my critical eye saw as a mistake, but then I liked the way it looked and soon these vivid faces were pouring from me. I admit, it feels good to get back to portraits. 🥰
Our plans have changed yet again, but not in a bad way. Our original plans for the summer changed, so I decided to head to Montana, but while stopped in Grand Junction, CO for an oil change, a new opportunity came our way and I took it. Good thing too, as we'd have been just west of Yellowstone about this time had we continued our path north to Montana. We'll be spending a month in Colorado pet sitting. Paco is going to be thrilled to have a dog to pal around with, and I'm looking forward to saving a bit of money on gas. This seems like a pretty spectacular place to spend the hot days of summer and I'm looking forward to daily showers. 🤷🏼‍♀️🚿 Proof, yet again, that plans should be held loosely.
I just added these cute little night sky paintings to my art shop.  There's a certain magic to standing in a forest of tall trees and looking up at the vast night sky. When the sky is clear and I'm miles from any town, the stars seem so close it overwhelms me with emotion.  I enjoyed making these fun little paintings and hope to ship them off to new homes soon!
We have been moving far more frequently than I prefer lately. Plans I'd been focused on for months suddenly changed. It felt as if the rug had been pulled from beneath me and took a few days to regain my footing.  I found a quiet place to park in total solitude. Didn't see or talk to another person for days, which was exactly what I needed.  With old plans out the window, I've decided to point the van north and return to my happy place: Montana.
Paco's favorite spot at every campsite. Cool new collar tag by @wildhorizondog #peekaboo #cutedog #vandog #dogsofinstaworld #dogsofinstagram
We spent 15 days camped without a phone signal, so here is a photo dump of a few of the areas we've been through.   I'm amazed and saddened by how greatly our moves have already been impacted by wildfires, and it's only May. First, the fire in Flagstaff, AZ that was way too close to us. We entered New Mexico and large fires pushed us east at a faster pace than I'd intended to travel. Two days ago we got flushed out of a NM forest as the USFS has now closed all National Forests in New Mexico. I wasn't even upset to learn we had to pack up and leave. The USFS staff who pulled in to inform us of the closure apologized for being the bearer of bad news. Honestly, as someone who lives in the forests and on public lands, I fully support their closure if that means saving them from being consumed by fire. Sure, it meant a really hot stay in a Walmart parking lot, but it's a minor inconvenience I'm happy to deal with.  Now we're in cooler temps, surrounded by mountains, blue skies, tall trees, wildflowers, and a phone signal - basically a 5 star resort by vanlife standards.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐