This past week was our final week in Portland, at least for a while. We stayed parked there for quite some time… longer than we usually stay in one given spot. Part of this past week was focused on learning a new (to me) kind of art medium. While I’m used to teaching workshops, this time I was the student, and the medium was encaustic. Encaustic basically means art created with beeswax, and I had been wanting to learn it for a while. I had been looking for a new an interesting way to display my photos, and encaustic really spoke to me.
I signed up for a two-day workshop in Portland with Linda Womack. I learned about the different methods and tools, and ended up going home with a handful of finished pieces. It’s definitely something that is better to learn hands-on in a class rather than just out of a book. Lots of the techniques are tedious and must be done very fast, because the wax is constantly drying. Now that I have a solid foundation, I’m probably going to start buying supplies so that I can practice on my own.
Here I am working on one of my pieces in the encaustic workshop.
One of my Rt. 66 images that has been transferred to wax, but not fused yet.
Here, I experimented with pigments under the photo.
I guess this was just a classroom kind of week for us, because Karen also took a class on knife skills at Portland’s Sur La Table. She had a little rule for herself, and that was she couldn’t buy a GOOD, sharp knife until she took a knife skills class. (she has been known to be a tad accident prone in the kitchen) She ended up loving the class and buying a new chef’s knife and paring knife shortly after.
Karen shot this before her knife skills class in Portland.
Aside from the classes, we had a fairly low-key week, with a few fun distractions. One of our favorite things to do in Portland is see movies at the McMinnemin’s Brew Pub Theaters. They have slightly older movies and only charge $2-3 for admission. What’s even better is that you can have beer and wine in the theater as well as GOOD food. We’ve gotten Thai bowls, hummus, salads, etc. This week, we went to see the movie “Looper,” and both enjoyed it. We also got to meet up with my friend and fellow photography instructor Chris Hurtt. He’s a Portland local and we spent a bunch of time catching up at The Bye & Bye, another one of our favorite places in Portland. It’s a vegan bar, and the food is actually amazing!
On a completely different note, I was featured on Nik Radio this week, where in my interview, I talk with Scott Sheppard about Photoshop, photography and gear. If you’re not familiar with Nik Radio, here’s what they do:
Nik Radio delivers a variety of educational programming created to inspire digital photographers of all levels. Sponsored by Nik Software, Nik Radio features digital imaging tips and techniques, highlights the work of popular professional photographers and experts through in-depth Pro Talks, showcases industry events, and shares insights and the stories behind the most popular images of our time. Listen today for unique educational content that will help you achieve your goals behind the camera and on the computer!
Click HERE to check out my interview
Well, that’s all the news for this week. We’re now making our way south the the Eugene, Oregon area where my vintage bus will be getting its new interior. More to come…
I read on another blog that you have been towing a 2012 Mini Clubman four-down for a few months and so far had not experienced any probems. I recently purchased a 2012 Hatchback to replace a 2008 Jeep Wrangler as my toad. The controversy rages on as to whehther the manual transmission Mini can be towed four-down (not to mention the threat of losing the warranty). I guess my primary question is what mods, if any, did make prior to towing four-down? I tried very hard to determine if there is a steering wheel lock if the key is not inserted; I determined that there wasn’t?? Have you had any problems of late? I thank you so very much for any assistanmce you can provide. I love my RV and I especially love my Mini. I just turned 72 and the Mini makes me feel 20 years younger when I drive it around town. LOL Again, thank you and I remain Semper Fi, Jim Bathurst
Hi Jim! Although MINI doesn’t actually “say” that you can do it, we have found that it is safe to tow the manual transmission Minis will all four down. Our first Mini was the hardtop hatchback and we towed that for close to two years. When we sold it, the couple who bought it also tow it and they haven’t had any problems either. We now have the larger Mini Countryman and tow it the same way. The steering wheel doesn’t lock, so we don’t need to tow it with the key in the ignition like we had to do with my Jeep Liberty in the past.
To set the car up for towing, you just have to buy a base plate that will work with the tow bar you have on your rig. In our case, we had a Blue Ox tow bar, so we bought a Blue Ox base plate. They do sell them for the Mini. Just do a search on their site to find the compatible model number. I believe we bought ours through RVupgrades.com. Other than that, you need to get the tail lights going. On our last Mini, we got portable tail lights that we mounted inside the back hatch. This wasn’t the most elegant solution though. On our current Mini, we had the lights professionally wired into the Mini’s own tail lights. They just had to add one little bulb inside each tail light and they’re barely noticeable. It was an RV supply place that installed the base plate and did the tail light wiring.
I hope that helps! We can definitely understand you not wanting to give up the Mini. That was Karen’s one requirement when joining me on the road… her Mini comes along. And they’re definitely a lot of fun. 🙂