We check the weekend forecast religiously throughout the week. Here in the Northwest, especially in the Fall, the weather can change on a dime. All week, the forecast was calling for periodic rain for Saturday. So no hiking or biking for the Foragers! We decided instead, to take a road trip down to Astoria, one of our favorite little Northwest towns. But our MacBook, it seems, had other plans.. internet connectivity issues forced us to forgo a lovely day of traipsing around Astoria in the rain in lieu of a smack-dab-middle-of-the-day Genius Bar appointment in.. wait for it.. Tacoma. Woo. No offense to Tacoma, but it just hasn’t been very high on our list of places to see. Actually I don’t think it’s been on Mr. F’s list at all. I suspected hidden potential.
Imagine our surprise when we awoke to sunny skies on Saturday. We decided to make the most of our Tacoma day, lining up some well reviewed eateries, but deciding to skip the Tacoma Art Museum because the Museum of Glass was closed for a private event. We’ll go back when we can hit them both. So it would just be a day for errands, eating, and exploring.
After a rocky start– an hour long wait to be served breakfast meant we sped to our Apple appointment sans nourishment in our bellies– we finally explored a bit of the Tacoma Theater District on the unexpectedly sunny day. Lots of lovely little antique shops ( oh how I wish my sis-in-law & fellow browser had been with me! ) and fantastic architecture, along with a very cool public art installation– The Garages, where it seems the city? owners of the garages? have given over the walls of the structure as a place for creative expression in the form of street art and graffiti.
Though we were a bit disappointed in our food choices, we were pleasantly surprised by the part of Tacoma we explored. We treated ourselves to a movie that evening, not much else to do at night in tiny Shelton and Sunday was spent running more errands and catching up on work. Do you ever have weekends like that? Ones that you look forward to all week, only to have them sabotaged a bit by the mundane problems of modern life? Oh well. High hopes for next weekend!
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I know it’s not officially Fall yet, but this weekend it finally began to feel as if it is on its way! the Pacific Northwest has had an utterly gorgeous, yes, but uncharacteristically warm and long summer. And as a Florida girl who moved to the Northwest hoping to never experience 90+ degrees again, I am more than ready to welcome my favorite season!
When we were in this area two years ago, we loved being so close to Olympic National Park, but since we were closer to the coast then, we explored more along the West side of the park, never making into the Hood Canal side. It was a cloudy and foggy morning, but that just added to the beauty of our Saturday hike. The Olympics, to me, feel the most “Northwest” of all the parks in these states. You get a little taste of everything– big mountains, crystal clear streams, giant ferns and moss covered trees.
This little hike was so beautiful, I felt like I was grinning the entire time. While the long, arduous hikes usually reward us with panoramic views, sometimes these quiet woodsy hikes are just as nice. It’s on these traipsing-through-the-woods hikes that we really talk and connect and check in with each other. ( I’m usually too out of breath on the more strenuous hikes to do much chatting! )
At one point, we sat quietly on a felled tree along the riverbank, just soaking in the smells and sounds so different from what we’d been experiencing recently. We agreed that although we both felt some sadness that Seattle didn’t work out for us, our decision was right. We need quiet. We crave peace and wildness and beauty. And while you certainly catch more glimpses of such in Seattle than perhaps other cities, we knew we would long for more than glimpses.
We talked about how much we loved the landscape in this region– this perfect mix of mountains and rainforest, how much good stuff is such an easy distance away– a short drive and we’re at the Pacific, in Seattle, in Oregon wine country, in Portland, at Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, even the drier, more desert-y Eastern Washington, if the rain ever gets to be too much. We reflected on how funny it would be if we were to end up settling in the first Northwest place we came to together. We’re still not sure what the future holds, but the Olympic Peninsula is still on our list of possibilities. 😉
The rain held off and gave us a perfect day on Saturday, while Sunday was a more typically Northwest Fall-ish sort of day. Quiet, sporadic drizzly rain made for the perfect day for a day at home, Mr. F in the kitchen and I on my laptop catching up on blogs and watching a lovely, autumnal movie.
We have so much to look forward to, so many trips to take and plans to make and dreams to nurture. In many ways, it feels like this Fall is a new beginning. I can’t wait to see what else is in store!
How was your weekend, Artsies? Did you enjoy fine weather? Dream and make plans? If you’d like to see more from This Artsy Life, follow me on Instagram.
First three images by Artsy Forager, last image foundhere.
I’ve never been to Greenville, South Carolina, but after getting to know this gallery and its owner, I am itching to go! Art & Light Gallery in Greenville is just the sort of spot I would love to spend hours perusing. So much lovely art and creative objects perfect for an artsy life! Owner and artist Teresa Roche has curated a charming collection of story pieces, style statements, and conversation starters. Want to hear more? Here’s a little email interview Teresa & I did recently..
AF | Has it always been your dream to own an art gallery?
TR | Honestly, owning the gallery was a bit of a fluke for me. I was a dance major in college and I have always had a passion for the arts in general, but it was until after I stopped dancing due to knee injuries that my focus turned to visual arts. My professional background was in marketing and event management and after a 9 year ride as an events manager for a bar code and point of sale company, I retired to follow my passions. I did not have a clue that I would be opening a gallery at that time. A friend of mine bought and renovated a beautiful building in what is now Greenville’s up and coming arts district – The Village of West Greenville. I was a part of a 5 person arts group – we held a yearly art show and it was our third year. My friend offered her new space for our show. When this show was over, my friend asked me to stay in the space and suggested that I do a gallery for emerging local artists…it only took me 5 mins. to make a decision and the rest is history.
AF | You opened Art & Light in 2007 and then the recession hit a few years later. To what do you contribute its survival when so many other galleries didn’t make it?
TR | Since my gallery was in a very rough area of western Greenville, an old textile mill village, I was in a position to trail blaze, I guess you would say. Greenville had a “First Friday” organization, so my business model was built on the First Friday gallery crawl. In 5 years I hosted 55 shows – a different show every month and I was only open on First Friday weekends for the first year, then after that I opened every Friday and Saturday. I sought out some of the best artists in Greenville and worked very hard to connect myself with Clemson University, Furman University and Bob Jones University art students and faculty. By doing so many shows, and changing it up monthly I was able to draw great crowds to openings – each crowd being very different, depending on who the artist was and the popularity of the artist. I also finely curated every show and included unusual furniture and lighting pieces to set up vignettes – which was a different concept in our area at that time. I not only marketed to art collectors and art lovers, but to vintage furniture and lighting collectors. At this time in Greenville, I was the only gallery doing anything like this concept. I developed a loyal following of people who were exceptionally curious about seeing what was coming next – I think that was total luck! Being in the arts district (which was in a very out of the way area) and the only retail gallery in the area was a struggle to say the least. The First Friday opening crowds were great, but it was difficult to drive traffic the rest of the time. I made a very hard decision to move the gallery to a high traffic, high income area a year ago. I am now open Tuesday – Saturday and the day to day traffic has more than doubled (of course that meant my expenses doubled as well. ) It broke my heart to leave the arts district, but was a very good move in the end.
AF |What do you look for in the artists you represent?
TR | First I look for great work, but that is not enough. I look for artists with work ethic and passion and the drive to keep producing original and interesting, well-done work. Many of the emerging artists I featured back in the beginning have stopped making art – many had to find full time jobs to pay the bills. Since the beginning days I have developed a gallery of resident artists who work in their craft full time – it’s my view that the only way a gallery can survive is to have new and original work on hand constantly. I have some of the most brilliant and dedicated artists in our area in my gallery and am so proud of that! They are all meticulous in their work and I feel honored to be representing them!
AF | What’s usually playing on the gallery sound system?
TR | Pandora is my music system and I constantly switch it up between a French channel, Sergio Mendes and a singer-songwriter channel – love my music and Pandora – I change it based on the shows that are up, the season and my day to day mood 🙂
AF | What type of work do you have in your own personal collection?
TR | It’s almost all local artists with the exception of several vintage pieces. My decisions to purchase are very emotional and one of the things I love most is making a connection with the artist – a mixture of paintings, drawings and mixed media. I allow myself to purchase a couple of pieces a year, but owning a gallery and be surrounded by the work is a little like Christmas every day! I love it! I consider myself very fortunate to do what I do every day.
AF | What sets Greenville apart as an arts destination?
TR | That is a very hard question – I will try to keep it short. I believe that artistically distinguished cities are cities that have interesting retail spaces, theatres, music venues, parks, and residential areas — the visionaries of have worked tirelessly to bring all of those elements together. We also have a very strong arts organization – The Metropolitan Arts Council with outstanding leadership which in my opinion is one of the engines that drives the arts here. Greenville also has Artisphere ( a wonderful yearly arts festival – one of the best of it’s kind). Open Studios, with over 140 participating artists, culinary events, First Friday Gallery Crawls, the Peace Center for Performing Arts and 3 strong colleges in the area. I believe that Greenville is “authentic” and that the people here have an “art frame of mind” – my dream would be that the percentage of people who support and think about the arts as a whole would GROW – it’s very hard to compete with football and NASCAR – I can dream, can’t I?
I can’t wait to see more of what Teresa has in store at Art & Light! If you’re in the Greenville area, a new show at A&L featuring artist Kim Hassold opens tomorrow evening– I’m sure you’ll be in for a treat! Want to find out more about Art & Light? Please visit their website and be sure to see the gallery when you’re in Greenville! Be sure to follow along with A&L on Facebook & Pinterest, too!
I’m a bit of a homebody, I admit. But am finding I’m a little more stir crazy than normal lately. I blame working from home. And the home health job which necessitates Mr. F to always have the car during the week. So when asked what I wanted to do this weekend, I replied, “Anything, as long as it gets me out of the house!”.
While we were in Coeur d’Alene last summer, we loved exploring all the Rails to Trails bike trails. So we were excited to find there were a few decently long trails within an easy driving distance. Despite the clouds, we set off on Saturday and did a quick little 17 mile ride. Not nearly as pretty as the trails around CdA, but the fresh air did my heart and mind lots of good. Still not wanting to be at home, we finally tried what looks like it might be the best place to eat in the tiny town of Shelton. A little barbecue and some fried green tomatoes are always a good idea for these Southern transplants! Oh and the awesome beer & drink selection didn’t hurt either. Shelton has redeemed itself.
On Sunday we decided to go over to Olympia to grab coffee and try to hunt down some duck for a recipe Mr. F was dying to try out. I love Olympia’s funky, grungy feel. It has a fantastic downtown filled with shops, galleries and eateries. Hope to go back for a day soon and give you a little artsy tour!
[ it was beginning to look like fall on the trail ]
Normally, when graced with a 3-day weekend, Mr. F and I might take the opportunity to get out of town, maybe do a little camping. But after a week of not feeling super great, we both decided that another low-key weekend was what we needed. We did manage to squeeze in a nice little hike at Mt. Rainier in between all our chillin’ out.
I know I said back to adventuring next weekend.. but this time I really mean it! Fall is my favorite time of year and I intend to enjoy it to the fullest. Hope you had a wonderful restful weekend, Artsies and are ready to conquer the world this week!
Images by Artsy Forager. See more of This Artsy Life on Instagram.
You guys. It has been soooo long. So very long since we had a weekend like this one! Nowhere to be, no one to meet, no chores needing to be checked off. Absolutely no pressure to do anything. After the craziness of the last few months, it was just what we needed. Best thing about a do nothing weekend? The way it frees your mind to observe, to rest, to think. Oh and there were divine cinnamon rolls and the worst Chinese food ever.
[ horseshoes– Mr. F is really good, I am really not ]
[ sunday drive along hood canal ]
[ looking up ]
Weekends like this almost make me want to spend every weekend this way. But we have hikes to take, places to go and people to see! More adventures next weekend, promise!
We’ve done it again. Mr. Forager & I have moved just a bit south of Seattle to a small town just outside Olympia. After a whirlwind week of showing Mr. F’s sister around our favorite city, we had just a few hours on Sunday to empty our Seattle apartment, pack up our car, clean said apartment, drive down & unpack here in Shelton. Whew! Needless to say, this Artsy was pretty pooped yesterday evening, so not much unpacking was accomplished. And so, dear Artsies, I’m taking the day today to try to get us settled into our new home. But don’t feel too sorry for me– check out my view!
This is our backyard for the next three months. So inspiring! Perfect for an artsy life. Can’t wait to share more photos of our new home. It’s small, but artsiness abounds!
Weekends, in and of themselves, are always a good thing. But weekends like this one just past, ones in which you feel like all you did were chores with maybe a pleasant little walk in between, are hardly my ideal. Although Mr. F and I struck a good bit off our To-Do list: Found a rental for our next location ( we’re headed just a short drive south to Olympia, WA! So happy to be staying in the Northwest! ), unloaded all of our belongings that were in storage in Florida, then immediately packed it all back into storage here in Seattle, along with a bunch more stuff we’ve been traveling with. Had to deal with paperwork, grocery shopping & other thrilling errands, along with continuing to pack up more things from our apartment for storage plus a nice, big Goodwill pile.
So much to do, so little time. And I’d much rather be spending this time the way I did last summer.. I thought you could maybe use a little daydream escape today too, so here are 5 places I visited last summer and would much rather be right about now..
[ glacier national park ]
[ hayden lake, idaho ]
[ yellowstone national park ]
[ trail of the coeur d’alenes, coeur d’Alene, idaho ]
[ polebridge, montana, just outside glacier national park ]
Someone get me a time machine, stat! Happy Monday, Artsies! Check out more beautiful places from This Artsy Life in the Artsy Forager Instagram feed.
Here’s the thing. Mr. F & I love people. We really do. But we’re both introverts, he being a bit more on the outgoing side than I. So as much as we love to socialize, people can be exhausting for two introverted folk! When it’s just us, we can just BE. And usually, when we’re traveling, unless we happen to be in a place where there are friends to hang with ( Seattle ) or a place where his work crew is awesome and super social ( Idaho ), we are each other’s sole company. And we’re totally OK with that. More than that, it’s the way we like it.
So as happy as we would have been to be joined by a gang of friends on our hike this weekend, as it was shaping up by the end of last week, we were secretly pleased when it turned out to be just us two. We arose super early Saturday morning to make the 2 1/2 hour pilgrimage to Mt. Baker.
[ skyline trail ]
[ we were as giddy as this guy ]
[ even on our hike, we each got a little alone time ]
[ snow in august! ]
[ glorious day ]
We felt guilty that our underestimating the drive time meant that we missed out on a friend’s birthday celebration. But having more him & me time was like a surprise gift, and a much needed one as we’re in the midst of the stressful few weeks before packing up and traveling on. Speaking of, on Sunday we concentrated on dwindling down our belongings even lighter– no more renting a trailer each time. Everything must now fit in the back of the SUV. My closet is now 1/3 its normal size.
[ the clothes that made the cut ]
I am determined to take a few essential art supplies with me, too. Will be working on sorting that out next weekend. What did you do over the weekend? Anything fun? Did you party like it’s 1999 or just enjoy some down time alone?
If you’ve been following the This Artsy Life posts, you know Mr. Forager & I have been doing a bit of island hopping recently. Once we decided for certain we were leaving Seattle, we knew we wanted to make sure we hit one last island. One thing about living a traveler’s lifestyle– you make sure you get out and see as much as you can, as you never know when you may pass by that way again. As many times as Mr. F & I had been to Seattle in the past, we’d yet to make it over to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. And since it’s possible that we could soon be on the other side of the country, we decided to make a weekend of exploring the island.
[ friday harbor ferry dock ]
[ gothic view ]
[ orca! ]
[ lavender ]
[ romantic boat ride ]
[ sunday morning fog ]
The island did not disappoint! We explored from one end to the other, the range of activities as diverse as the weather. Next weekend: we finally hike in the North Cascades! Want to see more from This Artsy Life? Follow me over on Instagram.
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 38 [ when nothing goes as planned ]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/IMG_1430.jpg)
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 37 [ The Rains Come, Fall Begins ]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/20130916-081819.jpg)
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 36 [ Salve for My Stir Crazy ]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/IMG_1343.jpg)
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 35 [ Artsy Say Relax, Part Deux ]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Relax-collage.jpg)
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 34 [Artsy Say Relax]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/IMG_1280.jpg)
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 31[ Work + 5 Places I’d Rather Be ]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/20130805-100525.jpg)
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 30 [ Just Us Two ]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/20130729-105145.jpg)
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 29 [ One Last Island Before We Go ]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/20130722-125603.jpg)
