I have been teaching watercolor classes, but the next class which is in August, I just didn’t have any ideas I really liked for the class. I looked at all sorts of reference photos and found some of waterfalls. I decided that was a great subject matter, looks complicated but really isn’t hard to paint.

This week my husband and sons are gone camping, so one of my daughter’s and I are home by ourselves and no work is happening (she works for my husband), or at least not for her, I still have art to work on.

I love having my whole family home, but when they’re gone for a few days, I have less work to do at home, the house stays cleaner, and my daughter and I don’t mind eating frozen pizza, so there’s very little food prep when they aren’t home, at least for a few days. This means we have quite a bit more time to go and do, and the weather has been beautiful.

So, I went chasing waterfall pictures for reference photo’s for my class. I have painted waterfalls quite a number of times, but you can never have too many reference photo’s, especially when I have the opportunity to get outside with any one of my kids and go hiking.

Monday I went by myself because she went kayaking with friends. I found one small beautiful waterfall by happenstance. But I had a beautiful drive and got other types of reference photos as well.

Tuesday we went to Talkeetna so I could do some fabric business with a local shop. It was a productive day concerning my business and it’s always fun to walk around Talkeetna, but not productive for my reference photos.

Today however, we went up Hatcher’s Pass. My daughter wanted to take her dog, who hates being in the car, so I thought we might not get to go anywhere there were waterfalls. But we settled on a trail on the Willow side of Hatcher’s and off we went.

The trail was wide enough for ATV’s and rocky for the most part but easy walking, and the dog really enjoyed being out of the car. We could see the creek off to the right, but it was in the distance. We kept going though, and found a spot that the creek and the trail came very close. We decided to cut off the trail and go see the water. The dog was thankful as it was plenty warm out and she was thirsty.

We found the most beautiful waterfalls and some awesome pools of water that would have been great for swimming if we were more prepared. We went about 4 miles round trip, with extra time walking near the creek, playing in the water, and getting reference photos for me.

The dog did fantastic in the car ride as well as on our hike. The weather was perfect, sunny with a slight breeze, and the waterfalls were absolutely gorgeous. It was a perfect day for a hike and a perfect location even thought we didn’t know it when we started. I now have lots of reference photos for this upcoming class.

I’m not sure what the rest of the week will hold as far as hiking. I will be selling art at our local Farmer’s Market on Friday, so no time that day, that’s also the day my husband and the boys get home. But I have loved the last few days, the weather, and especially getting out in nature and spending time with my daughter.