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| (Detail) Big Bone Wonder; 22 x 28; oil on canvas [Yes, my feelings exactly about 2018!] |
This past year has been a busy one for me, filled with traveling and seeing new sights as well as visiting old haunts. We had a lot of snow in the Pittsburgh area early this year, but kept busy with major renovations to the house (all done ourselves).
Diane and I took my mother from Memphis on a trip to Miami, Florida, to see my daughter and her family, including my only grandson, Greyson. It had been a long time since my mother had been to Florida and the opportunity to see her great-grandson and wade along the beach with him was a wonderful sight to see. Driving from Memphis to Miami and back was itself an adventure as well.
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| Diane & Bob Bickers |
Diane and I then bought a lightweight camper trailer as an alternative to sleeping on the ground in a tent in preparation for our travels in the future. This was a 25th anniversary present to ourselves which we then took to Cedar Point on Lake Erie for an initial shakedown. In a trip that spanned almost a month, we helped our son move to San Antonio, Texas with the camper, and then continued on to El Paso, Tuscon, Sedona, Gallup, Holbrook and 80 miles west of Amarillo, Texas where our car broke down and almost left us stranded on the prairie with blowing sleet and high winds that almost toppled our trailer. We eventually made it to Amarillo where we were stranded for three days undergoing repairs (at least it was covered under warranty). We continued on to Memphis and then back home to Murrysville, Pennsylvania.
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| Cactus Medley |
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| View from camper in Tuscon |
From Sedona on, we seemed to keep one step ahead of snow and sleet, as we never intended to be out west in mid-October. At least the heat was not a problem, and the camper's performance was outstanding! Everywhere we stopped for gas, several people would come up to us to inquire about our curious little camper which was extremely compact, looked sharp, and, apparently was pretty rare (we never saw another one on the road). It was a true adventure and I have plenty of photos and materials for future artwork.
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| Diane, the Explorer |
I did manage to get a few pieces of art done before the end of the year, including an acrylic landscape of the Conemaugh River Lake area in winter and another oil painting featuring some of the dinosaurs on display at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh.
Great things are lining up already that promise to make 2019 one of my best years for art yet!
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| Road to Sedona. |
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| Cactus Rainbow |
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| Bob, the Desert Rat |
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| Conemaugh Winter; 16 x 20; acrylic on canvas |
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| Petrified Wood |
Diane and I then bought a lightweight camper trailer as an alternative to sleeping on the ground in a tent in preparation for our travels in the future. This was a 25th anniversary present to ourselves which we then took to Cedar Point on Lake Erie for an initial shakedown. In a trip that spanned almost a month, we helped our son move to San Antonio, Texas with the camper, and then continued on to El Paso, Tuscon, Sedona, Gallup, Holbrook and 80 miles west of Amarillo, Texas where our car broke down and almost left us stranded on the prairie with blowing sleet and high winds that almost toppled our trailer. We eventually made it to Amarillo where we were stranded for three days undergoing repairs (at least it was covered under warranty). We continued on to Memphis and then back home to Murrysville, Pennsylvania.
