Matt and I just moved into a new house. Luckily the new house is two blocks from the old one, so yesterday we did a bike move. With 5 bike trailers and some superior packing and unloading skills, the move was over in a litte over 2 hours. Throughout the move there was much talk of how to transport our canoe by bike...something I wasn't sure was actually going to happen...but it did (see video). Overall the bike move was a success, and certainly the most memorable move yet. Thank you to all of our friends who helped make our move way more fun.

Complete photo album on flickr

This drawing that I found at Oma's house was one of many Easter egg hunt scenes that I drew as a kid. The "egg hunt" drawing phase lasted for many years, and I still am pretty obsessed with Easter... Luckily I have friends who also get excited about egg hunts, and agreed to run around the park on a cold, drizzly Saturday morning to hunt for shiny eggs.

I have been trying to figure out what my next theme will be for painting - I love having themes related to stories and literature so that I can be inspired by imagery from quotes and passages. For now though, I'm going to stick with crows, barns, and skeleton trees, since that's what is all around me out here in Minn.

The candle light hike at Split Rock State Park was the final candle light event of the year. I am sad they are over...but it's probably good to stop heading out of town every other weekend on these winter trips. Hopefully now I'll have a little more time for art projects.

I love making little paintings inspired by my favorite quotes, and these are two little paintings I made for two friends who love Salinger.

The candle light ski at Lake Kegonsa State park was a loop trail around a meadow so it was really pretty when you were about half way and could look back across at all the glowing lights marking the trail. I still don't have a tripod...so these are pretty blurry, but they capture the mood of the event pretty well. On the way home we got to stop by Devil's Lake where we had been canoeing last fall - now the lake is scattered with ice fishing huts.

The fog came in and it started to snow lightly on Saturday night before the Amery Candle Light Ski, which made the 2 mile trail through the woods especially cozy and a little spooky.

more pictures from our time at Itasca - including a visit to the famous headwaters of the Mississippi.