Many months ago, on one of the many visits to the local library Alisha makes with the boys, they caught a performance by a local clown with the name of "BJ the Clown". The show was a big hit with all the kids. Alisha thought ahead and talked to him after the show to find out if he entertained birthday parties. He said he did and Alisha scheduled him for Davy's birthday.

Davy had thirteen friends over for his birthday. The house was full of noise and energy as we waited for his special guest. We were nervous. When BJ rang the doorbell, all the kids went crazy and ran to the front door. He walked in and within a few seconds, they were all sitting down with their eyes on the clown. 

He entertained them for 45 minutes. He had them laughing uncontrollably. He had all sorts of magic and games set up and took time to give each child the spotlight. 

Davy loved it. Davy had a great sixth birthday party. He loved all of his gifts. We have been building Legos for three days now. We stil have more sets to go. Thank you to all for his birthday wishes and gifts.

BJ enteraining Lily and Davy 

Whitman loving the show

Kyler and Trevor in stitches

Dallin and Lincoln laughing at the jokes

Brooke, Lily and Davin following instructions

Noah trying to figure out the magic trick

The boys discussing one of the tricks

Zach answering a question

 "Whoa!"

Davy's friends

The video (in case you haven't seen it) I made for Davy. 

In our family room, Alisha had been working on a montage wall that wasn't as successful as she had hoped. The wall is large and the montage assembled with various family photos, sketches, and paintings never became the focal point of the room. The problem in our family room is a common one in the American household. The focal point was the TV. As interesting as the montage wall was, it couldn't compete with the large dark rectangle that dominated the room. 

You can see the photo montage in the family room right over Davy's shoulder to the right (sorry, this is the best photo I could find of the wall) and you can see the TV to the left.

Alisha after pondering for months on what to do, approached me with a suggestion of painting a large painting for the room. I am no stranger to these requests as I have painted murals nine times in the past nine years and have created various pieces of artwork throughout our marriage for many a bare space. I jumped at the chance. Her direction was that it had to be big and striking to dominate the room while at the same time not obnoxious or something we will grow tired of. I had been reading a lot of comic books lately and some of the most exciting series have been the retro styled ones like Superman Confidential, The New Frontier, and Batgirl Year 1. Alisha and I discussed and we thought it would be great to create an updated version of Roy Lichtenstein and blow up a comic book panel as the painting. 

I put together mockups of multiple options for her to choose from and we reviewed them one evening. She loved many of them and it was a difficult choice. In the end, she wanted something with a cityscape and the Batman and Robin one where they are overlooking the city was her favorite. I agreed to remove the word cloud and we had our painting. 

The above crop was based on this panel from the Batgirl Year One series. Marcos Martin is the artist and Alvaro Lopez and Javier Rodriguez did the inking and colors. 

The first step in creating the painting was to stretch my own canvas. If art school taught me anything, it was how to stretch a canvas. I picked up some lumber and canvas and went to work. The size of the canvas ended up being 7' by 5'. It was very large. The whole process mesmerized Whitman as I used the saw, drill, and pliers building and stretching the canvas. End of day 1.

Once I was finished, I used cheap acrylic craft paint from Michaels to paint the underpainting. This underpainting would give an overall night time glow to the painting, create contrast for the city, and create the guide I needed for the figure and city forms.After the underpainting, I used oils (water-based oils - best invention ever) to paint the colors of the city. To Alisha and the boys, the painting wasn't looking so impressive and some doubt was creeping in. This is a common reaction when I am midway through a painting. I know what the final result will look like and I cut many corners to get there. This technique does not build confidence with my clients (Alisha and the boys).

Once I finished the underpainting I need to let it dry before applying the ink (black lines). End of Day 2.

When I "inked" the forms of Batman and Robin, it became obvious to my clients how the final painting would appear. The boys were astonished at the figures and cheered me on.

One thing I didn't consider when Alisha picked this panel for me to paint, was how much precise work I had to do to create the cityscape. The perspective and the sheer number of forms and lines was a test of patience. The technique I used was applying masking tape to the canvas one inch away from the lines I wanted to ink and then using that as a visual guide as I freehanded each line. This part of the painting took two evenings to finish.

The painting was complete and it looked great. To hang it, I built out a shelf system so that it wouldn't go askew or fall off the wall. The photos don't completely capture the scale or the impression this painting makes in the room. It is now the focal point and the perspective constantly pulls you to look into the city with Batman and Robin. Alisha and the boys are happy with the result and so am I. I may retouch the black "ink" on Batman so that the paint doesn't create so many reflection patterns and apply one more coat to Robin's cape so the effect isn't so mottled. 

happy

chatty

mesmerized

amused

fun

romantic

relaxed

ready to go

Trevor asks, "Violet, what is your favorite thing to do?"

Imagine our surprise when we heard from both my Dad and our friends the Kelseys that they were coming to visit us the last weekend in July. We were excited to have them both and we knew we would have a good time. First my Dad arrived and the boys and my Dad all headed up to Mt Rainer for the day. We love Mt Rainer park and there are all sorts of wonderful hiking trails to explore. 

Except when we got to the lodge, we were surpised to see all the hiking trails closed due to snow! 

Davy and Grandpa enjoying the snow

We decided to make the most of it and Grandpa and the boys had a snowball fight.

Whitman sneaking up on Grandpa

Grandpa calling truce

Whitman with the sneak attack!

And another!

After Mt Rainer, we headed to Vancouver, WA for some fresh crab

Trevor watching the drawbridge in action

When the Kelseys arrived the next day, we headed out to Canon Beach

Whitman pushing his little sister around

The boys race to the tide pools

Colorful starfish in the tide pools

Trevor checking out the sea life

The boys found a crab

Dungenous crab defending his territory

The girls (Angie, Alisha, and Violet)

Violet enjoying the sand between her toes

Davy burying himself like a crab

The sun came out and warmed up the beach

Trying each other's flavors

Cole, Davy, Whitman, and Xavier

Debbie (Angie's mom) and Violet

Mozarella time

Angie and Violet

Beautiful Alisha

Dinner is served

Boys table

Alisha's famous pavlova

The boys and more ice cream!

For Fourth of July weekend (yes, I know I haven't POSTED in a while), we had an action packed adventure. First, the boys and I went with Roger and Judy to Crater Lake. Harvey and Lynn Long joined us. We had a great time camping on the shores of Diamond Lake and took a drive one day up to Crater Lake. It was always a boyhood dream of mine to see Crater Lake, a lake in a volcano! We went fishing, hiking, built fires, roasted marshmallows, played cards, rode bikes, etc. Then, we met up with Alisha, Violet, Nicole, Vivian, and Randy and we all headed out to the coast for the 4th. We stayed at Fred and Jan's Seaside beach house. We flew kites, ate saltwater taffy, watched a parade, built sand castles, boogie boarded, and set off and watched fireworks. It was an action packed week.

I received a new lawn mower for Father's day. Actually, I bought it myself from Home Depot a couple of weeks ago to prevent the lawn from getting out of control. It is a beautiful lawn mower. Whoever designed it, did a great job. It is cordless and electric. Whitman was mesmerized, as our previous lawn mower was an old school push mower. I was at Fred Meyer on Saturday and noticed a bubble mower (pictured above) on sale and bought it for Whitman. He spent the rest of the day "mowing" the lawn. He must have been out there for five or six hours methodically walking back and forth mowing each inch of the lawn multiple times. 

I caught Whitman playing in the fire pit the other day. I couldn't tell what he was doing and then I saw his incredible sculpture he was working on. He's a regular Patrick Dougherty.

Uh-oh, charcoal in his eye

He isn't afraid to get dirty for his art.

Later in the day, after a change of clothing, back from his "art" pit. I adore Whitman. He isn't afraid of anything and perceives no boundaries. At the end of the day, he loves to snuggle up to me and hear me list off all the things he did during the day.

Here is Davy after playing in the sprinklers outside. Davy is always in search of fun. He wants to entertain and to be entertained. He is a very good friend to both of his brothers and is patiently waiting for his sister to grow up so she can play too.

This is Trevor after scoring a spare. Trevor loves games. He loves being a winner and the satisfaction of beating something that seemed impossible. Trevor and I play lots of games together like Stratego, Agricola, Dominion, Settlers of Catan, and Risk. 

Now to the girls...

Violet is the sweetest little girl. She is often happy and smiling. When she isn't, she is either eating or sleeping. Her disposition is best described as "adorable". She knows it. 

 Alisha takes the title "home maker" and gives it a whole new meaning. Our home is amazing. It is beautiful, full of personality, and she infuses it with a wonderful spirit. Today for Father's Day, she made me a wonderful dinner of steak and crab, spinach salad (from our garden), cheddar biscuits, and finished it with ice cream sundaes with the best chocolate sauce I have ever tasted. I love this photo of her. Davy was using the video camera and snapped this picture of her as she was baking.

And finally, I am thankful for my father. I don't see my dad as often as I'd like, but when I do, I cherish every minute. I hope to see him soon.