Winter progress

Snow on Mt. St. Helena, February 2011 • photo © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Winter arrived (again), after a lovely but untimely interlude of early spring. Snow fell on Mt. St. Helena (above), the hills around Knights Valley (to its left), and up in Lake County, and decided to stay for awhile. I stopped to take this photo across from Graeser Winery. What you can't see is the tree, to the right, that was still partly full of all the blossoms the rain didn't knock down.

New shelves! • photo © 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

The studio is coming along well. I've finished this first stage of painting the walls, and two dear friends helped me set up shelves. Ah! The beginnings of a semblance of organization! It feels good.

Now I'm knuckling down to prepare for both a photographing trip to the desert and five (yup - count 'em - five!) shows in March. One will be a solo show – and that will be at the Westin Verasa, Napa, on the Napa River. Another will be with my Napa Valley Open Studios colleagues at A Taste of Yountville, a wonderful food–and–art event in the tiny town that has more top restaurants per square foot than any place in the world. It's going to be a busy week....