not ready for June yet..

Where did all these original pages come from?? Unbelievably cool to see his works. I am still attracted to traditional hand drawn works. It is so refreshing to see them in this age of digital arts. It reminds me of why I got into the arts.

Phoenix lands on Mars!

more images from NASA

Instead of driving back the way we came, we decided to drive across the northern highway.   Along the way, we passed towns that consists of only 4 homes.  As much as it was picturesque, we also got the creeps.  This is the kind of town you see in movies where you stop for directions, and you never get to see the light of day again.

Being in Skye is what you call “escaping reality”.  it’s preserved from the rest of the world.  Crofting is still prominent,  practically no stores/shops, just the grand scenery and the simple way of life.  The weather changed every 10 minute – from sunny to rain, hale sleet , snow, wind and sun again.  The way the clouds broke and god rays casted on the landscape was beyond words or pictures.  More sheeps, lambs, rams and cows roam freely on the roads, and they have the right of way.

skye east =

http://www.flickr.com/photos/akiko11/sets/72157604528001293/

skye west -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/akiko11/sets/72157604528203989/

I am going to wrap up my trip sketches with this post.  I hope to realize some of my doodle sketches that wasn’t posted into a painting some day.

went to see

Amazing works.  The Roman city scene from Spartacus was unbelievable.  They also had on display the set-up of easels and paints that a matte painter would have had.  So inspiring..

Also stopped by the LA central library to see the exhibit of Leo Politi’s works on the children’s book “Bunker Hill”. It’s a glimps of Los Angeles history and landmarks that is long lost to development.

while my visit to the consulate in downtown

… of victorian houses at angelino heights

Went to the Angelno Heights Open house tour on a really hot day. A lot of cool Victorian houses gather in this neighborhood.

some sketches from that day -

After leaving Glasgow, the roads narrowed and as we near Glen Coe, the scenery became majestic. This area is known for the historical massacre of the clan MacDonalds.  There’s rock walls all over the hills.

We hiked the Signal Rock area in the morning. The forest kinda reminded me of the Princes mononoke scenes.

We drove along the Great Glen way towards Loch Ness.   Several Lochs are connected by the Caledonian Canal. We stayed at a working farm at Drumnadrochit ( which we practiced pronoucing several times)

We were very intrigued by the Highland Cows.  They are adorable.

And here is the view of Lochness and Urquhart castle.

Our hotel in Edinburgh was to the west of the city center and right by Dean Village – a nice area by the Dean river.

out in the suburbs of Edinburgh is one of the most amazing places we stopped by – Rosslyn chapel. Built in 1400′s, you can feel the history in the moss covered stones. Every inch of the interior is covered with carved stonework of ornaments and pagen symbols such as the green man.

We dreamed about staying at a castle. Most castles converted to hotels are turned into resorts and spas. That’s not what we wanted. We wanted a “real” old stone wall castle, and Dalhousie came close with a dinner in the Dungeon. We hung out at their awesome library afterwards.

We walked the grounds where you can experience falconry. The trees out here are old too. It has that unkept wild looks to it. very enchanting.

Off to Glasgow.

Glasgow is a bigger city than Edinburgh. We went to see the Tenement museum and the hight light of the stay was the Charles R Macintosh museum where they have moved his house into the Huntarian Gallery.

to be continued…