Pictorial entries from an overdue return

In December, it is time to make like a mirror -- and reflect. Going over all of 2023 is a daunting task...so I will focus on the last four or so months. Why that specific time period? Well, I left my Ph.D. program towards the end of August, so it felt right.

In this post, there are more pictures, fewer words.  Here are a collection of paintings I made and photographs I took to commemorate the past quarter of the year.

December 14: painting

This piece is meant to be futuristic and "cyberpunk", but it's more strange colors. I mixed silver and red to create a 'metallic' red which is more of a pink actually.  The color is still really cool though.

November 29: painting

Underwater palace/building something or other -- there's sun octopus, a starfish ornament, and some seaweed. Not entirely sure what I was aiming for.

November 27: Painting

Top painting is a fictitious sky image where I used tape to help me paint in a more linear fashion. Bottom painting is a semi-fictionalized take on the November 10th photograph. Lots of white space, so I made up a purple tree to add some color. 

November 26: photograph

 

This is the last tree near me to start leaf-ing fall season.  (Hardy har har.)

November 23: photograph

Photo taken in Springbrook Park, a previously unexplored place for me.

November 23: photograph

For Thanksgiving, we decided to make something a little different. My mom had a craving and I wanted something unique. The Thai version of the dish is called Khao Soi, which is the name we used. I learned that we actually made the Burmese version called Ohn no khao swè (per Wikipedia). Either way, no matter what you call it, the dish consists of a chicken curry and a coconut curry mixed together. After two hours of preparation from four people, this dish was finished, and it was really good. On the other end of the spectrum, we made some mashed potatoes, so it was still a proper Thanksgiving meal.

November 19: photograph

Iron Mountain Park has two trails: an easy one, and a hard trail. Unfortunately, I missed the easy trail, but snapped this photo going back to the car. 

November 17: photograph

This festive and friendly fella is a llama plushie sitting at Andina. I trust this llama.

November 17: photograph

One might say this tree is a little *ahem* close to home. I love the excellent crimson hues of these leaves. Each year, this tree puts on a tremendous show. For some reason, the maple was rather green for much of 2023, but switched back to its usual stellar fall colors in time for the season.

November 15: photograph

Some people thought this was multiple trees; in actuality, one tree capturing the full majesty of November foliage. This tree is at the bottom of the hill where I live. 

November 10: photograph

 

Maybe I went too far with staging this photograph, but such lovely colors on display here. More or less near where November 6th photograph was.

 

November 6: photograph

 More fall foliage here. As it turns out, cherry blossoms (the tree closest to the shot) do not unleash a full-fledged red, but settle for a still vibrant orange.

November 5: photograph

Across the river -- a shot taken at Cook Park. 

October 25: soaps

The art place also allows you to make soaps. Here are some dinosaurs for no real reason at all.  

October 24: Photograph

A cool and misty overview of the town from a high point.

October 13: paintings

Simple inspirations here: top is sky, bottom are roses. I looked up how to paint roses online and managed decently. To my surprise, my mom really liked the roses.

October 1: photograph

This year, roses sure lasted a *long* time. I especially liked this rose's color. 

September 21: photograph

Some backyard sunflowers that finally sprouted weeks late. 

September 10: photograph

Took a trip to Forest Park with a friend and saw this wise sentinel wishing us good luck on the walk. 

September 5

Fields Bridge Park has a rather lovely view of the Tualatin River. 

September 2: painting

 

There was in fact a model for this painting. One of those plastic apples right in front of me. Surprisingly good considering I was not planning on doing art on this day. 

August 31: painting

A fictional maple tree with different colored leaves. 

August 29: painting

A humble attempt at portraying space. 

August 29: photograph

 This shot near sunset at the Rose Garden has a very mystical air to it.

August 24: photograph

They call us the Rose City, right? I would say that fits.

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The past four months have been personally turbulent with my surprise return home. For that reason, I wanted to highlight some sights I witnessed and created. At the end of the year, that only feels right.

Thank you for joining me on this visual tour. Have a great rest of the year. Happy holidays!