I went backpacking in Lappland for 10 days. These sketches done en plein air are the residue from my trip.

From a bluff looking down on the city of Trondheim I painted the Nidaros Catherdral http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nidaros_Cathedral.

The illustrative style of this one reminds me of a children's book I once had.

Inside the Nidaros Cathedral http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nidaros_Cathedral I sat on a chair in the side aisle and painted this window en situ.

I liked the way this came out, and it gave me confidence to keep trying to paint. You see, I took a painting class in college and it really lowered my confidence in my creative ability. I thought I had a creative side going into the class. The painting class was a real struggle for me and it seemed like nothing I did was good enough. Before the class, I liked painting spontaneously, and suddenly I lost that joy. It became work that I could not seem to do right no matter how hard I tried. It was my lowest grade in college, which was particularly crushing because it took a toll on my otherwise nice GPA.

I was nervous about painting again, but my little Windsor and Newton travel watercolor kit my dad bought for me was the only way to bring some artsy craftiness on my trip abroad.