Notes From Alaska in September
Rainy Day in Ketchikan with brother Mike and my buddy Dawn
Alaska!
I seem to have fallen in love with it this year. I just wrapped up my third loop up the coast, hosting a watercolour workshop on a cruise ship. My husband tapped out after the second lap, so this time I invited my brother Mike to be my plus-one. My friend Dawn, who came up from Mexico, joined us as well, and the three of us had a blast!
I’ll admit, Alaska didn’t quite give us its best this time: rainy ports, canceled stops, and some significant late-season swells. But ship life more than made up for it. We requested shared tables every night at dinner, which turned into a seven-day spree of lively dinner parties with a rotating cast of entertaining tablemates. The food was as gorgeous as ever, and the nightly shows were spectacular.
Part of the magic for me was traveling with new companions. It gave me the chance to see ship life through fresh eyes. Neither Dawn nor Mike had cruised before, so everything was new for them. Worry not, my husband still loves this game and will be joining me on a Western Caribbean romp in a couple of months. But I really cherished this chance to spend time with my brother and my buddy.
They both attended all of my classes, so it turned into a week-long intensive watercolour workshop. When it was too wet to paint on shore, we perched on deck for plein air sessions. We visited every art gallery in Juneau and Ketchikan and kept up a week-long dialogue about colour theory and soft versus hard edges. We even squeezed in some great hikes, where Dawn, who before becoming a surfing realtor in Los Cabos was a scientific researcher in the Canadian Arctic (a perfectly logical transition, right?), regaled us with facts about the flora and fauna around us. I loved that! By the end of the week, they had both become real painters, which of course made me very happy.
For those of you considering a cruise to Alaska, here are my thoughts:
A week felt too short, I’d book a longer itinerary next time.
Late season can be unpredictable weather-wise.
If you’re cruising mostly for ship life and you’ve already been to Alaska, book whatever you can, it’s all wonderful. But if this is your once-in-a-lifetime shot at experiencing this gorgeous part of the world, go early in the season and choose one of the longer voyages. Some of the gems we visited earlier this year, like Wrangell, Klawock, and Haines, aren’t included on the shorter runs, and floating down to the Hubbard Glacier is absolutely bucket-list worthy.
Now, some might say that cruise-ship Alaska isn’t the “real” Alaska. True, it’s a lovely taster, the tip of the proverbial iceberg. But my interest is piqued. I’m now preparing applications for a couple of artist residencies that, if successful, will give me a deeper experience. I’ll keep you posted. Wish me luck!
For now, I’m home for a whopping week before setting sail again. This time my friend Sheree Jones is teaching the onboard classes, and I get to be the plus-one. We’re heading to the UK and sailing the Mediterranean. I can already see the two of us, side by side, plein air painting our way from Southampton to Barcelona and back. Follow me on instagram for trip updates at @illustratedvagabond
The shot above is from the same viewpoint on Creek Street that I created this print. Follow the link to see it and my other available Alaska images.
