Happy Times, Happy Life

Last week's class was learning to combine watercolor and collage.  

I had torn out the back page of a magazine which had a Chanel watch advertisement I thought it was so pretty.  At first I had set it aside for a potential watercolor inspiration.   Then I thought I would use it as the basis and jumping off point for the collage.  I started thinking of what went along with clocks - time, life, happiness...and it all came together.  

As further proof it is a good thing to shop the clearance/sale sections of art supply stores…I searched my studio and found pretty papers, stencils, a key, Liquid Pearls White Opal, a Sea Blue #1200 Derwent Inktense pencil.….and of course, not missing the opportunity to shop/acquire more artistic goodies - silver leaf!  

I randomly embellished parts of the Chinese letters I painted for "Happy" with the Liquid Pearls - Coco Chanel was all about the pearls!   Added a ring of hieroglyphic black and metallic silver paper around the watch face to make it more interesting, and glued a "Life" key to the hour hand of the watch.  Since the advertisement paper was too slick to paint with watercolor, I used the Derwent pencil to hand-letter "Happy" on the camellia.  The blue-green background I painted first was to represent how I felt to be in the pool swimming, and aquamarine is my daughter's birthstone and mine.  To give it a little more glitz, I thought I would use silver leaf around the edges.  I had never tried gilding before, but it was easy to figure out along the way and I liked the random effect.

Inspiration is all around

Lightning Does Strike Twice!

I love the frame I found at Hobby Lobby!
(Not so much the fluorescent light glare from inside the Exhibit Building)

I submitted --- and I won the First Place blue ribbon! -- my watercolor of a lightning strike at Buck Pond in Rochester, New York.  The inspiration photo was taken by Jamie Montanus of Montanus Photography earlier this year.

Update 11-24-14 - My painting will be on display and for sale at the Galveston Art League December Member Show (December 4-28)  and the November 29, 2014 ArtWalk.  

Fun With Focus

Love how the raindrops reverse the palm trees!

Rainy day in Galveston at Stewart Beach. . .

This week - Guayaki Yerba Mate Pure Empower Mint

Cost:   $6.49 at Whole Foods
Number of teabags:  16,  individually-wrapped
Caffeine:   Yes, 20 mg/serving - 1/4 cup of coffee equivalent
Type of tea:   Herbal
Ingredients:   All organic - Yerba mate, peppermint leaf, spearmint leaf and stevia leaf.
Steeping time:  I need to check the water temperature of the Keurig, I noticed on the box it says not to drink mate over 150 F. I don't know if that means the water brewing temperature or letting it cool down to 150.  Which wouldn't really be a problem since I get to doing other things and get distracted from my tea on the counter.
Add ins:  Perfect without any.
Fragrance:  Like a peppermint version of Morning Thunder.  A little earthy.
Opinion:   I like Trader Joe's Yerba Mate.   But what this has going for it is the mint flavor, which has a pleasant warming effect.  You feel it in a few seconds after sipping right in your upper chest.  This might be nice to drink when you have a cold and need a little decongesting and to get your health back on track.   And it doesn't keep me up at night.  I place it safe, however and only drink it in the morning - or early afternoon if I need a boost and it's going to be a long day.
Rating:  3.75

Fabric is to sewing, as paper is to

artist-ing?!
Check out my latest find -- A Clearprint Vellum Field Book!  It just arrived at Texas Art Supply.  Cool protective Vellum cover, too.  The book is actually bright "Clearprint Orange" underneath.  This is going to be so fun to try out watercoloring.   The tip sheet inside has lots of great effects ideas for working with the transparency of vellum.
The 6" x 8" 50 sheet size I finally decided upon retails for $12.95 - but with Texas Art Supply's pricing and my discount, it came home with me for $8.16

7:19 AM

September Sunrise - Houston, Texas

Free Penzeys Northwoods Seasoning Coupon

The new Harvest 2014 catalog has a free 1/2 cup jar of Northwoods Seasoning coupon - the online ordering code is 22150C.  This is one of my favorites - I like to use it on chicken, but it is versatile enough for beef, pork, and even potatoes.

They always have such good recipes in their catalogs --
I know I'm going to try their Gingerbread Cake Mix, if it looks as good as the photo, this could be a potential cute gift for the holidays, either as a mix or baked and given.    And to keep on hand for a quick fix.

Gingerbread Cake Mix

(I do this with my pizza dough, mix all the dry ingredients and store in a ziploc in my pantry.)

Follow the Signs

Two of the very first awards we earned as Junior Girl Scouts were "The Sign of the Arrow" and "The Sign of the Star."

The Sign of the Arrow says "this is the way" on the path of Girl Scouting.
In the requirement section of the second-hand Junior handbook I bought, one of the requirements (#8 "Get together with another troop to meet new girls and do something together") completed noted a "Camp-In at Foley's"   I can only imagine the fun they would have had in Houston's best 9-story downtown department store!

The Sign of the Star says "A star shines in all directions and guides you along the way" on to new and bigger adventures in Girl Scouting.

These awards were established in 1963, replacing the Second Class Award.

1963 was quite the pivotal year in Girl Scouting.  The establishment of four age levels of Girl Scouting -- Brownie, Junior, Cadette and Senior -- with corresponding handbooks, and official dress uniforms (with white gloves!)

Listen...

Source:  The Facebook Page of The Yoga Haven - Galveston, Texas
Visiting Galveston Island?  Going on a cruise?  Be sure to check The Yoga Haven schedule and Hooked on Acupuncture next door to complete your Island relaxation getaway.

This week - Tazo Chai Pumpkin Spice

Cost:   $3.00 on sale at Super Target
Number of teabags:  20,  individually-wrapped
Caffeine:   Yes
Type of tea:    Black
Ingredients:   Black teas, cinnamon, natural flavors, licorice root, ginger, cloves, black pepper, cardamom
Steeping time:  The box says 5 minutes, but it developed a bitter aftertaste.  The second time I kept at at 3 minutes, much better!
Add ins:   Sweet Bliss makes it seem like pumpkin pie!
Fragrance:  Pumpkin and ginger
Opinion:   One of two new seasonal offerings from Tazo.  (watch for an upcoming review of Tazo Chai Vanilla Caramel next week).  Pumpkin is showing up everywhere - even in Hershey's Kisses! Something told me to give this another chance.  The first cup had a strange, bitter aftertaste, with or without adding milk and sugar.  I liked it better the second time.  You can detect the pumpkin in the first sip and then it definitely has a surprising pepper aftertaste kick.  Interesting Autumn twist on Chai.
Rating:  3.25

Orange you glad to see this?

"Oranges unwrapped and wrapped  in tissue paper on a pane of glass in front of green fabric"

This is definitely a class practice piece, but you can see where/when I started to get the hang of painting reflections in glass and fabric folds with light and shadow.  Learning and making progress!

Ripple Effect. . .

Almond Blueberry Pear Tart

Almond Blueberry Pear Tart

It's Fall and that means time to get back into the kitchen and bake!

This is my variation of the Pear Tart recipes circulating around the Internet and Pinterest.
I had a two pound bag of red bartlet pears from Trader Joe's, while pretty, were ripening pretty fast.  I peeled and sliced them yet they didn't quite fill the tart pan.  So I added a couple handfuls of frozen blueberries - about a cup, to fill in the spaces.

Filling - 1 3/4 cups of sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut up.  (Next time I'm dialing back the sugar to 1 1/2 cups.)
Mix sugar and flour together.  Add bits of butter.  Mix with fingers until crumbly.  Distribute over fruit.

Bake at 425 for 30 minutes
If crust is starting to brown too quickly, adjust oven temperature to 375 and bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until filling is bubbly.   Sprinkle toasted almond slivers on top.
Let cool, and top with BlueBell Homemade Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream and enjoy!

Here's my Fool Proof Pie Crust recipe from Good Housekeeping magazine.

For a 9" baked pie shell or tart:

1 1/3 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut up
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening
2-5 tablespoons ice water (I usually end up using about 2 1/2, since Houston is so humid)
Directions

In food processor with knife blade attached, blend flour and salt.
Add butter and shortening, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Sprinkle in ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition, until large moist crumbs just begin to form.

Shape dough into disk; wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes or overnight.
(If chilled overnight, let dough stand 30 minutes at room temperature before rolling.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll dough into 12-inch round. Ease dough round into 9-inch glass or ceramic pie plate. Gently press dough against bottom and up sides of plate without stretching. Trim dough edge, leaving 1-inch overhang. Fold overhang under; pinch to form stand-up edge, then make decorative edge.

Freeze pie shell 15 minutes.
Line pie shell with foil or parchment, and fill with pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until beginning to set. Remove foil with weights, and bake 13 to 15 minutes longer or until golden. If shell puffs up during baking, gently press it down with back of spoon. Cool on wire rack until ready to fill.

Nutritional information is based on 1/10 of a pie shell.
To make Deep-Dish Baked Pie Shell: Prepare 9-Inch Baked Pie Shell as above, but increase all-purpose flour to 1 1/2 cups and vegetable shortening to 1/4 cup. Ease dough into 9 1/2-inch deep-dish pie plate.

Each 1/10 of the pie shell: About 165 calories, 2 g protein, 14 g carbohydrate, 11 g total fat (5 g saturated), 1 g fiber, 16 mg cholesterol, 120 mg sodium.

In progress. . .too tired to finish tonight.

Watercolor Wednesday - Regina's Sunflower

"How wonderful yellow is, it stands for the sun" ~ Vincent Van Gogh

…and sunflowers!

I've been having fun painting and using yellow lately. Perhaps because I feel autumn in the air, even if our air temperature is still in the mid to upper 90's. . . I can still try to incorporate the mood with my paintbrush, inside my air-conditioned home.

Watercolor Wednesday - Colorful Black and White

The fall semester of my watercolor class began on Monday.  We focused on painting and using color in black and white - there is only one tiny, unpainted area in this picture!  I wanted to give it an autumnal and abstract feel with a band of yellow at the top.

I was trying to take the photo outside in the Houston humidity and the edges kept curling.  It is an even band of color ; )

Netflix Stars - Quartet

4.5 - We started out watching The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which was so awful, I won't even bother with a review.   Dustin Hoffman directed, and they must have had a blast making this.  Many in the cast were indeed retired musicians (watch for the credit roll).  You will thoroughly enjoy this, too.

Sunday Sketching - Patience, Grasshopper

Rainy Sunday sketching and watercoloring. . .

Listen

Frog Dreaming

I finally get a good night's sleep last night and I dream of…frogs!?!   They were in a parking lot, in puddles, everywhere I looked.

I had to check and see what that could mean.    Most sources agree it is a symbol of good luck, of transformation, and the potential for change, a fresh start.    Hmmm, I will take them all as good signs.

And an opportunity to paint.

Upcoming Jo-Ann's Pattern Sales

September 11/13 -

Simplicity $1.99
Burda $2.49

September 18/20 -

McCall's 3 for $5
Vogue $4.99

Go (Bow) Wow!

The ability to stop, reflect and go "wow" is one of the wisest characteristics an old soul can possess.
~ Mike Dooley

I took this photo last night at 6:53 PM, before sunset  - This is called a sundog, or parhelion.

They will appear 22 degrees north and south, or left and right, of the sun.  Each "dog" has a rainbow color effect -- Red is nearest to the sun, followed by yellow, green, blue, and finally violet on the side furthest away from the sun.

Thursday Tea Time

This week - Numi Organic Tea Decaf Black Vanilla

Cost:   $6.49
Number of teabags:  16,  individually-wrapped
Caffeine:   No
Type of tea:    Black
Ingredients:   Fair trade certified organic decaf black tea, organic vanilla beans
Steeping time:   5 minutes
Add ins:   Sweet Bliss makes it sweet bliss!
Fragrance:  Vani!!a
Opinion:    This is a true vanilla tea - no artificial or natural flavors, just the real deal vanilla bean and decaffeinated black tea.  I love the extra vanilla kick at the end of the sip.  I originally bought this for my daughter to try.  She liked the Mighty Leaf  Vanilla Bean at a cafe, but the Mighty Leaf was almost $10 for 15 pouches at Whole Foods.  (Wait for a sale!  I think I've picked it up for $5 or $6 in the past.  Target used to carry Mighty Leaf teas, but not any more.)   And Numi teas have a proven track record with me.  I still love their Moroccan Mint the best.
With the Sweet Bliss, it tastes like vanilla pudding in a cup! I even drank what was left out on the coffee table earlier cold - it would be great as an iced tea latte.
Bonus times two it is organic and decaffeinated so you can drink it anytime.  I still rely on my English Breakfast teas for my morning kick start, but this way I won't over-caffeinate during the day.
I saved a few pouches for me to hold over until I can get another box before mailing the rest to my daughter.  That may even be this afternoon!
Rating:  5+

Today's Favorite iPod Workout Song

The Alternate Routes, featuring Lily Costner - "Nothing More" - 3:21 

Wednesday Work in Progress - The Cool Coast Camp

A few more glazing layers of water colors. . .I need to "bold up" and really hit those values. I am liking the Bing(o) fish, lights and windows.  What I thought would be hard was easy and vice versa.
I still also need to tackle the fore- and backgrounds. The picture was taken early morning July 5 after a rainstorm, and I want to try and capture the cool clouds and colors.
(Here is the link to the sketch.)

Silence is golden while we all shine on. . .

"She was learning to silence the noise and reawaken to her own bright bloom."  

Very Zen/Yoga/Mantra-y!  Shine on!

Print by Kelly Rae Roberts and for sale (click here)