Lately

I've been spending time on myself lately. Like most moms, I find it easy to look after my family but difficult to look after myself. Most women think they can't spare the time, or the expense and it seems some women have an almost pathological unwillingness to ask for help. Guilty as charged. But I am slowly learning that the investment in myself is the best investment I can make for my family. More yoga, regular massages to help manage chronic neck and shoulder pain AND...visits to a homeopathic allergist, both for my son and myself. (I will keep you posted on the results!)

 

 

 

I feel a bit guilty in the morning when I need to decide if I should go to yoga before or after my massage. It sounds ridiculously decadent but I can tell you that I have been happier and more patient and more fun to be around...seriously...my kids have said to me more than once lately: "you are funny," and they mean funny=haha, not funny=weird!

 

Lately I've been doing a lot of doodling...and for me doodles always end up of the floral variety...especially flowers inspired by Hungarian folk art. Here are doodles from my sketchbook while I was glued to the television watching election news and results. Since this blog is my personal space, I can tell you that I am happy with the election results, not just on a federal level bit also closer to home. Californians voted to help fund public education on a variety of levels and I am thrilled.

This weekend we are heading to Laguna Beach to visit with family and celebrate my niece's birthday.  I originally wanted to paint her a mermaid.  I started something which never went past this stage.  I kind of hate it (which is actually a feeling I have for much of my artwork at one stage or another!)  I can't decide if I can keep at it or if she needs to be abandoned.  My niece is getting a mermaid dolly instead...because I can't pull this together in time for departure...

And finally...some pics of hikes we have taken lately.

 

 

 

 

 Happy PPF and Happy Friday and Happy long weekend and Happy Veteran's Day.

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Beautiful Weeds

Last week I experimented with a limited color palette.  Today I took it a step further and used only one color.  In the spirit of sketching on a lazy Sunday, I sketched in bed, on a Sunday morning while sipping coffee.  

 

 

I used a black water coluble pencil and then went over the pencil lines with a wet brush.   I wanted a more washed, watercolor look so I decided to run a large wet brush over the whole thing.  I was nervous I would end up with gray blobs but I like the way it came out and I think it's not bad for about a 30 minute effort!

 

 

Dried Sweet Fennel weeds.  Taken on my iPhone while hiking with aObi a few days ago.

It was sunny by the end of our hike.



The BEST Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

We are fast approaching my one year blog anniversary and one of my first posts was to share my Roasted Pumpkin Seeds recipe. I didn't even have a camera, I used my iPhone for the picture. I decided to share this excellent recipe again with updated pictures.

I love to roast pumpkin seeds to share with friends. These seeds are so good that my son's Kindergarten teacher finds me every year around this time to beg for seeds and my son is in the 4th grade now!

I'm lucky enough to get loads of seeds from the pumpkin carving party we go to every year. I never use exact measurements, depending on the amount of seeds you might be using tablespoon-fulls of the first 4 ingredients, a teaspoon of cinnamon and a few dashes of cayenne. I have tried to list ingredients in order of volume (in other words much more Worcestershire sauce than cayenne pepper.)

 

 

Ingredients:

low sodium Worcestershire sauce

kosher salt

ground cumin

brown sugar

cinnamon

cayenne pepper

Remove pumpkin seeds from pumpkin, straining them out by hand is easiest to separate them from the pumpkin "guts." Remove as much of the guts as you can, but don't worry if you can't get it all. DO NOT RINSE THE SEEDS, this will add flavor (and save time!) Mix pumpkin seeds and all of the ingredients above in a bowl.

Layer thinly on a cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven at 300. If you have a convection oven, use the convection setting. Stir every 10 minutes or so to keep the seeds from sticking to each other and to help them dry out and roast evenly. I like my seeds a bit crunchy but not overly roasted. Keep checking and stirring until they are roasted to your liking. 
 

 

 

 

Visit my Etsy Shop

Kauai Sky

I tried something a little different this week.  I gave myself one hour and only 4 colors while painting.  This is a view of the sunset sky in Kauai.  Painted from memory and my vacation photos.  Normally when I paint California scenes I use Cerulean Blue, Hookers Green and Titanium White to create my water and sky.  When I paint Kauai ocean and sky and I can't get the right colors using my "California palette."  Here I used Cobalt Blue, Naphthol Crimson, Yellow Light Hansa and Titanium White.   I was tempted to add something else...but I tend to over mix and use too many colors and end up with mud.  I'm very open to constructive criticism and advise and tips.  :)

 

Painting in the living room instead of at my art desk these days

I ruined my manicure (OPI Into the Night)

Sharing on Illustration Friday and Paint Party Friday.

Happy Friday!! 

 

Hello Clouds.

 

Hello Monday!
Hello Fall weather.  Finally!
Hello clouds. 
I've been obsessed with painting clouds lately. 
Took some pictures today for inspiration. 
Don't be surprised when you see some cloudy sky paintings from me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linking up with Lisa Leonard.

Flowers! Flowers!

It's Friday and I'm ready for a weekend! 
My husband and my grandmother share a birthday (she'll be 91!) so there will be some celebrating.  And I am still feeling great and relieved to be on the other side of the doldrums...and creative again!

I have been enjoying a return to acrylics and canvas lately.  This is a painting inspired by something on the bathroom wall (of all places!) at my yoga studio.  I've had the idea of painting this for about 3 years and finally got around to it.  I'm really pleased with it.

Acrylic on cavas 16X20

 

Plumeria still blooming

I never get tired of flowers.

Happy Friday!