The Morning Ritual of Coffee
A good cup of coffee is one of my favorite things in life. There is a wonderful coffee house we occasionally visit in San Anselmo, which has a lovely garden area. We love the “neighborhood feel” of the place, along with the friendly atmosphere.
There’s something so comforting about the delectable aroma of freshly brewed coffee, the hissing of the frothing machine, and people gathering together for their morning ritual of coffee.
The Morning Ritual of Coffee
“In Seattle you haven’t had enough coffee until you can thread a sewing machine while it’s running.” ~Jeff Bezos
“Good communication is just as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.” ~Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Happy May 1st
I love the month of May! Everywhere you look, everything is turning green and blooming. I also enjoy how the days are warming up, yet the nights are still cool.
Today, I took our garden furniture cushions out of storage, and worked on creating a comfy area for us to enjoy our garden. I’m happy with how it turned out.
Afterwards I relaxed and sipped my cup of Earl Grey tea, as I watched the birds play in the water fountain.
“Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas.” – Elizabeth Murray
All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar.” – Helen Hayes
“May our heart’s garden of awakening bloom with hundreds of flowers.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
Another Busy Day
Although it has been a busy couple of days, I did manage to work on my painting. I still haven’t decided what to do with the crystal ball.
Maybe tomorrow inspiration will strike, or maybe not. I still have a ways to go before it is finished, which gives me plenty of time to figure it out.
The Awakening – Combined Media on Canvas – 11 X 14 inches
“Whatsoever that be within us that feels, thinks, desires, and animates, is something celestial, divine, and consequently, imperishable.” – Aristotle
“There is a desire deep within the soul which drives man from the seen to the unseen, to philosophy and to the divine.” – Kahlil Gibran
Beautiful Weekend
We had a beautiful weekend, the sun was shining, and we hit the mid-80’s. Saturday, when we got back home from running errands, we were able to take our dog out for awhile so he could run, play, and snooze in the grass. He is such a sweetheart!
On Sunday, I went to the Gem Faire and had a great time looking for beads and such. I was completely worn out and tired by the time I got home. lol
Since I didn’t have any time to paint over the weekend, I began working on “The Awakening” early this morning. I still have a long way to go but at least I made some progress today.
The Awakening – Combined Media on Canvas- 11 X 14 inches
From a Sketch to a Painting
Today I’m turning the previous post of a sketch into a painting. I began by blocking out the whole painting into tonal groups. I also added a crystal ball and started working on the head and body.
When working in Painter IX, I am able to add layers to the original under painting and work on these individually until I like what I see. Afterwards, I merge the layers with the original canvas and my painting is finished.
Tomorrow I plan on working on the background, hair, and clothing. My paintings can take a few weeks to several months to complete, depending on how large or complex they are.
The Awakening – Combined Media on Canvas – 11 X 14 inches
A Wonderful Day
The rain has arrived and thank goodness, it has been such a dry season for us. When I stepped outside this morning everything smelled so fresh and clean. What a wonderful way to start your day!
I grabbed a cup of hot tea and decided to do some sketching. I wanted to play around with some ideas which had been bouncing around in my head lately.
I have always been fascinated by archetypal images, and today I was primarily focused on The Divine Child archetype when I did the sketch below.
The Awakening – Sketch 2B Pencil – 5 X 7 inches
“Myths are the world’s dreams. They are archetypal dreams and deal with great human problems. Myths and dreams come from the same place. They come from realizations of some kind that then have to find expression in symbolic form.” – Joseph Campbell
“You cannot predict what the next step is; you just have to do it. It’s so mysterious.” – Hui Lin Liu
“I am inspired when the elements and forces of nature combine to form strange and transcendental appearances… sometimes subtle, sometimes dynamic, they act as portals to a mystical realm.” – Diana Lehr
winged Heart
Over the weekend I did a few more sketches, using the heart theme from my previous post. There was one sketch I kept coming back to, where I had drawn wings inside and around the heart.
After scanning the drawing into photoshop and then moving it into Painter IX, I began the painting by adding color and more detail to each area.
I have no idea where I am going with the blue area on the left hand side of the painting, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out tomorrow.
Winged Heart – Combined Media – 9 X 9 inches
Happy Accidents
The other day I was going through some old watercolor paintings, which had been torn up to use for collage. They were spread out allover my table, and I accidentally placed my clear rose quartz heart, which I had in my jacket pocket on top of these random images.
When I came back from lunch to resume my project, I noticed how the crystal heart distorted the images underneath, so I quickly grabbed my camera and began to play and create different images with the crystal heart. Later I downloaded the reference photos, and here is the first image I painted from this happy little accident.
Heart Dance – Combined Media – 7 X 8 inches
Work In Progress
Here’s a new work-in-progress titled “Vivian, Lady of the Lake.” I chose to paint the figure first and then began developing the background from my reference sketches, and now it is taking on a life of its own.
It’s a gorgeous day and I plan on taking a little walk to stretch my legs, we are suppose to reach the mid-70s today.
Vivian, Lady Of The Lake – Combined Medium – 11 X 14 inches
Busy Day
I’ve been busy working on my new gallery, moving images from my old site to the new one. I ran into a few glitches, but I’m finally getting the hang of it. I still have a long way to go!
The flowers below are so magical, I took several photos to use as reference material for a new painting.
Brugmanisa