After the Storm

Still in vacation mode but what a wild week it has been. I spent Christmas in Georgia and my 2 night visit turned into 4 nights when flights to Boston were cancelled because of the blizzard. I think if I had been home I would have enjoyed taking photos of the storm but my photographer friend Rob Kipp captured the essence and the beauty far better than I could have. To see more of his work visit http://robkipp.com/newwork; he is an award winning photographer and you will see why. 

General Glover House in Winter Snow Storm, Marblehead, MA taken by Rob Kipp

Morning walk from yesterday, the sidewalks aren't cleared but the streets are... walking the dog is a real challenge!

After the new year I will be back in the studio continuing my sea and sky series, and the following weekend is the opening of the winter show for the Swampscott Arts Association. I have also been substitute teaching in town and am trying to find a new balance with the additional work.

I wish you all a Happy, Healthy, Peaceful new year.

Making time for ... Morning Light

Once there is time (after the holiday season), I am thinking I will use this photo from this morning as inspiration for my next encaustic painting.

Holiday Party = Success!

And the bonus was the gingerbread cookies were delicious.

Cookiemania

I never would have ended up with the wonderful assortment of gingerbread cookies if it weren't for the help from my daughter and her friends. These two simple cookies took me such a long time I knew there was no way I would have enough decorated before tonight's party.

Luckily there was a half day of school and my daughter (hiding behind her long hair on the right) along with her two good friends spent most of the afternoon turning plain gingerbread into works of art.

My contribution, this simple oatmeal cookie assortment.

Here is their collaborative effort, if you looks closely you will see Harry Potter characters (left side) to ninja warriors (with toothpick weapons) to couples in matching argyle sweaters. I wonder if it will be hard to watch people eat them!

The Art of Food, Baking for the Holidays.

It's been a busy few days for me as I have been preparing for a party tonight here in my home. I found out last week that the local art association did not have enough of the membership signed up to attend the holiday party; it's usually held at the Nahant Country Club and I decided to offer my home as an alternative. I felt terrible knowing the annual party (which is also when the officers and board are approved for the coming year) was going to be cancelled. I was president of the organization about ten years ago so I know first hand how frustrating it can be when the involvement from the membership is minimal. I also know it's an expensive event and many people are cutting back this year.

Who loves a good party... I do! I decided to co-ordinate with Barbara, (president of SAA) main dishes... I am making a turkey breast, she is bringing a honey baked ham, and each person coming tonight is to bring a side dish or appetizer. I think I will have between 15 - 20 people which is very manageable. I had to clean up my painting space aka my dining room and new paintings are on hold until after the season. I found a different creative outlet and have been spending my time discovering new recipes and baking this week.

This morning I will be decorating my gingerbread men! I have an army of them and was too tired to finish last night. The twist to all of this is that I recently rejoined Weight Watchers and all of these recipes are 2 point desserts... if you are a member you know what a joy anything 2 points can be. I will add more photos as my "artwork" comes to fruition later today.

Bon Appetit!

These gingerbread men are waiting for their faces, the icing will consist of powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest.

Candied ginger-oatmeal cookies have small bits of crystalized ginger which adds a wonderful zippy flavor.

These oatmeal-raisin bites were a recipe in the handout from the first week of the new weight watchers plan. Absolutely delicious.

The gingerbread I made was cake-like and IMHO not worth the 4 points value each slice has according to the diet plan.

Storm Wave, 16" x 20" encaustic painting

Trying to make the time to paint this week has been a challenge, having constant interruptions has been an even bigger challenge! I can't decide if this is finished and I need to spend time looking at it from a distance. I love the abstract feeling the layers of wax create, and I realized today the reason I have been drawn to painting seascapes with encaustic is probably because of the fluidity in both. What I am thinking of adding to this painting is detail that will create more definition where the wave is, and possibly some 3-dimensional texture. The entire painting surface is smooth and I totally bonded with my torch when I painted this time! Using the wax abstractly is so different from what I had been doing with the image transfers that it's too soon for me to know how I feel about it.

Morning Walk at High Tide

Technology continues to amuse me and challenge me, I am new to youtube videos. I decided to try putting together a short video from this morning, I wanted the sounds of the rocks and the waves combined with visuals. What do you think?

Wishful Thinking

It's a Friday in December, no matter where you go there are more people, more cars, and everything takes longer. The good news is, my creative juices are flowing. The bad news, I did not have the time to stay home and work on what could possibly become my next series of work. I had time to melt wax medium in my new 11 x 11 skillet early this morning. I had time to order more medium from the Dick Blick website, anticipating that I will need more than what's melted in the skillet. But life got in the way, I had to go out.

My skillet with melted wax medium, my hake brush (and holiday decorations)

Every morning when I walk my dog along the beach I am inspired. Sometimes I pull out the camera in my cell phone and take pictures because I see so many patterns and designs that it makes me want to re-create them. I think there is a delicate balance between what we see abstractly and what is actual reality. How can I re-create the illusion?

"Big" plans

This time of year there are so many distractions that I have trouble maintaining a studio schedule. I left town for Thanksgiving and returned just a few days later, but there is so much going on! I feel like sometimes I have to hold my creative outlet on the back burner until the holidays are passed. One thing I have had on my mind is that I had purchased larger wood panels anticipating my desire to work on larger encaustic paintings. I also had been planning on getting a larger heating appliance for melting the wax medium and I finally made the time to do that yesterday. (I hope it works right otherwise I may have a slight kink in my "big" plans). It's even possible I will have time to start painting tomorrow. Joy.