So Many Gifts!

Each day I come to this blog wondering what I will talk about. This week not only has mother nature given me some ideas as gifts, but also blog friends have given me gifts of ideas.

In response to my post on Slow Art, Andrea sent me this book which had been introduced to her by her brother who is also a creative person. I had never heard of The Discovery of Slowness by Sten Nadolny. It is a work of historical fiction about the life of Sir John Franklin who was a 19th century Arctic explorer. I have just started this book, but already it is proving to be a very good read. Thank you so much Andrea! I am going to very much enjoy this very thoughtful gift.

This morning I wake up to two emails which are also very worthy of mention here. The first one is from Robert Genn who writes The Painter's Keys newsletter. He is talking about clones of paintings being made. He has experienced this happening with his own works. He speaks of the importance of mastering your own technique which cannot be cloned because it is not YOU. I can't find this online anywhere, but if you will email me in the next day or so, I will forward this newsletter to you. If you are willing to wait until next week, it will be on Robert's site.

The other email I received is from our dear friend San Meredith. San sent me the link to a short video of a Finnish rock band known as The Leningrad Cowboys who are in concert with The Red Army Choir. They are performing an American Southern Rock song, Sweet Home Alabama. Now while this video is great fun to watch (you really need to see this), it also made me think how important ART is in bringing people together. It truly is a common language.

Thank you to all of these people who have given me so much not only for this blog, but also just for me. You are all an inspiration!

I hope these send you into the weekend with lots to think about.

What does Taste Look Like?

Note: I cannot say exactly who photographed these particular photos. What I can say is it was either my son, my daughter or myself.

Recently I have been inspired by so many blog posts. Some of them are art blogs and some are not. But our friend, Babs, at Off the Wall Art has shown a beautiful painting (she always does, but this particular one is inspiring this post). She refers to it as "The Day In The Life Of An Orange". When you visit to see this painting, you will totally understand what she means (and do visit it is well worth the clicks). While I am not sure what was in her mind or heart when she painted this, when I first saw it the thing which came to mind was she has painted this in response to how she feels an orange tastes. Have you ever done that? Produced your art in response to a taste?

I thought I would share a few photos of food to see if they might evoke some tastes you might paint...well, I am going to give it a try, since I haven't done it before. These lemons are some of the most incredible I have ever tasted...they are sweeter than normal. Yes, you heard me right! My daughter has a lemon tree in the yard of the little cottage she rents. It produces all year and produces a lot. If I had some here, now, I would have taken a photo of a cut one for you!
Nice, fresh salad, anyone? This was a lovely salad I had at a cafe in Berlin. It tasted especially nice as I sat at the table, with my son, on a wide sidewalk and watched people pass. The tomatoes were not so great, but the red pepper was fabulous!
Well, how do you think these might look if you painted their taste?
Or yummy, yummy...a mocha or espresso for anyone? I think these might paint up quite lovely! What do you think?

If you are wanting some other photos to respond to, consider visiting Taste With The Eyes blog. Of course there are lots and lots of photos of food on the web, but some bloggers really have some delightful photographs. And there are lots of artists who paint some lovely foods...

Let me know what you think about this idea. Thanks Babs, for so much inspiration for this post.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

This morning I woke up to some winter weather, again. It really makes me want to paint, but I do not have my studio! I do not even have paints! I purchased a small pad of Bristol a few days ago, so I am going to pull some pens out and see what develops there. I really want my studio items to come so I can begin to sit up my space again. I had some basic items air shipped, however they have also not arrived. I know the challenges are there for a reason. I just have to be patient with it all. Sometimes these challenges are to remind me how important it is for me to do my work and meet my needs. It also reminds me of the other supportive work that needs to happen.

I know when I am able to paint again, I am going to have so many forms of inspiration. I know slow and steady is a positive pace for me, but my life doesn't allow that so very much. Instead it challenges me to work in other ways and provides me with tons of inspiration. Lucky Me. A focus on the positive keeps me working.