Watercolor Gerber Daisy on Canson Limited Edition Paper Pineapple Sketchbook

More practice of painting loose with no pencil.

I purchased some leftover Valentine's Day flowers after the big love fest was over. Since I love Gerber daisies and I hated seeming them go to waste, I thought they would make good practice.

They've done well, but they're just about on their last legs. I decided it was time to get busy with the paint!

Everything was going along fairly well this morning until I managed to smear the lower right corner of the daisy.

Since I was working with both Perylene Red and Anthraquinoid Red, I knew there would be no lifting the color—both pigments stain. Not to mention that this paper doesn't allow for corrections very well anyway.

So, if you can't fix it, feature it!

I threw some paint at it and called it done. I may or may not go back and add some journaling.

What have you been "featuring" on your sketchbook pages lately?

Fried Corn Fritters

No, this is not becoming a food blog! However, I feel compelled to share that I have met and overcome a lifelong fear of...................hot grease!

Yeah, I know....not all that thrilling, but true, all the same. I have been afraid of hot grease since I will big enough to know what hot grease was and I wasn't even big enough to reach the stove yet!

My mother doesn't understand it nor does she know where the fear came from. She doesn't remember me ever getting close enough to the stove to get burnt by a pop of grease. Mom even wonders if she may have gotten burned while she was pregnant with me, if you believe those kinds of things.

Still, when my hubby asked me to make deep fried corn fritters for Valentine's Day, I knew my moment had come to face down my fear.

Failure was not an option.

After realizing I fully intended to try frying the fritters, my husband casually suggested that perhaps I should wait until he got home from work! I guess I should have been insulted, but it was actually a pretty funny comment at the time.

I carefully heated the grease in the kitchen kettle my mother had given us a few years ago and set about mixing up the fritter batter. When the grease reached 400º, I started dropping in the batter.

It took a several attempts and testing a few different tools before I had the nice round, puffy fritters you see in the photo.

But let me tell you, I was the domestic diva last night when Chris popped one in his mouth and pronounced it excellent! (Mind you, he hasn't had his mother's in 6 or 7 years, so I didn't have any real stiff competition.)

I had finally bested my fear of the hot grease. Yay me!!!

Corn Fritters
P.S. This is a "special occasion" food unless you're looking to fast-track yourself to a heart attack!

White Velvet Cake Buttercream Frosting Pink Sugar Sprinkles

Whether baking or painting, life can provide lessons in unexpected places.

I decided I wanted to try a recipe I found on the web called White Velvet Cake because we absolutely love Red Velvet Cake! Besides, I thought it would be a fun treat for Chris. And Leott. And Paul. And Mom and Dad.....and anybody else who can grab fast enough!

White Velvet.....doesn't that just sound like really good cake?

It is.

So where do the lessons come in?

I don't know how much baking you do from scratch, but I can tell you I don't do a lot.

Sugar, sweets, bread and pasta are the bane of my existence. I have no willpower whatsoever when it comes to anything in the sweets category.

I find it best to simply avoid them.

Therefore, I don't bake them.

Because then I will eat them. ALL of them. Until they are GONE.

Hmmm, I digress.....

In preparing the batter, I learned my mixer is not big enough nor strong enough (it's as old or older than I am!) to prepare the batter as they describe in the recipe.

Next time, I'll do it in batches and then combine it together in the end.

The cake was suppose to be light and fluffy....instead, it's rather dense. It has a fabulous flavor though—almost like wedding cake if you happen to be a fan of really, Really, REALLY good wedding cake! (Yes. I am.)

White Velvet Cake Valentine's Day 2012 Watercolor Pineapple Journal

Like most new recipes and new art styles, it takes a little practice and a little tweaking to make it your own.

I am not a loose painter.

I am determined to become one.

This was done without pencil, going in direct with paint.

Sometimes, having a plan (pencil lines) can be helpful. Other times, it can be restrictive.

Like the cake, this didn't quite turn out to my expectations.....I have no idea why it looks like it's sliding downhill.

But like the cake recipe, I'll keep tweaking this new style of painting until I get closer to what I see in my mind's eye.

Will it ever match?

Not likely.

It might be even better!

I hope you have a fabulous Valentine's Day!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I hear a piece of cake calling my name..........

NEW Classes, NEW Destinations, and LOTS of changes!

It's only taken a couple of months longer than expected, but finally, finally, all of the classes are up at ImaginaryTrips.com! LOTS of changes going on, great new destinations and a new way to take an Imaginary Trip. 

Walking in the mall shortly after the new year, I saw this sign in a store window.

It pretty much sums up the way I feel about 2012. I will own it.

So why am I just now posting about word-of-the-year, goals and such....on February 1st?

Well, if you read the blog, you know 2011 ended on a sad note and 2012 started on a sad, worried note.

“The days are long, but 

the years short. ”

Since time has continued its relentless march forward, I find that I need/want/must go with it.

A Glance Back

Looking back at 2011, I can say the year was truly a year of challenge. Highest highs, lowest lows, outrageously good times and unable-to-breathe scary. I am pleased to have survived as well as by all that I accomplished.

Finally, as I face 2012, to go farther, higher and deeper.

When I look forward, I see new challenges to take on and overcome, new highs to aspire to, new delights to celebrate, accomplishments to revel in, new places to see and new friendships to build.

The Speed of Forward

I am learning there are many speeds to forward. My plan had been to hit 2012 with the throttle open as wide as it would go. The Universe had other plans, plans to slow me down. Way down.

I fought it for a while. A fruitless activity and a waste of energy. I've settled down now into a much slow pace forward. I'm getting a lot of behind the scenes stuff done that if I were traveling at full throttle, wouldn't get done properly nor with the detail it needs.

I won't say I don't rail against the current speed. I do. I hear a soft chuckle in the nether regions of my mind. Perhaps a whisper that says "all in good time, child, all in good time."

A Wise Word

My word last year was move and boy, did I! I moved my body (exercise), I started the move of my business to a totally different host, set up, web site and more, I went to NOLA and had a blast! I moved my mind and myself past obstacles, challenges, and sadness.

What word could I possibly choose to guide me, ground me, be an advocate, and otherwise remind me to enjoy every minute of every day as much as possible?

That's a pretty tall order for one word.

At the very end of last year, I was trying on bodacious and audacious as my watchwords for 2012.

Then the sadness came along with some other obstacles. The slowing down I could do nothing about.

And I didn't feel audacious or bodacious anymore.....still, I wanted a word that would remind me of the present moment, to celebrate the accomplishments of the moment, to savor life in the moment while also keeping my eye on moving forward.

In the end, I chose two words, revel and best.

I chose revel to help me to enjoy every minute of the day as much as possible. Even set backs, slow downs, obstacles and challenges. They're often gifts. We just have to change our perspective sometimes to recognize the value they bring. I chose the word to remind me to revel in small things as well as big and to celebrate them rather than rushing to the next challenge, obstacle, or task.

Inspired by KJ's gentle wisdom over at Catching Happiness, I decided to choose a second word. When I settled on best, it was so I would ask myself the necessary questions so that I would stay aware of the choices, decisions, energy and resources I put into any situation....is this the best decision I can make? [Make it and move on.]

Is this the best thing for me to be eating right now? [No, put the donut down and go get an apple.]

Does this situation require my very best or is good enough okay? [Good enough is okay. Put the extra energy towards the next challenge.]

Own It

I believe revel and best will help me to own 2012 and to make it mine. There will be missteps, obstacles, failures, struggles, fear, celebration, joy, tears of sadness and happiness.

With any luck at all, when I look back over 2012, I'll be able to say that not only did I own it, I made it count. I made it a good one.

A Bonus

(Congratulations if you made it this far! I know this is a ridiculously long post and I promise to be more brief in the future!)

One of the things I did way back at the beginning of 2011 was to write a few sentences down using my word of the year move. These sentences were written as if it were already the end of the year and I was writing an overview in December of all my accomplishments. Some examples follow:

• I really moved forward with the business by changing the way I deliver the class material.
• Moving my body has really helped me to move towards better health.
• I finally get to move around and visit different parts of the country with Imaginary Trips Made Real!

I also wrote a few that didn't happen and that's okay. These did! By writing out these sentences using my WOTY, I was setting intentions, putting myself and the Universe on notice that I had things to do, places to be, people to meet!

I was just recently introduced to a new tool called futureme.org. It is a tool that allows you to write a letter to yourself and then have it delivered on whatever date in the future you want. You can even add a photo if you so choose. You can make it anonymous and public or keep it private.

The Challenge

So here is my challenge to each of you to help make 2012 your best year yet is to write a letter to yourself as if it were December 2012. Talk about all the things you accomplished, all the goals you met, the challenges you overcame. Set a powerful intention to yourself NOW.

The letter will help you to see what you accomplished in the 11 months to come.

Perhaps you'll want to send more frequent letters (I have mine set for the seasons' solstice).

Here's to our year. 2012. Let's own it—together!

In yesterday's post, I mentioned adding a surprise to the strawberry spread.....
The surprise is in the lower lefthand corner of the page where the real strawberry was sitting.

And the surprise, you ask?

You can't really tell from the lousy photo, but the ink is a very dark chocolate-y brown!

Once I had my additional piece, I painted the surprise inside. After it dried, I added my text inside and out. Using my my heart punch, I made two little "paper buttons" and painted them. I punched holes through one and added a piece of thread that held a tag onto an antique I purchased this last weekend.

Using glue, I glued both hearts down on the outside to keep the enclosure closed and hidden until someone gets curious enough to open it.

My other challenge came when I realized I would need to stay as loose on the chocolate-dipped berry inside of the enclosure as those on the outside. I think I pulled it off even though there is a bit more detail on the inside berry.

I know several of you mentioned strawberry shortcake and that was a possibility, but what kind of shortcake? A biscuit, angel food cake, real shortcake? In my experience (I grew up the daughter of a strawberry farmer and my older brother still farms berries today), folks are very particular about their "cake!"

So, what say you—what kind of "shortcake" do you like best?!

p.s. my apologies for the lousy photos, the weather is very gray and overcast today. Ick.

Strawberries (No pencil) Watercolor with ink for the text only Double Spread Pineapple Journal

I spent the day in the technological world of web sites yesterday.

All day.

It made me cranky.

The best antidote I know to getting over crankiness is to paint.

Here's the results of my "fix." And just like painting outside on location, painting live in your own kitchen can be an adventure.

Midway through, the clouds covered up the sun and I lost my shadows.

So what does any good artist do when the shadows leave?

Make up their own, of course.

After looking at the photo, I've decide this spread needs a "surprise" element added to it.

Wonder what it will be.........

I like surprise...........compartments, unexpected finds and delightful treasures! So when I recently read an article by Jacqueline Newbold in the new Cloth Paper Scissors Pages Magazine, I decided to give some of her ideas a whirl in my own style.....

Cafe Beignet Sketch

On the day we arrived in NOLA, it was blues skies. Within the hour it was clouding up and quickly started to rain. KJ and I knew we were going to do a test taste of beignets when we went back to NOLA. (Inquiring minds wanted to know and so did our taste buds!) We happened up on Café Beignet and decided this was a perfect location to wait out the rain and begin our testing.
While we were waiting on our beignets, we noticed a small presence in the shop who had also come in out of the rain....
A sweet, little tuxedo cat was hanging out under one of the tables. It took a bit of coaxing, but he was finally convinced that an ear scratch might be just the thing on such a soggy day.

If you look closely at the photo, you'll see where I used a paw print punch to create a kitty paw print—more info below!

It was such a delightful and unexpected visit, that I knew I wanted to call out the special moment in a different way on the page. I wanted something that provided delight for the viewer of the sketchbook page the way the cat's visit did for KJ and I.

Jacqueline mentions using library pockets, cards and index card dividers in her article. Since it was late in the evening and I didn't want to wait until morning, I did a quick online search and discovered a library card pocket template.
The template I found is from Mirkwood Designs. Once I had the basic design, I created a pocket the size I needed to fit in the corner of my page since I'd already sketched the main image on the page. After I built the pocket, I then created a simple tag-type card from watercolor paper and painted the tuxedo cat.

I used green ribbon on the pocket and tag to coordinate with the green awning. Before gluing the pocket down to the page, I used the paw print punch to create a foot print at the top of the pocket and then used ink to distress the edges of the pocket a bit.

In my search for a template, I found lots of other ideas too, so I think you'll be seeing more of this on my pages. It's such fun to create a visual treat that's not immediately available to the viewer and it provides a nice surprise to see the special visitor we enjoyed all over each time the little card is pulled out!

Our last full day in NOLA dawned cold and clear with a strong wind from the northwest that robbed the warmth from the sunshine. However, that morning we spent touring the Beauregard-Keyes house (Keyes rhymes with eyes) and then sketching in the walled gardens. The walls made it possible for us to sketch without being totally miserable!

St. Francis in the Beauregard-Keyes Walled Gardens Sketched on location

The house is named after its two most celebrated owners, Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard and author, Ms. Frances Parkinson. We had an absolutely delightful guide and learned a good deal about what it might have been like to live back in the mid-1900's in New Orleans.

[I recently had someone ask "Don't you ever make mistakes!?!" Take a close look at the page above and you'll note one colossal mistake—the bricks....I drew what I THOUGHT I saw there rather than what I OBSERVED to be there. To downplay the wrong perspective, I washed some darker color over the bricks so that they are less noticeable. So the answer is "YES. I make mistakes. I also do what I can do downplay or correct them and move on. Lastly, I seldom point out mistakes because most of the time, if we don't say anything, no one notices anyway!"]

Other shots of the house and gardens:

Interior Courtyard behind the house

Cold, but determined sketchers in the walled gardens

Resurrection Fear growing on the wall of the garden

We took off for lunch and then spent the first part of the afternoon doing some shopping (purchasing pralines) and we then gathered to go to the Germaine Cazenave Wells Mardi Gras Museum at Arnaud's Restaurant:

Sketched on Location

The museum houses dresses worn by Ms. Wells, who is Count Arnaud's daughter. She is the one woman who has presided over more Krewes than any other. There were also outfits worn by her mother, daughter and the Count as the King of Mardi Gras. It was a very interesting and close-up look at the opulence and details of the Mardi Gras dress of yesteryear as contrasted against our visit to Mardi Gras World on our first day.

The dress is encrusted with beading and other embellishments. The train is made of velvet and trimmed with real fur—it had to weigh a ton!!

Intrepid sketchers sitting on the floor after a mishap with a broken stool

Our evening finished off with a fabulous meal at Arnaud's. The restaurant harkens back to another era where you wore your best to go to dinner, the door was held for women and the chair pulled back. Men wore jackets and the ladies were dressed to the nines. (It's more relaxed now, but only by a little bit!)

It was a wonderful way to wrap up our week in NOLA with a fabulously wonderful group of sketchers!

[I have a few more pages to share (that are out of order) where I've done a few different and fun things to change them up a bit!]