Kiwi Peach Juice Three

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Zippity Do Da. A little paint pushing this am. A good blueberry banana smoothie...not too bad. It is supposed get up to 72 this afternoon. Woo woo, break out the flip flops. Well not quite. Still feels like sweater weather here. This little tart is the third of the three "juice tarts". The colors were so summery, they barely seemed real. So mentally I jumped from the snows of yesterday to pondering warmer climes. Hmm. Do we sense a wee bit of cabin fever? Yes, but my flu fever is gone. I even caught brush just gliding over the juicy parts as if on holiday...hmmm maybe we need to head to the islands...or at least take a walk around the block. I know, big doings here. I think I need some glamour tarts soon. Some restorative goodies. Might be just the thing to get the zip back in my do da. In fact, I think we all need that about now. Note to self: find glamour tarts...no, no, not Paris Hilton...silly...real fancy french stuff from guys named Henri, Pierre, comme ca, mes amis. I am on it.

Raspberry Snow

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Snow. I wanted to paint snow this morning with raspberries tucked and cosy on a cushion of cake. I am thinking Benedryl is my new muse. I slept in until 10 o'clock!!!! Never happens. And the sun is out. I expect any moment to break into a rousing version of Zippity Do Dah....well almost. My friend Patti called me from North Carolina to tell me they had a slight "dusting" and it is still snowing in the mountains. We have known each other since the third grade, so it doesn't surprise me anymore that we are often on the same wavelength. Remember snow days as a kid? We used to hose down the street in front of our drive so the bus couldn't make it up the hill. Such freedom, a snow day. So I am tucking all that good stuff into this little tart and wishing you all the happiness of a snow day now and then. Meet you at Starbucks...don't forget your sled.

Paint It Red

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More. I wanted more. Needed red, needed berries, needed lots of luscious paint. It could be the gazillion Benedryl I took just to get some sleep last night. Or it could be all that talk of underwear yesterday on copyblogger. I am not sure, but today I woke up (meaning I did get some non-coughing sleep) wanting lots of red, red , red. Hmm, feeling better are we? Or is it just good medicine? Well, the sun is out. The paint felt good. And I haven't coughed in, oh, ten minutes.....things are looking up. I have said this before, but it truly amazes me how even when I feel awful, sometimes being in the painting zone makes everything else just fall away, recede to irrelevance. And the paint works its magic. You've felt it haven't you? Whether it's a workout, or a well loved task. Time passes around you, but unknown to you. That engagement, that intense concentration, ahh we're talking zone-a -licious. Someone said that 90% of success is mental. I believe it. Today, my mental part said we are having us some red. And we did.

Monday Morning Studio

Monday mornings. A golden sense of opportunity? Or a uh-oh here we go again?

Mondays have usually been an organizing, office-y day for me. You know, what's up for the week? Materials inventory...conceptual work on series...I just found that it was best used for a positioning day. Preparation for entering the" zone".

Oh yes, the zone is real. And for me, the work is a performance that has rehearsal, preparation, not a lot of costuming but some, lights, camera, cue music, ohm..the whole deal. What? Hey, if this was easy, every one would do it. But nooo just we lucky few blessed/cursed ones are so graced.
So Monday mornings? Maybe they are" uh-oh here we go again golden opportunities". How do you get into your zone? I think I still need some coffee.

Blueberry Tart Study

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We have blueberries. This is a warm up for the third of the three pieces going to Palo Alto. You saw the drawing on Wednesday's studio post. I love the looseness of this little painting. On the larger piece there may be a little more room to put more exact "faces" on each berry, but there is something that is luscious in this easy flow of paint. I may not want to tame it. The pieces are about abundance. They will anchor a baking corner in a newly redone fifties home. So they need to be full of promise, juicy, and ripe with possibilities for all the good things to come from the client and her family. As much as there is a lot of me in the paintings, they are essentially about this family. So when I am painting for them, I think of warmth, generosity and shared joy. No, I don't think that needs taming at all.

Liz Lovely Ginger Snapdragons

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Woody Allen said that 70% of success in life is just showing up. Last Thursday, for showing up on Tim Ferriss's Valentine blog post, I got news that Liz Lovely would be sending me a couple of their cookies. Well that's really nice, I thought. I'll paint and post them as thanks. I had never heard of them and they did not know me.

The cookies arrived quickly. Two giant Ginger Snapdragons coupled, or as she calls them, "soul mated", in twos. Everything about them is exceptional. Just like the people that make them. Really, go check out this Liz Lovely band of bakers up in Vermont. I love gingerbread, ginger snaps, ginger just about anything... and it is great for us. What I love also are people who really put themselves into what they do in a way that makes us glad they do.

The hardest part? Not eating them while I photographed, drew and painted them...these pack a huge ginger whallop of goodness. Just what this nasty cold needs. Who knew that some nice folks in Vermont would be just the thing for that cold that last week we didn't even know I would have.
So show up. Life is a lot more spicy that way. Thanks Tim and thank you Andy, and all of you in Vermont. Free cookies. Now there's a nice thing. Free delicious cookies, even better. You are going on my "get goodies for gifts" resource list.

Studio Wednesday Morning

Zen to done needs a boost. My top 3 MIT's from yesterday are competing with an ugly, ugly virus. That's my immuno-boost smoothie, the Ginger Snapgragons and a couple of strawberries. What I really want is my binkie and total immersion in my bed.

But let's check in: Blueberries, check. Drawing complete on the lovely Moleskine page.

Ginger Snapdragons palette selected, check. The drawing is also done. I'll show you that with a later post. Ginger probably tastes raw umber-y, but I am going to fire up a mixed palette.

"Pink bird on an island", check. Rhythm of composition, painting notes, and thumbnail ( rather large) complete.

Next step? It all goes to the canvas, she says slurping her smoothie...that quilt is looking awfully tempting....Leo, any tips for this? Maybe Flylady...we can do anything for fifteen minutes. Hmm, so today's plan is a hybrid, "the fifteen minutes at a time MIT program"...I like that. Slurp. Slurp. Where's my binkie?