shining egg

saturday morning in the woods

 

in process

it's thursday.  i know this.  i keep reminding myself everyday this week, so that i don't get too mixed up.  (just to make matters worse, my kids have no school on friday.  so today feels like wednesday and like friday all at the same time.  yikes.)

it occurred to me,  while swooning over rachel's dish photographs earlier this week, that i've been so busy preparing for the show that i haven't shared anything i've been working on lately.  

it was a twisty train of thought that brought me to this place - rachel's photos reminded me of the bottles and jars i've been painting, and tara's photos reminded me of the horizons i've been painting, and then i remembered that i haven't posted any new work lately, and then i thought about all of the notes i've been taking and sketches i've been making and things i've been thinking about my painting and how i haven't shared any of that here.

so i thought i'd share a tiny bit today.  

after i finished my work for the show - back in march - i found myself somewhat adrift creatively.  i had been working toward the show for so long, that i wasn't really sure where i was going when that work was finished.  that was hard - not unexpected, but hard - being adrift.  and so i played - with monoprinting, and india ink, and my oil pastels (which really feels just like coloring with crayons, only grown up - i love that).  and i played with landscapes, and i played with flowers, and i played with bottles and jars.  

all of that playing was really really good - like exercising muscles in my brain that i had forgotten about.  all of that playing was frustrating, sometimes, too - i like knowing where things are going, and the wandering takes me out of my comfort zone.  but it's good, too - the wandering.  because that's how new land is discovered.

so i've been wandering, and playing, and discovering.  it feels like some ideas are starting to gel, and i'm really looking forward to exploring those ideas further.  and in the meanwhile, as long as the weather cooperates, i'm planning to paint outside as much as possible this summer - because i'm absolutely not finished with the horizon.  

bits from a long weekend

it's tuesday.  but it feels like monday.  i'll be mixed up all week.

it was a great long weekend.  sticky and summery and good; and pretty much all i have to show for it are a few table shots.  and a few bits that i don't want to forget.

* we have been planning to cook an "asian food extravaganza" (those words belong to b. - he's been asking for months) for a really long time.  including make-your-own-sushi.  this was the weekend.  in the end, the kids didn't love the sushi - something about the texture of the seaweed being different from what they're used to - but it was fun to plan and fun to make and everything else was delicious.

 

* sesame noodles supreme was on the menu, of course.  thank goodness i blogged about it way back when, so i was able to find the recipe.  (though it turns out that i have been, ahem, neglecting my blog categories, and i had to search google to find it!  which worked like a charm.  that was pretty funny.)

* everybody had a dish (or two) to make as part of the "extravaganza."  i made fortune cookies.  i had done it once before, a long time ago.  it was fun, and easy.  and writing up the fortunes was the best part.  i will admit that i used the internet when writing the fortunes (and i'd love to link to the site, but now i can't find it.  sorry.), and they were a hit.  the cookies were tasty, too.

* we ate outside three nights in a row.  the weather was perfect.  (now it's cold and rainy.  oh well.)

 

* we planted our vegetable garden, and our herb pots on the deck.  last summer (when we were renovating) we didn't plant the garden, and i really missed it.  not just the growing of our own herbs and veggies, but the act of tending the garden.  monday morning, after breakfast, b. asked if he could go out and water the plants.  of course.

* d. built a fire pit in our back yard.  he scoured the woods behind our house for rocks, brought them to a little corner of the yard with the wheelbarrow, and set them up in a circle.  the pit needs a few things still (like some digging, and a grate), but we had our first fire saturday night and it was delightful.  friends.  s'mores.  a guitar.  perfection.

* sunday night my friend naomi brought homemade ice cream sandwiches.  chocolate cookies with peanut butter ice cream.  monday night was my brownies a la mode.  those were highlights.

* i remembered that i do have another tablecloth.  it doesn't match anything anymore, but it was perfect for throwing over the card table on the deck.  we've had it for years and years, and i do love it.  i'm thinking of turning into a picnic blanket at some point.  (after i deal with my sewing machine issues, but that's another blog post entirely.)

* what else?  there were morning walks.  and playdates.  a sleepover at bubbie's.  there was sunscreen.  and sawing.  our outside speakers are fantastic.  my friend julie made a delicious gazpacho.  i started a new book.  we had brunch with dear friends visiting from out of town and it was as if they had never left.  there was (half of) a game of harry potter clue.  and there was lots and lots of pandora.

it seems like there was so much more.  and nothing else at all, really.  which is the sign of an excellent long weekend, in my opinion.  

now, it's tuesday.  and tomorrow will be wednesday.  and then it will be the weekend again before you know it.  also excellent.

last night.

i truly do not know where to begin to tell you about last night. i've been sitting here looking at the blank screen for 15 minutes, because i can't figure out how to capture the excitement.

(photo courtesy of ms. mommycoddle)

so i'll share a few tidbits, and let molly's and jennifer's pictures tell the rest. (note to self - don't even bother bringing your camera to your own opening. and don't worry that you didn't take any pictures, as long as you invited your flickr friends.)

(photo courtesy of ms. mommycoddle)

first of all, i truly felt like all of you were there with me last night. molly and jennifer were there, of course. and i was wearing martha's wrap. (which is stunning and felt amazing and i love it and can't wait to wear it again. maybe tonight to the 3rd grade play. do you think that's too much!?) and erin had seen all of the work before it went for framing and hanging. and when i walked into the gallery last night, there were those pretty orange flowers (the ones you see in the photo up there) waiting for me from alicia, and heather, and rachel. i mean really. it was as if you all were there. and that was so special.

(photos courtesy of ms. mama urchin)

second of all, the gallery looks wonderful. they did a spectacular job with the framing and the hanging - neither of which i had anything to do with, but they really made my paintings look good.

third, there were so many people! family and friends and people i didn't know and other artists (who so kindly introduced themselves to me). and the weather was beautiful. and the doors to the gallery were open to the courtyard outside. and there was wine. and there were brownies (i couldn't help it). and the atmosphere felt so festive.

i really was a bit nervous going into last night - not knowing how i'd feel, standing there among family and friends and strangers with my paintings hanging on the wall. but it turned out to be terrific fun. really, terrific fun.

and then this morning. i got up and took the kids to school and ate breakfast and packed up my car and went out to paint at a very special farm. the weather is perfect again. and it felt so good to have my hands in the mess of painting again. so good.

so there you go, in a nutshell. you can see all of the work that's hanging in the show in my flickrset. and you can contact the gallery directly to inquire about pricing or purchasing.

and one last thing. thank you. all of you. really. for your feedback and encouragement and friendship and support of me and my painting over these last months. really. thank you.

home

i was honored when sheri asked me to participate in her nesting and nurturing series (during the month of may) over on cafe mom.  you can sneak a little peek into our home, and read my answer to sheri's question - what does home mean to you? - over there this morning.

home means so many things to me.  i could have gone on (and on and on) about the house i grew up in (where my mother still lives), about family heirlooms, about rocking chairs, about a place to feel safe and secure, about a nerve center for the family.  i could go on.  i was thinking that i might do that in this space in the coming weeks.  we'll see.

now, off to figure out what to wear (with my transition wrap) tomorrow night.

saturday morning.

on this saturday morning:

* i was awakened far too early by a delicious little girl climbing into my bed, and was unable to fall back to sleep.

* i went for a walk, all by myself, listening to this song (which i have been singing ever since i saw hannah's photo last week) on my ipod.

* i sat at the kitchen table drawing with b. while everyone else was still asleep.  he drew star wars ships, i drew peonies.  i didn't like anything that i drew.  but i loved doing it.

* i watched a certain nine year old boy play with a giant bottle of bubbles.  i was reminded that bubbles are like magic, and that even though i think of my kids as being too old for bubbles, we never grow out of magic.  or play.  or joy.

* i coached b. through the making of chocolate chip cookies.  it is our goal (thanks to abby) that he be able to make them all by himself when he's ten.  (not by the time he's ten.  just during his year of being ten.  which gives us some time.  and he's close.)

* i visited a friend who helped me to cut wood for an experimental panel for painting.  in my effort to move away from painting on paper, i'm looking for a good alternative.  this might be it.

* i comforted that same delicious girl after she got separated from her dad in the drug store when they went out together to run a quick errand.  a big hug, a few sips of apple juice, and a reminder that the goal in life is not to make sure that nothing bad happens, it's to make sure that you can handle the bad things when they happen.  and in this situation, she did that.  brilliantly.

* i played two games of yamslam - a game we borrowed from our (fabulous and amazing) local toy store.  (did you catch that?  borrowed?  from the toy store?  i told you they're fabulous.)  it's similar to this game.  and fun.  we'll be playing more before we return it.

* and now.  now, i'm going to sit quietly for a few minutes to see if i can get my head to stop spinning.  it's been a busy busy week.  and we've got a busy busy weekend, and another busy busy week ahead.  i'm hoping that a few minutes of quiet will do me good.

wishing you all a lovely weekend.  

(i've been meaning to mention - for those of you who read this in a reader - that i changed things up a teensy tiny bit around here - a much needed facelift.  and, also.  that we have three new guests at habit this month.  i hope you'll visit.  keep meaning to mention.)

cupcakes

my mom celebrated a big birthday last week.  i won't tell you which one, because my grandmother taught me that a woman should never tell her age (she also taught me that a woman should never tell the name of her perfume, or put on lipstick at the table) - but i will say that it was a serious birthday.  so my brother and i threw a party.

 

my mother is not really the party type.  (she says that this was her first birthday party since she was a child.)  in fact, i'm not sure my mother even likes going to parties.  but it was an important birthday, and we couldn't let it go by with out celebrating her in an important way.

 

the party was a surprise - she knew nothing, except that she shouldn't make any plans on that day.  we invited her friends from near and far, and our family from up and down the east coast and some from california, too.  and so many people came.  and she was so surprised.  and so happy.  and the day was so full of love and joy and rubber duckies (my uncle sent 72 of them.) and kazoos (my uncle sent 48 of those.  he's like that.)  and happiness.  and cupcakes.

 

i made 60 cupcakes.  (ok, i made 72, because that's what you get when you make three whole recipes instead making two and a half - but it worked out well because there are always those few that don't come out looking quite right, you know?)  i made coconut cupcakes, because coconut cake is my mother's favorite.  (i wrote about those last year.)  and i made chocolate cupcakes.  because what's a party without chocolate cupcakes?  and my brother insisted that i make yellow cupcakes too.

 

you might remember (if you read to the end of this post) that i have a problem with yellow cake.  it's not so much that i don't like yellow cake, as it is that i make a really good chocolate cake (it's not me.  it's this recipe.  you won't be sorry.) and i've never made a yellow cake that's nearly as good.  

but my brother insisted.  and so i got out my yellow cake recipes.  all of them.  and set them in a line on the kitchen counter.  and i pondered.  and pondered.  and then i did something else entirely.  and they were so good.  so so good.  that i think i'll never be afraid to make yellow cake again. 

they were so good, in fact, that i can't not share the recipe with you.  i already shared it with heather.  and i think she liked it.  so here you go.  (and if you make them, please tell me.  i'd love to know how they turn out.)

yellow cupcakes

adapted from this recipe (because anything made with buttermilk is better)

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups sugar

5 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

preheat the oven to 325.

sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt

set aside

beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy

add the eggs one at a time

add the vanilla

beat well, scraping down the bowl as necessary

add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk, alternating - beginning and ending with the dry

mix to combine

line muffin tins with paper liners (i use these), and fill each cup to the top with batter

bake for 30 minutes

allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting

it's really happening.

opening next wednesday.  if you're local, i hope you'll come.

either way, you can see the work in the show here.

it's very exciting.  and a tiny bit scary.  but mostly, so so good.

i've been

it's been a busy time, these last few weeks.

there was celebrating.

 

and traveling.

 

and gathering treasure.

 

and standing on benches.

 

and more celebrating.

and finding beauty.

and there's been so much rain. 

 

and a little tiny bit of baseball in between the raindrops. 

 

and finally, finally eating outdoors.

there's been painting, and preparing, and mental health days, and field trips, and a new camera, and rolls of film developed, and there was a party and there were house guests and there was a tooth that fell out, and there was jet lag, and i can't even remember the rest of it right now. 

it's been busy.

but i have missed being here.  truly, i have missed having something to say, and sharing it with all of you.  

i promised myself a long time ago that i would not apologize for being absent from this space.  and i won't.  but i will say that i have been thinking a lot about what this space is and is not.  about how it's not exactly a mommy blog.  and it's not exactly an artist blog.  and it's certainly not a crafty blog, since i haven't made anything crafty in as long as i can remember.  and how it's not exactly anything, really.  and how i'm ok with that.  so it's just going to keep being that for the foreseeable future - bits of my family and bits of my painting and bits of my photography and bits of my life.  and that's going to be ok with me.

all of that, and i'm going to be back.  with something or other.  because no matter what it isn't, i really like it here.