Four Colorful Pears

Posted on February 21, 2012 by jenny

Around Christmastime, I seemingly had a little bit more free time than I do at present.  Anyway that, combined with being charged to paint a picture for my Aunt Ellie for Christmas, combined with putting together an Easter painting for Glenmary, led me to a lot of painting.  Sometimes I paint from life, sometimes from pictures.  One of my favorite sites to look for painting inspiration is Flickr…although sometimes I come across some pictures that are so pretty that I think “how could I possibly paint anything prettier.”

I ran across a picture of four pears on Flickr, called Pear Parade.  This is one of those pictures where I wonder why even try to make it prettier (the lighting and arrangement, etc. is so perfect to me), but I tried anyway, and am happy with the results.  First, I love painting fruit because I love the bright colors that you can get.  Second, although I have painted fruit before, I was intrigued with painting the same thing but with differing attributes (tall v. skinny, green v. red, etc.).  In the end, I really like how this painting came out — loose, but identifiable, and I love the delicate shadows under the pears.

Posted in art, colorful, flickr, green, painting, pears, red, shadows, still life, watercolor, yellow | Leave a comment

Painting with friends is an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon!

Posted on February 16, 2012 by jenny

Last fall, my friend Patti contacted me about possibly getting together to paint.  Patti is an artist as well and has a flexible schedule, so it sounded like a great idea to me.  One beautiful, crisp fall day I went over to her house and we painted “en plein-air” in her backyard, capturing her garage.  This was my first time painting outside in my Aquabee sketchpad, and it was a bit difficult getting used to how much water could be used on the page and how fast it would dry off in the nice sunshine.

I really like how this painting came out, as long as I don’t inspect the crazy perspective at the bottom of the page.  Painting en plein-air is very difficult, but it was something that both Patti and I have enjoyed and have taken to doing the first Saturday of the month, adding a few people into our fold.  This particular month we were unable to meet on the first Saturday, so we’ve rescheduled it to this weekend, which I look forward to!  If you’re local and interested in painting on the first Saturday, let me know!  There is no prerequisite to being good at painting at all — we welcome everyone!

Posted in art, en plein air, garage, painting, saturday morning painting group, travel watercolor kit, watercolor | 1 Comment

Rivers of Living Water

Posted on February 14, 2012 by jenny

When I was in Seminary in New Jersey, I really thought I was abandoning design and painting, but discovered so many types of those opportunities presented themselves to me while I was out there, studying theology.  Although that is interesting and thought-provoking in and of itself to me, today I wanted to share with you one of those opportunities that came my way!

As part of my program of study, I had to do an internship at a church equaling about 10 hours a week or so.  I chose Central Presbyterian Church in Summit, NJ and really enjoyed my time there.  On literally the last day of my internship with that church, a woman wandered in to the church office to inquire about how the church might help her with a book she was putting together.  To my recollection, the secretary wasn’t able to give her any help for what she was looking for, but brought her into my office to show me the book she was working on, since the secretary thought I might appreciate it because it had to do with scripture in an artistic way.

The woman introduced herself as Yueh, and she was putting together a visual harmony of the gospel books.  She showed me some sample pages and I was instantly overcome with the beauty and uniqueness of the book, and very impressed with the time and detail it must have taken to work on such a project.  The picture above shows a sample of what the book is like.  She has read through the Revised Standard Version (I think) and has laid out the four gospel accounts next to each other, showing what words are shared and what stays unique to that particular gospel.  At a glance with her book, you can see the thrust of a particular passage, but also can see in detail what each gospel author wrote to be particular for the community that they were writing to.

As we got to talking, Yueh inquired about me and learned that I am a watercolorist and asked if I had any ideas for the cover of her book.  I suggested that perhaps to show the meaning of what she was doing, she could have an image of four unique strands that at the same point blend into each other.  So, she commissioned me to do such a piece and began printing dust jackets to finish off her book.  As a going-away present, she gifted me with my own book and a couple of books to share with others.

I am writing about this now because I heard from Yueh just the other day.  When I had last talked to her, she was printing this book on her own.  She has since been able to contract with a printer in China and is now able to produce a second edition of the book for a very reasonable price and is doing quite well in selling them.  I am so happy for her and so in awe of her great persistence to see her passion through.

If you have interest in learning more about her or Rivers of Living Water, Yueh has a website up at http://www.HeavenlyBright.org.

Posted in art, Artist to watch, beautiful, book, christian, colorful, gospel, painting, seminary, watercolor, yueh goffin | Leave a comment

Chocolate Chip Waffles

Posted on February 9, 2012 by jenny

Another tasty breakfast!  In honor of Valentines Day Weekend(-ish), I will post one of Gavin’s favorite breakfasts that I made last year.  I found this recipe through the Tasty Kitchen website, and have made it several times and really enjoy it.  Easy to do!

Chocolate Chip Waffles

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Flour
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1-1/2 TBSP Sugar
  • 1-1/2 tsp Baking soda
  • 3/4 cup Chocolate chips
  • 2 cups Buttermilk
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1/2 stick Butter, melted
  • 1/2 tsp Vanilla

Preparation

  1. Whisk together flour, salt, sugar and baking soda. Toss in chocolate chips and coat well with flour mixture.
  2. Mix together buttermilk, eggs, butter and vanilla. Pour batter into a waffle iron and cook to your iron\'s instructions.

Posted in breakfast, butter, buttermilk, chocolate chips, egg, flour, recipe, sugar, vanilla, waffles | 4 Comments

White Flowers Watercolor Painting

Posted on February 7, 2012 by jenny

This is another watercolor painting I did in my love/hate Tuesday class last October.  I have no idea what kind of flowers those are — I found the picture in an Arizona magazine the instructor brought in.  My Aunt Trisha identified them, but I have since forgot what kind they are.

Anyway, I am really pleased with how this painting turned out!  I think this is the first class I attended, and the teacher hovered over me the whole time, anxious to provide feedback and instruction.  I had forgotten a pencil that day — only had a black pen, and so even though my drawing is imperfect, I like how the ink defines the flowers.  Anyway, eventually it became evident to the teacher that I had painted before, and she eased up after that, which made me glad — I do not take hovering well.

Posted in art, aunt trisha, beautiful, class, drawing, floral, flowers, painting, pen and ink, watercolor | 4 Comments

Cliffs at the Beach Watercolor Painting

Posted on February 2, 2012 by jenny

Last fall I occasionally attended a local watercolor class on Tuesday afternoons.  I debate about the class – on the one hand, the class does not offer much instruction and the work I do in class is often better than what the instructor does (at least in class…I haven’t seen her real work)…on the other hand, it gets me painting regularly and I really like the paintings I’ve done when I’ve attended, like this one.

I forget the “theme” of the class for this week (composition, maybe?), but basically we were to choose a picture from the instructor’s stack of pictures and compose a painting from it.  I chose a picture of a cliff/beach scene and omitted much of the stuff in the foreground, to tightly crop in to a better composition than the picture.  I really like the colors in this one, and the tiny detail of the people walking along the path.

Posted in art, beautiful, class, colorful, painting, summer, watercolor | 4 Comments

Fused Glass Ornaments

Posted on January 31, 2012 by jenny

Right around Thanksgiving, I started thinking about going back to the glass workshop to make a few Christmas presents, and got the bright idea to make Christmas ornaments!  Unfortunately, I didn’t have Gavin take pictures of all the ones I made, or even the ornaments finished.  However, he did capture the first few that I made, and I am sharing them with you, below.  I loved doing them, and each week I made them, they came out differently!

 

PS: Doesn’t Gavin take great pictures?!

Posted in beautiful, christmas, glass, iridescent glass, ornaments | Leave a comment

Artist to Watch: Sharon Shock, oil painter

Posted on January 26, 2012 by jenny

Last year I decided to finally give my brother and sister-in-law their wedding present, essentially after two years of marriage.  Carrie, my sister-in-law, said that they needed artwork for their walls, particularly on their first floor.  I said ok before I realized how difficult it is to pick out artwork for other people’s tastes.  For her bridal shower, I got her a pretty painting of some palm trees I found in a random art gallery in Ojai.  I thought she might like it, but I weighed it more heavily — I was pretty sure my brother would like it (he can be a tough customer), so it was purchased.

Wanting to get them some artwork to go with that, I looked all over the place, and didn’t find anything until I discovered Sharon Shock.  I don’t know how I ran across her, but Sharon posts a painting every day on her blog, and as I was looking at her paintings earlier last year (and late into 2010), I realized that they would be a nice fit with the painting I got my brother & sister-in-law earlier, since she lives in Carpenteria, CA and paints a lot of beachy-type scenes.

Here are the paintings I bought for them:

Sharon has some really beautiful paintings that are really very affordable.  Follow her on her blog, and maybe you’ll find something you like!

 

Posted in art, Artist to watch, colorful, painting, tree | 1 Comment

Brown Butter Winter Citrus Pancakes

Posted on January 24, 2012 by jenny

As a super huge fan of citrus, I loved this recipe I found on a blog I follow and have made it several times.  When people learn that when I make pancakes or waffles on the weekends from scratch, they seem to think it’s really fancy.  But, really, there’s no need to buy pancake mix — you probably have all of the ingredients in your cupboard already, and it takes less than 15 minutes to make the batter.  I actually find flipping the pancakes the hard part, which Gavin willingly takes on!  It’s good to have a marriage that is a partnership!

Brown Butter Winter Citrus Pancakes

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 3 TBSP Butter
  • 1 cup Buttermilk (I use milk and add in 1 T of vinegar to make buttermilk, since I don\'t keep it on hand)
  • 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 cup All-purpose flour
  • 1 TBSP Granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp Baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp Baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp Citrus zest (I used oranges, but you can use whatever kind you have/want)
  • 2 Tangerines, peeled and separated
  • 1 Grapefruit, peeled and segmented
  • 1 Blood Orange, peeled and segmented (I used regular oranges since blood oranges were not quite in season yet)

Preparation

  1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. The butter will foam and froth and begin to brown. When the butter solids begin to brown, keep an eye on them so they don\'t burn. The butter will smell rich and nutty (I rely on this point to tell when it\'s done). Cook until butter bits are brown, then remove from the hot pan and place in a small bowl.
  2. Whisk together egg, buttermilk, vanilla extract and citrus zest. Whisk in the browned butter. Set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the buttermilk mixture all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir together with a fork until well incorporated. If the batter is lumpy, that\'s fine.
  4. Let batter rest while you heat up the skillet over medium head. We have a nonstick griddle, so I don\'t bother greasing the pan, but if you don\'t have a nonstick one, you may want to consider that. Spoon pancake batter by the 2 tablespoons full into the hot pan. Let cook until browned on one side, flip and brown on the other side.
  5. Arrange the pancakes on a plate, top with segmented citrus and maple syrup (if desired).

Posted in breakfast, butter, buttermilk, citrus, egg, flour, grapefruit, joy the baker, orange, pancakes, recipe, salt, sugar, tangerine, vanilla, zest | 1 Comment

Wisemen Watercolor Painting

Posted on January 19, 2012 by jenny

This past year I was fortunate, again, to be contacted by Glenmary Home Missioners to paint their Christmas and Easter artwork for their annual appeals.  I so love working with Glenmary, as it takes my love and interest in the scriptures and my love of painting and pairs it with their keen eyes to produce really nice pieces.

We start working on their Christmas artwork in July and their Easter artwork in December, so it’s pretty wacky to be thinking about the holidays so far removed from when they fall in the year.  I’ll be showing you Easter’s artwork (which is finished) closer to Easter — let’s just say it was a challenge for me this year — but here’s the final image for their 2011 Christmas appeal: the Wisemen approaching Bethlehem.

 

Posted in art, beautiful, bethlehem, christmas, colorful, glenmary, religious, star, watercolor, wisemen | Leave a comment