painting at the kitchen table

 Tara has been sick with the flu for the past week...so I set up all of my painting stuff at the kitchen table and have been painting up a storm while she has been snoozing, watching movies and resting.I've been having so much fun...playing + experimenting. Truthfully...these past many months, I haven't had much time for painting, blogging and photography because Tara has truly needed me so much more and I decided I would scale back...just doing tiny bits and pieces here and there. She's only going to be little once...and time is just a flying on by. But...I have missed all of this so much...So, while I have been tired over here...it also feels really really great to get my hands all messy again!!!

And this is Tara today...feeling so much better, thank goodness:)

And of course nothing spells comfort food more than homemade pies!!! It's cold + dreary outside ...and I am dreaming of spring. In the meantime, though, keeping toasty warm. Happy + full of gratitude for so much.

week in pics (around here lately)

                                            (photo taken by Tara and edited by proud mamma!)
 "Run my dear from anything
that may not strengthen 
your precious budding wings"- Hafiz (I just came across this quote in the new O magazine and instantly fell in love with it! Great advice and inspiration for us all. 

 

xxx

making beautiful messes

 

Since we've been having tons of snow days over here...I set up all our painting supplies at the kitchen table and we have been creating beautiful messes! I am working on watercolor paper instead of my usual gallery wrapped canvasses and am loving the new surfaces. Tons and tons of layers ...first gesso, then flattening them out under a stack of books overnight (a trick I learned from Danielle Daniel's Herstory painting class) and then the fun begins!!! Acrylics, inks, found papers, stamps, portfolio oil pastels, watercolor crayons...and then splatters + drips and thick layers on top of that...scrubbing back and revealing what's underneath. Loving the colors here as well as all the history (hidden + showing). So much of my backgrounds get all covered up...but still love all the layers that add to the piece...that tell our stories.

 

And of course Tara has been loving all the arty messes too:) I signed her up for an art day camp that she really took to. She loves doing her own thing...especially  since she's five now, thank you very much:) ...so I just show her a few things, give her the materials and then steer clear.

And...this is still our view around here...brrrrrrrrrr!!!

celebrating milestones and more

 “Parents rarely let go of their children, so children let go of them. They move on. They move away. The moments that used to define them - a mother's approval, a father's nod - are covered by moments of their own accomplishments. It is not until much later, as the skin sags and the heart weakens, that children understand; their stories, and all their accomplishments, sit atop the stories of their mothers and fathers, stones upon stones, beneath the waters of their lives.” 
                                                               -Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Tara turned 5 last week and I am still trying to wrap my head around it...where did the time go???It seems as if it was just yesterday when I first saw her little angel face and felt my whole heart break wide open with infinite love. And somehow...turning 5 seems so much different than all her other birthdays...this one seemed like a milestone. Every day she's opening herself up to the larger world...and more and more I see how she is truly growing up. It's bittersweet...so so bittersweet. Because a huge part of me yearns for the time of baby feet and baby smells but another part of me is so very proud of the little girl she's grow up to be. So amidst all the celebrating ...and truly, there is so much to celebrate...there was also a little bit of small mournings, tears and transitions. I guess so much of life is all about letting go, though...isn't it??

 Tara actually had an entire birthday weekend where she got to do all the fun stuff she loves...going to her fave. restaurant, hanging out with her friends, going to the movies...and of course... being a princess!

 In other news...I have fallen behind on my blog. I am trying to be a full time mom while still practicing self care (ie. sleep!!!) and still get into my studio!!!! Okay...there are only 24 hours in the day:) But I am not stressing out about any of it anymore...I just do the best I can knowing full well that the time will come soon enough when I will have all the time I need. So...for now...I accept that I can't do everything I would like!

 The past week has been frosty cold and while it all looks so beautiful with tons of photographic opportunities...I'm kinda' wishing we were in Jamaica right about now:) Okay...Spring...where are you?? Unfortunately...there's just no end in sight with heavy snowfalls and blizzards every other day. On the plus side, it makes for tons of time snuggling and reading, though:)

And these are a couple of sheets of (watercolor) paper I'm preparing...am going to continue adding layers and layers and layers...drips and splatters of inks, paints, markers, oil pastels, patterned papers...building up history and depth so I can paint my stories on them. I'm enjoying the process of discoveries...trying out new techniques + color combos and above all...letting go.