The best part of summer...

There's a lot that's wonderful about summer, but having garden flowers available for these simple little arrangements is at the top of my list.

A cup

A (very vicarious) trip to France

My daughter is in France for the next five weeks learning about the cuisine of Gascony. She reports six hour lunches, a lot of duck entrees and appetizers, the freshest food she's ever tasted, dinners at 10 p.m., homemade aperitifs, and $6 bottles of excellent wine. She's fallen in love with it all. And I get to enjoy it vicariously via the internet and Skype (a clearer phone connection than I get locally.)

She's staying in this 18th century farmhouse:




Near the town of Nerac:



And enjoying food like this (cured foie gras stuffed duck breast):

Mmmmmmmm....

There is something deeply satisfying about creating a journal. It's full of potential, almost a book...



I made this journal, with Japanese stab binding, in a class which ended yesterday. I didn't select my most beautiful paper for the first book, because I figured I would screw it up, but I'm pleased with the way the handmade Japanese paper looks.

On the inside, I used three different papers: a soft Italian printmaking paper called Magnani; Niggedden (Roz Stendahl's favorite paper) and 90 lb. Arches watercolor paper.

I've taken two book making classes in the past few months. In the first class I learned to make simple pamphlet and folding books, which I found equally satisfying.

A few hours very well spent...

Oil Studies

Here are a few of the studies I painted in my beginning oil painting class which ended last week. There are more, but they're not completely dry yet. I really like painting on gessoed mat board. It eliminates the pressure to produce something "worthwhile" that I experience when using a canvas.