May and June

It's been so long since I last wrote that I thought I'd break things up into months to let you know what we've been up to!

May was all about the end of the school year for Daniel and me working on commissions, some of which I can't show yet. 

However, Lola growing up was a big part of our summer. We all graduated from puppy school (and by now have forgotten much of what we learned). Lola is such a good dog - she loves to play with her toys, she doesn't chew on anything she isn't supposed to and she is the snuggliest dog we've ever had.

By now, she and Winslow are best buddies and love to hang out together. We have to make sure she doesn't get too wild with old Winslow, but other than that they get along wonderfully!

Other than that, May was all about the garden being at its most beautiful! 

Our fruit trees were coming along nicely as well. The kumquat tree has been blooming all summer and is full of fruit that will be ripe in the winter. 

Our quince tree, which had two quince last year, is full of slowly ripening fruit. We are looking forward to the winter when we can hopefully make a good bit of quince jam.

Which brings me to our fig tree and the month of June. 

In June, the figs started to ripen and we picked several pounds of figs every day, which had to be processed immediately. Luckily, they don't all get ripe at once!

We dried many pounds of them and made jam to last all year. My favorite jam from this batch was with added orange blossom water. So good! The dried figs we use in Muesli and a rye sourdough bread I make that is amazing!

We also gave many figs to friends and I baked a few of these gorgeous fig frangipani tarts. By the end of the month - and about 90 pounds of figs later - we were glad it would be a whole year before the next harvest!

And of course, there has to be some art in my post. These were two commissioned paintings I finished and sent off to France at the end of June.

I'm working on one more large one for this client, which should be done in the next few days. 

I hope you have all been well this summer and have enjoyed a slower pace, the joys of longer days and maybe a vacation. I visited Germany in July and will tell you all about that in my next post!

❧ Silke

A Long Overdue Update!

Wow, this was a long break from blogging! I was going to start again in September, but then we were preparing for a hurricane evacuation and Daniel's start of school. We ended up being able to stay home during Hurricane Irma as it had weakened to a tropical storm, but we didn't know until the last day. Luckily, we had no damage at all except no power for four days, which was nothing compared to what others experienced and are still experiencing.

I also spent the summer trying to understand the mind-boggling political situation in this country and the world. I will continue to keep my blog free of politics, but I did want to mention it here since it defined my summer to a large extent.

The paintings above and below were really fun commissions I worked on during the summer.

It made me feel quite powerless and so sad and angry to read about what this current US administration is doing and undoing. And then came the unbelievable natural disasters that were happening too fast and were too destructive to fully comprehend: incredibly strong hurricanes, earthquakes and now the deadly fires in California.

There was and is so much suffering so close to home and all in places we have visited. They are all places we love. And I have to say, this year's hurricane season was so unbelievable and so much more stressful as we often didn't know if we were going to be directly in the path. I'm so glad the season is finally winding down and the communities affected can heal and rebuild.

I noticed over the summer how my art was changing. At the beginning of the summer I still liked working loosely with acrylic inks and acrylic paint. I liked the element of surprise. Not so much later in the summer. There had been too many surprises that I had no control over and I noticed how I craved taking my time with my art and drawing more intentionally and realistically.

I found a wonderful young British artist on Patreon whose tutorials have taught me so much. Here's the link if you are interested. The golden retriever above I drew with charcoal pencils and my nephew I rendered with graphite and charcoal.

What I really want to learn is how to draw realistically with colored pencils. I followed Kirsty's tutorial for this kingfisher bird using colored pencils and solvent and absolutely loved it.

I used to think I wasn't patient, but that's not true. I am so enjoying these drawings that take me many hours to complete. I'm working on one right now that's going to take me a few more days until it's done. Again with colored pencils.

Thank you for sticking with me. I have missed our interactions. I'll do a few more blog posts with all the photos I've taking over the summer in our garden and a few knitting projects I've finished or am still working on.

In the meantime, I hope you are all doing well!!

❧ Silke

Acrylics, Watercolors and a Commission

Today's post has a hodgepodge of my art, all of them animals but some are rendered in acrylics and two of them in watercolor, which is a fairly new medium for me.

The next two are the watercolor paintings, which are similar to my acrylics and at the same time much more delicate.

And this last painting is a commission that I painted for my client's sister of her four pets. I sure had fun with this one!

I still have a charcoal drawing to show you and also some of my latest abstract art. Sometimes I feel the need to just experiment with colors, shapes and different mediums.

In the meantime, I hope you are having a wonderful Thursday!

❧ Silke

First Steps

It's been a while since I posted and I've been thinking much about the last topic of planning vs not planning. There's another aspect to it that painting has revealed to me. I don't know about you, but I learn so much from the creative part of my self.

When I think about things in the future: projects, travel, home improvement, paintings or anything else that could potentially be big and important ... I instantly feel overwhelmed.

I'm hesitant to start because I don't want to mess it up. Sometimes I don't know how to start because all I see in front of me is the totality of the project and it's too big. I see the end product in my mind and have no idea of how to get there. And how to not mess it up on the way.

This has been something I have experienced my whole life and painting is finally teaching me how to go about these things. Like with this fun, fun, fun commission I worked on recently of a team of incredibly therapy dogs. I had no idea how to paint it so that the client would like it. I wanted it to be colorful, beautiful and soulful.

But at the same time I have learned through the way I paint that all I need to do is start. To not think about the totality of the painting, but just about the colors I want to start with and let those flow and mix into shapes. And those shapes will tell me where to go next. And finally I start "seeing" the outlines of whatever it is I am painting.

It's the same with anything really. Just start. Find the beginning point and take the first step. And that step will either get your energy flowing so you can get your project on the way, or it will show you the next step to take or the next decision to make.

And suddenly a huge and overwhelming thing becomes not only manageable, but fun. And that's what it's all about, isn't it? To enjoy the process, the journey whether it is painting a piece of art, cleaning house, planning a dinner party or preparing for a big trip. So, what first steps are you thinking of taking?

With much love and appreciation for you all,

❧ Silke
P.S. Linking to the ever wonder- and colorful Paint Party Friday! 

Bits and Pieces

Happy Friday to you all! I cannot believe how fast a week goes by! Today I have a few things to share with you in addition to some art.

1. The flowers and plants in our garden are finally starting to come alive again. I took some pictures after a rain (which seems to happen daily at the moment - a very wet spring for us), that were just too pretty not to share.

2. Daniel found this amazing little abandoned wasp nest in our garden the other day. Isn't it perfect?

It now lives with the two huge dead bugs on our piano.

In good company!

3. Here is the progression of a pet portrait I worked on as a commission. As usual, I just started with some colors and shapes. These were so pretty!  

Then I did a very rudimentary sketch and started with the eyes. I always start with the eyes.

Then some more color and definition.

And finally, after all the shading, adding more color and some detail, Zachy was finished.

Zachy is Winslow's best buddy and he has a sweetness about him that I tried to capture in the painting. Winslow and Zachy thought I did a good job...

If you would like me to paint your pet, just send me an email (the link is in my profile) for the details.

4. It's actually been warm enough on a couple of days to go take a walk on the beach. Barefoot!

 It was glorious! Although the cold water made me jump when I put my feet in.

Not Daniel. He loves walking through the water, no matter what temperature.

5. The newest member of our family. He came to us from the storm drain on our street, wet during a rain storm, with a wound on his cheek and bad ear mites. We kept him outside at first and checked around if someone was missing him. He is quite young and very sweet. When the nights got very cold, we took him inside (he wouldn't go into the garage with our two outdoor cats) and discovered that he loves both Winslow and Ramses. It seems it was meant to be. The vet thought that someone probably moved and didn't take him, something that's inconceivable to me.

Meet Peabody!

And with that I wish you a beautiful weekend, an even better week ahead and as much joy in your life as you can stand!

I'm linking this to the amazing folks at Paint Party Friday and at I Heart Macro.

With lots of love and appreciation for you all,

❧ Silke