Another galaxy~ far away

I am still feeling like I'm in a another dimension here. It really is different, with all the sights , sounds, and smells hitting you from all sides at once. Riding is an experience, but let me tell about the restaurant we went to for lunch today.  It is called Juggernaut and is located in the Kalish Colony Market in New Delhi.

I cannot begin to tell you the names of things, but oh the tastes were amazing. This is by the way a vegetarian restaurant, all served with an unbelievable flair. We started with a drink that had crispy wafers served with it. I'm assuming it was to start your meal off right, because this is served to everyone that comes to eat there. Small glass with a kick, I am sure I tasted tumeric, and several other spices within all in a hot, spicy, drink that was delicious. I think Bappa and his family were surprised to see me drink it with no problems. The wafers were light and crispy, and just enough to temper the spices. We then went on to another course with a soup in a light broth, served with several different curries. I liked the red curry most of all. We then went on to our vegetable stew, several vegetables cooked with a creamy coconut based thick broth. The stew was served with a bread that closely resembles a crepe, lightly browned on one side only. I also tried and enjoyed a vegetable cake that tasted like it has sweet potato in it that you dipped into a yogurt type dressing. Too many things to eat, and several hours later, I am still satisfied. We finished off the meal with steaming hot cups of coffee, that when poured into a bowl and swirled around becomes cool enough to drink. All reasonably priced and served with lots of flair and a beautiful setting.

Speaking of setting, I wanted to photograph the entire space we were in. (I didn't though, because I didn't want to be that tourist!) Incredibly beautiful murals painted on the walls, with gorgeous medallions depicting people at work in the fields. The furniture was painted as well, with lots  of incredible flowers. there were also baskets of flowers at every corner.
I would love it if we went back!

Today's painting seems like kind of a ho hum creation after seeing Juggernaut. Another galaxy of starfish ~ far away in India!

Another galaxy~far away, Acrylic on canvas, 12x24
day 55 of the 100 days~100 paintings Spring 2019

A Galaxy of Starfish

A group of starfish is called a galaxy or a constellation.

I love to paint them because of all the textures!

A few Starfish facts:

They have no brain or blood.

They can live up to 35 years! 

They are actually not a fish, they are related to sand dollars and sea urchins.

There are about 2000 different types of them. Most have 5 arms.

They can regenerate a limb, but it may take up to a year.

They have suction cups to hold on to food, but their stomach exits the body to digest 

and then goes back into the body. (Ew!)

I did not know a lot of those facts myself. 

I just love to paint them!

I once had a happenstance at Peter Anderson with a starfish painting. I was with my mother and she really enjoyed seeing me sell my works. The first afternoon of the show, we were particularly busy, with people in and out of the space and some sales. This young woman came in with her stroller and walked around quickly, then said as she was exiting. "I just got here, but I really like your work. I'll be back soon, I just got here and want to see the show." Great! I said. (I nodded to my mom, who just shook her head. That day had seen several "be backs", that had not come back.) 

We both just smiled and went on with our day.

About 15 minutes later, Stroller lady reappeared and quickly put several pieces on my table to purchase. At the time, I hand wrote receipts and had a knuckle buster so sales took a few minutes. I was writing the sale up, when another woman rushed in, looked around quickly and pointed to the starfish on the table and said "Is she buying that starfish?" Yes mam I replied. I finished with the first woman and the disappointed  lady was standing at the other side of my booth. I said "Can I help you?" She replied "I'm just guarding my paintings." "I said you can take them down." 

She said, "No I 'd rather you do it for me."

She selected two pieces and as I was writing them up, another young couple ran in and said, 

"Where's the Starfish?" I said about 15 minutes down the way.

"We came back to get the starfish." the couple said sadly. "It reminded us of our honeymoon"

I had packed up the other lady by then, and sent her on her way. The young couple went out, trying to get the next piece they had decided to purchased.

The booth got quiet.

I looked at my mother and she said, "Did that really just happen?"

"Yes mam!"

We both shook our heads then burst into peals of laughter.

So many memories of starfish.

I still have a starfish I got at about 7 years of age while living in the Philippines in the mid 1960's.

A Galaxy of Starfish, Acrylic on canvas, 12 x 36

Day 46 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2018

Murex back

Today brought us a long day of walking and talking together while here in NYC. We went to the top of the One World tower giving us sweeping and beautiful views of the entire city. I was not as affected by the height as I thought I would be. We finished our tour quietly, by walking to the 911 memorial. It is a quiet place, with people being mostly respectful for the most part. I myself said a silent prayer for one of my friends that lost a son in the attacks. We shopped, ate pizza in a fabulous row of restaurants that reminded me of Germany. We then found coffee before embarking on the Staten Island ferry at night.  I can only hope the photos do justice to the sights that my eyes and brain stored in my memories.
Today's painting is a starfish, reminding us to hold fast, travel slowly, and eat well.
Murex back , acrylic on canvas,
Day 46 of the 100 days-100 paintings.

Starfish

Believe it or not, my husband and I  found this starfish while walking one day for sea turtles at Orange Beach. It was located in a tidal pool early in the morning,  moving so gracefully. Several people stopped and took photos, including me!

Acrylic on canvas 6x6

Day 38 of the 100 days-100 paintings

Starting off on the wrong foot!

Today finds me already behind in posting. I had the painting done, but totally forgot to post it last night after church. So, today I have two to post. I am determined this year to be better about posting and painting, so hopefully this slip won't happen again! 

(NO promises though with the crazy artist life I lead here in Fairhope, Alabama!)

Yesterday found me teaching paddle boarding to a friend early in the morning. The water was slightly rough, but she did great! That is, until her legs got tired, the board got caught by a wave, and she hit the water. The only casualty was my paddle fortunately! (It snapped in half.) I am just extremely grateful she did not get cut or impaled by the sharp metal end. Crisis averted and fortunately my beloved husband handed me money for a replacement this morning. I now have a bright green one that should be visible for quite a distance.

Now back to the paintings......

The starfish was fun as usual to paint. I will never tire of painting them hopefully because they always sell. The octopus is one of many for this painting season. I have always had a grand time painting these fascinating creatures. We had an octopus for a brief time, (one night) in the Phillipines. My father caught it while diving and we were going to put it into our tank. Not knowing they are the best escape artists God ever created, we left him in a 5 gallon water jug with an air source. I named him Oscar and went to bed. Unfortunately, we found him dried up on the floor the next morning. My 7 year old mind was upset for days that we had allowed him to die in our care. He now has a memorial portrait done with tile in my bathroom at the Raccoon Retreat.

Starfish Acrylic on Canvas 4x4, Oscar Acrylic on canvas 4x4

Paintings 2 & 3 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2016

Too Many days to count! 22 to be exact!

"Satisfied", Acrylic, 12 x 24 canvas, Day 68 of the 100 Days

"Baby Turtle", Acrylic cigar box, Day 69

"Bubble Shell Minis"Acrylic 4 x4s Day 70

Mahi Mahi, Cigar box Acrylic Day 71

Pelican , Cigar Box Acrylic Day 72

Nautilus, Cigar Box, Acrylic Day 73

Redfish, Cigar Box, Acrylic Day 74

Starfish, Cigar Box, Acrylic, Day 75

My Point of view, Cigar Box, Acrylic, Day 76

Red Sky at Night, Acrylic 4 x 12 Canvas, Day 77

Great Grays, Cigar Box, Acrylic, Day 78

Surf Strut, 12 x 12 Acrylic on canvas, Day 79

Artichoke Study, 5 x 7, Acrylic on canvas Day 80

The path well Taken, 16 x 20 Acrylic on canvas Day 81

Painted with Scripts & Strokes class, based on Micah6:8 Walk Humbly with your God

Middle Bay 1885, 20 x 20 Acrylic on canvas, Day 82 

Bubble Shell, 12 x 12 Acrylic on canvas, Day 83

Turtle Walk Starfish, 12 x 12 Acrylic on canvas, Day 84

Starfish Study I, Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12, Day 85

Starfish Study II, Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12, Day 86

Starfish Study III, Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12, Day 87

Starfish Study IV, Acrylic on canvas 12 x 12, Day 88

At the Bottom of the Sea, Acrylic on canvas 15 x 30, Day 89

Finally caught up to today! This one has been done for a while although I tweaked it just a touch. It actually is intended to hang lengthwise as you can see from the name in the corner. I love painting them and will never tire of the lovely starfish. Starfish take me back to the Phillipines when I was little, my parents scuba diving below me and Tony in the Bonka Boat. One day, I saw a starfish on the bottom, and Tony free dove to retrieve it for me. It was the most glorious blue I had ever seen.We took it home and placed it in our ant bed to clean it out. Several weeks later, we dug up our treasures and I was disappointed to find my lovely catch was not even a hint of blue! I insisted in my childish mind, to paint it back to its original color. It graced my bedroom for many years. I think it may even be packed with my parents collection in the attic, Some day, I will dig all of them out, and properly display the shells for everyone to see again.

Fall show season begins this weekend with our first one in Daphne, Alabama. I am worried about the weather, but God has a plan.  I know he will take care of the crazy life we call art here in the Raccoon Retreat Studio.

She Sells Sea Shells

      This week has been interesting to say the least! Frantic sewing, set designs for church (to be constructed next week), furniture re-design and painting! These two beautiful shells are part of the collection that will be with a table I am donating to Habitat for Humanity and their fundraiser in September at Oak Hollow Farm. They go with a table that has shells painted on it as well.
       These paintings are actually created on wooden cigar boxes! We have a local cigar shop here in Fairhope named Bouch's that gets a lot of empty boxes. Eventually, they have a sale and get rid of a few. I had noticed them a couple of weeks back out front, stacked high. Some of them are quite beautiful on their own, but I sanded these, removed the labels, and gave them a new coat of paint. The next day, I painted the shells on them. There are a total of six to go with the table and some of them have games inside them for entertainment at the house in which the set will hopefully find a home. I hope that they get a good price at the auction. My husband and daughter in law love them and think I should do more for sale at my upcoming shows. We shall see..........
       In the meantime, there's those furniture pieces we are re-habbing for the auction as well.
More on that later!

"Shell Collection" Acrylic on Wooden boxes. 8x8's, 10x10's, 8x16, 

Days 46, 47, 48 of the 100 Days~100 Paintings

Whew! Where did the summer go!

Day 38 found me with a different kind of painting, my Face! Those of you who are familiar know that perform every now and then as Precious the clown. This day found me at a delightful birthday party for a 6 year old girl. Always a lot of fun! While not a painting I can sell, just the paint on my face and the performance was the majority of the day.

"Precious" Day 38 of the 100 Days~100 Paintings

 Days 39, 40 and 41 found me designing and painting signs and backdrops for my grands birthday! The two with sayings are actually cabinet doors my daughter recycled for me to make signs for her sons birthday. The mustaches are on pieces of brown paper 3 ft x 5 ft and there were two of them to cover a window behind the cake table.

Coming soon to a gallery near you! Actually Fairhope connections in Orange beach and Fairhope will have these as well as Southern Art and Framing in Mobile. There are several of them, enough in fact for me to carry them to shows myself as well! They will come with a starfish story and shells to decorate them.

Days 42 and 43 of the 100 Days~100 Paintings (2 sizes, 2 days!)

"Archers Turtle" this 8 x 8 is the sepia done on Archers birthday for his collection when he gets older. I am hoping to paint one on each of his birthdays, so he will have a collage of art by the time he graduates from college.

August 12 Day 44 of the 100 Days~100 Paintings acrylic on canvas 8x8

Today's offering catches me up with my goal of 100 paintings. One of several coming to the Fairhope Connections in Fairhope, Alabama as a unique Christmas ornament. They will be combined with shells to complete the coastal theme. Arriving at the gallery in September.

Fairhope Clock 4 inches round, Acrylic on canvas, Day 45 of the 100 Days~100 Paintings

Starfish

     This painting is another of the series of shell paintings created for the National Shrimp Festival. It is one of six paintings of shells. I started the new series of colored paintings on white backgrounds and they all have been well received by all. They are so popular in fact, I will create a new series of them as the series of six sold this morning. The woman saw them the night before at the festival, brought her husband the next morning and negotiated a deal that pleased us both!

Starfish~ 12 x 12~acrylic on canvas~day 96 of the 100 days~100 paintings

Starfish

     I really wanted a starfish on our trip to Sanibel Island off the coast of Florida. We were on the island of Coya Costa and were walking along the shoreline, looking for Queen Scallop shells and whatever else we could find. I saw a starfish in the surf and delightedly picked it up as it was rolling in the surf and I thought it was dead. You are not supposed to pick up shells that are live so I was so excited to find this one. I carefully put it in our pile by my snorkel and fins so I could return to the sea for more treasures. Chris was picking up shells as well, and our paths crossed often, excitedly showing each other the various pieces we had found. On one of our trips to our pile, Chris noticed the starfish moving an arm ever so slowly. We carefully returned it to the sea past the wave line, hopefully to survive to another day.

This reminded me of a story I found years ago~The Starfish Story

     A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.
     She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, "Little girl why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can't save all these starfish, You can't begin to make a difference!"
     The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied, "Well I made a difference to that one!"
     The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.
     Adapted from the Star Thrower by Loren C Eiseley

Starfish~Acrylic on canvas~10 x 10 day 87 of the 100 days

Starfish Study

Starfish Study was painted on the cruise as well. I spent many a happy hour by the pools on deck painting to my hearts content. I am really happiest when I am with my beloved Chris. I missed him while on the cruise he gave me for my birthday. Painting in my studio or out in public comes in a close second. I am getting ready for the fall show season and the paintings are easy to create. The hard part has been stopping long enough to post! I appreciate the patience of the people following the blog, waiting for the next creation to come out of the studio!

Starfish Study 4 x 4 acrylic on canvas

Starfish Starfish

We are feeling a bit water logged right now as we are still feeling the effects of Tropical Storm Lee. This is the 5th straight day of rain. While we had a deficiency of precepitation around here, I did not want to make it all up in one episode!

Starfish are always a favorite of mine to paint and good thing too! Last year I had no less than 3 seperate people wanting the same painting of a starfish within 10 mins! Some it is just a remembrance, others honeymoon bliss, some just collect them or think they are pretty. I just know my mother and I were both shocked when that happened at the Peter Anderson Show last year.

It has made me firm in my commitment that if I see something I like and want, I purchase it right then and there! I have been disappointed myself when something was not there when I came back to get it.

If you happen to be at one of the shows I am in and see something, ask me to hold it for an hour, I will be happy to oblige! Many was the time I have held something and had others come back to buy it only to find it gone or on hold. I once even had a guy leave his number just in case the first person did not show! Turned out well for him, he got the prize he wanted for his very happy daughter! This painting marks day 63 of the 100 days~100 paintings.

Starfish Starfish Acrylic on Canvas 4 x 4

Polkadot Starfish

Having snorkled with my parents in the Phillipines, I have seen many starfish. I really enjoy watching them move along the sea floor. I was also fascinated in Biology class to see how they eat. They don't move very quickly though, and frequently become victims of other predators. The unique thing about them is that they can regenerate an arm if it becomes removed due to stress or injury. At one time, I think they were being studied to learn how they can regrow a limb in an effort to help people with spinal cord injuries. I hope that someday we can decipher the code that makes that happen. Our God is an awesome planner and when he made the starfish, he did not spare either color, details, or beauty. This marks day 56 of the 100 days and covers Monday.

Polkadot Starfish Acrylic 12 x 12 Sepia with shadowbox frame.

My five legged friend

Those of you who have followed for a while may remember I spent a few years in the Phillipines. My father was in the Air Force and we were stationed at Clark AFB. While living there, the parents I knew and loved became quite in taken with Scuba Diving. Fortunately, they would take me along for the adventure. I would stay in the bonka boat with our driver Tony and as long as I stayed in the outrigger arm of the boat, I could swim to my hearts content. Quite frequently, I found myself drifting along playing in the bubble trail my parents made as they swam at the bottom. They also would swim at less than 35 feet so they could stay indefinitely.

One day, while in this state of watery bliss I spied a starfish. I excitedly told Tony about it and he helped me out of the water and safely into the boat. It was then and only then he would free dive to the bottom and retrieve the prize I had spied. This time, he came up with the most beautiful blue starfish I had ever seen! Since my parents were shell collectors, I was allowed to keep some things and I vowed this would be mine forever. I loved the color and could not wait to get it home to the ant bed.

Ant bed? Yes the ant bed. We put all our shells into a very accomodating colony of ants that would eat the live creatures, leaving the shells behind. They were always very clean, and it was a good relationship. The only probelm was, the process my mother had devised involved 2 whole weeks of waiting!

I was about 6 at the time and could hardly wait until I could display the starfish proudly in my "collection". The morning came and mother carefully removed the shells from the pile and very close to the last thing removed, was my precious piece of the Phillipines. It came out the most disappointing shade of pale brown. My mother explained that the starfish, being alive made the bright blue, but now was simply a skeleton of the former beauty. I sadly took my prize into the house vowing still to display my "shell". Suddenly, in my mind hatched a beautiful scheme! I would paint it! I could paint anything I assumed and I told my mother that is what I wanted to do. I can't remember if she bought the paint, or if I took it to school. Afterward, I was quite pleased with the results, putting several coats on my sea creature. It never eally was the right shade, so I never brought home a starfish again.

My five legged friend 12 x 12 acrylic on canvas, shadowbox frame

Starfish Bliss

Starfish and the sea, ahhhhhhhh. I think of nothing but relaxation when I think of the sea and the waves. This makes this summer more frustrating because I have not spent any time at the beach or even gone sailing. This is part of a group of four little paintings done in watercolor on watercolor board.
Starfish Bliss 4 x 6 Watercolor on Board $15.00
The whole set will be $50.00.