DIY Painting Demo

We're having a 4-day heat wave, so my brain is cooked. What to post Monday morning? The first thing I do is look at my "Inspiration Board". Do you have an inspiration board?

Many of my inspirational pics come from DOMINO magazine like these two delightful setups. I choose the floral still life on the left to paint. The pile of books will come later.

Plus Stef in Chicago keeps me supplied with beautiful teapot shots and they inspire me to paint a new miniature blue and white teapot.

Next step I set up a matching still life with my minis. 

People ask, "What's with all the minis?" I can rearrange them anyway I like and play with the lighting in a way I can't, while sitting in Angelina or Mariage Freres. Plus no waiter is leaning over me, wondering when I'm going to give up my table.. It's just me and the minis.

Some people ask, "How can you paint from such itty biddy minis?" After I pick a setup I like, I put it on the desktop and it becomes my touchstone to check what is where.Next pencil doodles of the setup.

Mix up some colors for the first washes. Before I go to bed I lay in the warm shadow patterns, always checking the big picture. The clock says 11:48 PM = Bedtime The blue bird of happiness. First thing I do in the morning - lay in the cool shadow washes on top of the warm, at around 5ish am. I'm fairly unconscious at this point and that helps. Et Voila!Your assignment for tomorrow is bring in your finished watercolors, Class. And I don't want to hear the cat knocked over your alarm clock etc.

Ooops...just added a revised version after looking at the rough loose one and the finish...Is this better? Your vote is requested.

BONNE JOURNEE

Cup of Tea

Cup of Tea, original watercolor, 9" x 11"

Do you read your daily horoscope?

My horoscope today in the METRO paper said,

"Mental Undertakings will be your cup of tea."

How the H-- did Bernice Bede Osol know I was painting a teacup today?

How did she know my computer would do a meltdown and I would need a lot of mental undertakings on hand ?

I read the Metro everyday religiously so I'm not surprised really... I'm on an alien computer racing against the clock...ahem

I'll come back later and fix my spelling...

Please excuse :(

At PAUL in Paris they set up a tea time still life in the window like they know you're coming in to tea. Do they read the METRO horoscope in Paris? Are they psychic (sp)

 

 

I always tried to read my daily horoscope in the Paris version of the METRO...mostly it was regarding amourous encounters. Nothing so realistic as mental undertakings and a cup of tea.

Do you check your horoscope daily? Do tell.

BONNE JOURNEE

Di's Mariage Madeleines

#122 Mariage Freres Opera The, original watercolor , 9" x 11"

The other day as I was browsing through Di's Ghost Furniture.

I was reminded of.

The finiancier I ate at Mariage Freres... And all the lovely madeleines...I encountered...In Paris...YUM That old remembrances of things past came floating back... These tea tins at Mariage Freres on rue du Bourg-Tibourg. Even these brand new tea tins from Pierre Herme came to mind! Did you know he has tea now, to go with his madeleines? Does Pierre Herme even make madeleines? I forget...but he does make the best damn macarons on the planet! And you could certainly have tea with them. That's what happens when you look at Di's patisserie shells...
BONNE JOURNEE

More Jam

 Abricot confiture, original watercolor

Back to Jam again.

Which entails looking first at French fraises or strawberries YUM!Strawberry confiture, original watercolor

I'm interested in the look of French jam as well as the taste..

 I've been researching how French jam got these little cloth hats.. By the way this jam is made by top pastry chef, Sadaharu Aoki. I've yet to find out but I did find instead that: Marmalade was created in 1561 by Mary, Queen of Scots' physician, when he mixed orange and crushed sugar to keep her seasickness at bay. And the feasts of Louis XIV always ended with marmalades and jellies served in silver dishes. The average US kid will eat 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by high school graduation. Per capita consumption of jam in the US is approximately 2.2 pounds annually. Alfred Hitchcock loved French confiture of groiseilles so much, he had it flown to all his film locations so that his breakfast addiction could be satisfied. Even Marie-Antoinette was a jam addict, as were the Sun King and Victor Hugo.

I found plenty of French vocab for the jam lover:

Pots de Confiture
Confitures a l'Ancienne
Confitures maison
gelée

In France Christine Ferber is called "la fée des confitures" the jam fairy.

 My jam collection...none edible. All the jars are 1/2" high..ahem
 

I let out the call for more jam on Flickr, not being satisfied with just the 4 jars on the tray. Spunky Grind showed off her mini collection. They look real don't they? Spunky sent me her mini strawberry jam.If you have any 1/2" jars of jam around the house you could spare let out a shout. If you know why French jam jars wear hats PLEASE do let me know.
BONNE JOURNEE

Doggies in the Alber Elbaz Vitrine

It's a natural when you're traveling, that if you are looking intently for one thing, you will stumble on something far more interesting...

While I was searching desperately for SIA I discovered these witty Lanvin windows created by designer Alber Elbaz.

Anything with a dog in it is is a home run for me...

I love the way these windows continue out into the street..

Like this painted dog bone in front of the vitrine...a snack for the leche-vitrine hounds who pass by perhaps?

Ooooops

Dogs are king in Paris, not just birds.

Here the hound is raised up high over a pile of seriously pedigreed Lanvin purse.

A real Paris hound...no room to stray for this pup - kept close at hand. BONNE JOURNEE

Paris Birds

Paris BlueBird Tea, watercolor

Here's another thing I saw all over Paris -BIRDS.

A tiny bluebird sitting atop a tarte aux Fraises at Maison Collet Woolie handmade birdies sitting in a shop window on rue Cherche du Midi... Decorating wine labels.. And wearing hats noless! This baby bird sign for Librairie Chantelivre, - a wonderful childrens book store. An ornathology drawing sits regally on a pillow on rue de Seine.. Or gracing the cover of this book.This is a new mini edition of a beautiful bird painting book.A bluebird holds the pen on this calligraphie instruction book I brought home..Birds are king in Paris.
And they will only nibble on crumbs from Pierre Herme! Actually they prefer the mini petit fours. Were they designed especially for Paris birds?
BONNE JOURNEE