I went to the dentist today. So my gums are tender and just a bit sore. I also needed to start a new medication today. One that I need to take with food for better absorption.  What I had planned on eating when I got home from the dentist was the some more of the beans and barley in the slow cooker. But the heat from that made it a no-go. I needed cold. And in order to take the med I needed filling. So smoothie to the rescue. Blueberry smoothie even. I tossed in some pecans to make it more filling. And more delicious. And some flaxseed to up the nutrition even more. But what if that wasn’t enough? So I made some toast. A quarter of an onion pita, toasted with peanut butter. I tossed on some banana slices at the end just to, again, increase the nutrients and make it even more filling.





And yes, those are the art supplies you see in the background. Where better to have a late lunch/early dinner then messing around at the art table? Just don’t try to eat anything not on the plate or in the cup.

Blueberry Pecan Smoothie*
half a frozen banana, cut into slices
two handfuls frozen blueberries (about 2/3-3/4 cup)
one handful pecans (about 1/3 cup)
enough light vanilla soy milk to cover it all up (about 1 1/2)
one spoonful of ground flaxseeds (about 1TBSP)
more light vanilla soy milk to thickness you like best
~~sometimes I toss in a packet of stevia, that’s a natural sweetener, you could use a bit of sugar, most times I don’t

Blend. Serve. ~~ If you start with 1 1/2 cups of milk you get a thicker smoothie, if that’s what you like, add more milk till you get the thickness you like.
~~~~This makes and extra large smoothie, about three cups~~~

*Yes, I know this is not a ‘true smoothie’ as it doesn’t use yogurt or whatever you are supposed to put in one to make it a ‘real’ smoothie, but it works well and satisfies the sweet tooth and the sore gums that go with it.

By now you might have noticed I have a thing for spirals.



I am fascinated by them in all their forms.



So what does a spiral mean? The definition of a spiral is this :
  Winding or circling round a center or pole and gradually receding from it; as, the spiral curve of a watch spring.
Or, more fancy, A plane curve, not reentrant, described by a point, called the generatrix, moving along a straight line according to a mathematical law, while the line is revolving about a fixed point called the pole. Cf. Helix.




Our galaxy is a spiral



The spiral also shows up in nature. Tornadoes, hurricanes, snails, the pattern of sunflower seeds, right down to the shape or our DNA.



Is it any wonder I cant stop painting them? They don’t even have to be round to fascinate me.



These images and more can be found here.

Around the world

mixed media collage on panel
24 x 24

That’s right. It is. Not long ago I got a package in the mail. And you will be shocked to find out it contained probably somewhere around 16lbs of nuts. Yes that’s right. SIXTEEN lbs. The label on the box weighted the box in at 22lbs. there were a few other things in the box, four packages of dried apricots and two catnip cat toys. So my best guess is around 16-18 lbs of that were the nuts….





Did I mention that the nuts were still in their shells? Thank goodness a nutcracker was sent with them. You have no idea how frustrating it has been learning how to shell pecans and walnuts. The pistachios are easy enough. But today was the real test….. CHESTNUSTS! Do you see them there in the box, mocking me from the lower right hand corner? 


How to roast chestnuts? I had no idea. And so I looked it up online. It seemed easy enough, but oh no. First I didn’t have the oven hot enough so it took me longer then suggested. Then I didn’t put X’s in all the chestnuts, just a hole for steam, and I really should have, that’s how you tell they are done. Then, about half the chestnuts ended up being bad, either too dry and hard or moldy and icky. But I did get the meat from about half of them. Now, what do I do with it? I have no idea. I’m not sure I’m a big chestnut fan, I didn’t like them very much when I tried them when they were warm. So I put them in a bag, put that bag in another bag and put them in the freezer. I’ll freeze them until I know what else to do with them, I guess.

I finally came up with some names for the new abstracts. The first one I was unsure of but was reluctant to put rocks on. It was so nice on its own. The same for the second. Its just a matter of naming them. I’m so bad with naming things. Usually I just get a bit of lyric of someones conversation on the bus or tv news of possibly a show if I’ve actually got the tv on. Something out of a book. I just open a book and look at the page. This first one was a bit harder but eventually I came up with “Meditations in Green” because it has a lot of greenish tone to it and also because it seems very, I don’t know, buddha-ish to me? Maybe that’s not what I really mean. But it’s as close as I’m going to be able to get.

Meditations in green
Acrylic on panel
16 x 12



And the second one. I’ve decided it’s finished just the way it is. Maybe abstract is my new direction. Although I have not give up on the rocks or the childlike collages. Just adding to them. I like the abstracted backgrounds. So maybe this is not even adding to it. Just stopping before I’ve finished? So here is the second one…..

Dreaming of me

acrylic on 1.5” cradled hardboard
8 x 8

Last night I stayed home. What I did was what I usually do on holidays. Nothing much. I painted quite a bit. finished two rock paintings, declared another abstract ‘done’ and started a background that I don’t know what I’ll do with it.  I hate having so much work in progress. But at the same time I can never have just one painting going at a time. NEVER. No no. I take that back. I have my times I don’t paint at all. Sometimes that lasts for a month or two. Depending on how burned out I am. Burnout or depression.
Surprisingly enough I am doing well this winter. Perhaps my ‘celebrate nothing, stress about nothing’ strategy is working out well for me. I think, with the exception of the grocery store, I managed to not listen to a single full christmas song this year. Not one that sticks in my mind. I avoided shopping and got in and out at the grocery store as fast as I could. I was not subjected to all the stress everyone else willingly puts themselves through every year. And today, on New Years Day, I feel pretty good about the whole season.

So for new years eve I finished up two paintings and started another. I have one other that the background is finished, and I need to finish with rocks or something, and the one I declared ‘done’ I need to figure out if I am for sure done or not. So I’m going to sit here having a hot chocolate and posting this, putting off all the other stuff I should be doing. Trying to warm back up. I had a smoothie earlier that made me cold. 

So the first one, “mentor”  (I don’t like that name and will be changing it later) I just started and finished pretty quick. less than a day a half. Not bad time. Its 12 x 12 on panel.

This second one, “what you get” ......  This one has been sitting with the background done since around September or so. I just haven’t bothered to finish the rocks off until now. time to clear out all the old work, like I should.

What you get

acrylic on panel
12 x 12