Life is in the Details

Travel art journal beginnings

Mike and I are taking a dream trip together this summer and I'm envisioning lots of time for walking, wandering and savoring. I want to take along a funky art journal to record my thoughts and to encourage me to find a good park or boulangerie in which to relax and paint or write.

It turns out I didn't have to buy a thing for my signatures. Whenever I paint on paper either for a painting or my larger art journals, I grab a big sheet of Fabriano and begin cutting it down to fit the project size I need. Usually, this means that I'll have some small strip leftover and this was the case when I made my most recet larger art journal. I had a whole bunch of strips that were 6" high and 30" long (though some were 6" by 9" and even smaller like 4"x6"). I had been holding onto these thinking that I'd make them into small postcard size sheets for on-the-go paintings but mostly they just sat there since I've been painting on large canvases whenever I've made the time to paint. When this project came to  mind, I realized these bits and pieces would be perfect trimmed a bit here and there and folded in half.

Here they are just folded with nothing else attached to them or embellished at all. I folded some in the middle in varying places so there will be added interest. You'll see what I mean as this project unfolds.

I grabbed my washi tape container knowing I wanted to incorporate these in somehow.

I grabbed some ledger paper, vintage wallpaper scraps, and scrapbook paper too.

See the varying sizes of the watercolor paper... You can see some of the small strip off to the top right too.

More paper.... stash-searching. Grabbing some colors that interested me. The color palette that evolved was that of turquoise, orange, and magneta (with a little green thrown in, but not much).

I just did a Google search to find a good representation of the colors and found this (it's not exact but it's close):

You can see the pin here.

 

Some tranparencies are going to be in the mix too.

More stash-searching. 

Here's one spread below that contains a map of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris (printed from Google maps) attached to scrapbook paper with some tape and glue. This is one of the pages that doesn't contain any watercolor paper as I want a good mix for places to attach menus, business cards, photos, or writing.

I spent a few hours with this project on Sunday (yes, it was blissful!!) and have more to share. 

I was reading Pam Garrison's blog and followed a link she had to her friend Mary Ann's blog who just took a trip to Umbria (we'll be in Umbria for 3 nights too, but in a different city). She did an amazing watercolor travel journal and also has classes on making funky books just like this!! WOW! Thank you, universe, for the inspiration and the sign that I'm going in the right direction.  She also has online art bookmaking classes that  I just signed up for, in which the projects are similar to this... fun and funky and experimental. Her style is different than mine, in that she favors different colors schemes and patterns, but I love that she is easy-going, down-to-earth and a learn-as-you-go kinda gal! Reading her recent blog posts and seeing her watercolor sketches makes me want to read her archives with a cup of tea. <sigh> I hope she created a class of her most recent work because I would TOTALLY sign up for that.

Thank you, Mom, for the Mother's Day gift. I used it to buy one of Mary Ann's online classes and I'm so inspired that I can't wait to finish up writing here, do my workout, and get down to my studio to PLAY! It was hard to go to sleep at night because of all the ideas swimming around in my head. Days like this are so JUICY and good!

Completed fused glass bowls from The Glass Palette

We loved how our bowls from The Glass Palette in Charlottesville, VA came out and would do this again in a heartbeat. Above is Ryan's finished bowl; below is Jessica's.

Here's another view so you can see the shape of the bottoms.

Here's how mine turned out:

I didn't realize the big orangy-white swirled pieces would turn brown in the kiln or else I would have chose other pieces of glass but I still love it evade I made it!!

Here's what it looked like before it went through two rounds in the kiln for those of you, like me, that like before and after visuals.

Mike snapped a photo of me while I was in action. :D

 

The wine racks are restocked

Home sweet home. It's so good to be back home!

Our wine racks are restocked and although some people would go through these in a weekend or two this will likely last us 6-12 months.

Our fridge looks bare even though I went for groceries yesterday when we got home.

The garden needs tending. Thank you universe for providing a welcoming garden to return home to. New echinacea and sunflowers greeted us upon our return. My interest in creating a cottage garden sanctuary at home has been rekindled. Out into the sunshine to weed and hopefully pick some tomatoes (oh please please please) I go!

I love these cutie pies

Taken in the lobby of our hotel by Mike right before heading out for our last night at Splendora's, the best gelato in the world.

 

Positively 4th Street, Charlottesville, VA

I loved the name of this restaurant because I'm a Dylan fan but the name is the only thing reminiscent of Dylan. There were no other references within.

I had veggie-withdrawal the day we visited and I had really hoped that their one vegetarian option (a pasta dish made with local whole-wheat pasta from Mona Lisa's) would deliver, but it completely missed the mark with barely one whole cauliflower floret in the entire dish. Fail. I wouldn't go back here again. Mike did enjoy the steak part of his steak frites. His fries ended up being soggy because the steak and its sauce was placed on top of the bed of fries causing the fries to sort of steam and get sauced and soft. The arugula on the side, dressed in a sweet vinaigrette, was yummy.

The black-eyed pea hummus appetizer, however, was awesome!! Even Mike, not a bean lover, ate a bunch of this and loved it. This stuff was something special.

From the menu displayed in the window, this restaurant doesn't seem family-friendly, but what you don't see is that they have Kraft mac-and-cheese available upon request. That made Ryan's decision easy.

Back to watching more of the Heat game. Let's go HEAT!!

 

Crepes at The Flat, Charlottesville, VA

I loved this creperie place that we visited yesterday... They take cash only and there's only limited outdoor seating and no indoor seating, so perhaps visit when it's not over 105 degrees, unlike us. I adore their artful, chalk-drawn menu items (that change daily). I ordered the Tofull with local tofu, peppers, onions, avocado, and spinach. The kids ordered Temptation of Adam with apples and Brie. I would eat here every week if I lived here. I love crepes! My only regret is that we didn't go back for the Choco Delights (nutella and fruit) or Mama's Apple Pie (vanilla, butter, apples, cinnamon, sugar). We'll have to make these at home with the crepes we made and froze a little while back.

 

photos from our trip - Legoland (Part 2)

I just uploaded many of my favorite photos from our Orlando trip to Flickr so if you are interested in viewing the Orlando trip album click here.

Our worst dining experience was at Emeril's (read more food-related notes from our trip here):

We had a fantastic experience here about 10 years ago and I couldn't wait to go back and see if they had the same truffled potato soup (they didn't). Everything was dripping with grease or butter. Ick!

This wasn't a pizza or flatbread it was a truffle/mushroom puff pastry. Not what I consider good eats. This was very disappointing. The kids will never ever go back there and they said it was the worst food they've ever had (and they only had mac-and-cheese and I don't think they've ever met a mac-and-cheese they didn't like, even at fancy schmancy restaurants... that is, until now.)

After dinner at Emeril's we went to see the Blue Man Group and it more than made up for the Emeril debacle. The show was inventive and clever and hilarious (photos from the actual Blue Man Group Universal Resort site).

Legoland was our third theme park and it was so cool! I should preface this by letting you know that I absolutely love seeing Lego creations of all kinds!! Remember when we went to Brickfair?

Practically everything here is made with Legos!!! Awesome! What amazingly cool Lego scultpures they had! The one at the entrance shown above actually squirts water out through the hose. FUN!

Here

Ryan loved the racetrack with moving parts, pit crews, and all!

NY

A life-sized car made out of Legos greeted us as we went to Driving School (the kid's favorite part of Legoland in addition to the TestTrack area where they spent over an hour creating their own small cars and racing them down ramps against other kid-made cars.)

About 20 kids get to DRIVE around in small cars that really move around a city street complete with turns, merges, stop signs, traffic signals, and crazy drivers (there was one kid that had curb-crashing tendencies... he was also the one that didn't obey one traffic sign... he went rouge right from the start).

More from the Miniland area... Paris:

Building cars at the TestTrack to race on the ramps, playing with aerodynamics, car stability, car durability (because there are often collisions on the drop down):

There were plenty of rides too:

 

The ticker sign reminded me of times when our Gator football still rocked!

I think we will likely go to this again next time we're in Orlando if the kids are still into constructing things as there was a Lego robot class that I would have wanted to sign them up for but I think the minimum age was 8 for that (so close for Ryan) but when we asked late in the afternoon the classes had already ended. I think there was another class that was similar to this so those two classes would be interesting to try.

The park opened had only been opened a month, as they opened in October 2011, and for only being open for a short time I think they had an excellent opening and there aren't many kinks to work out at all. One part of the Imagaination area wasn't opened yet, which would be nice to visit in the future. I don't think Legoland had a fast pass type system  in place at this point for the rides and could see that being very usefull in the future. All in all, an enjoyable visit and something I so happy that we decided to include in our trip!

Photos from our trip to Orlando, Florida (Part 1)

We started our trip to Orlando with a round of miniature golf. The weather was beautiful (cooler than we expected which is always good for Mike when journeying to FL)!!

Right next door was Cafe Tu Tu Tango so we headed there for dinner.

What a unique place full of visual delights!! All of the decorations in the restaurant were created by local artists so there were tons of paintings to gaze at while we were dining in so many different styles. It was a museum unto itself!! 

Local artists are even there selling their wares and there was a painter doing live painting right there!! SO srtinkin' cool!

The pizzas are even served on platters that look like painters palettes. The food was good too!! I had a winter squash pizza that so yummy that I was more than happy to have leftovers the next night. Getting a suite is the only way to go as far as I'm concerned when you're traveling with kids.

We stayed off-site at Floridays Resort (which didn't feel like a resort but more like a timeshare. When I think resort I think of decadence and feeling pampered and I didn't feel either, though I did feel like we got a good value. This was an incredibly affordable option (especially when you consider the on-site Disney properties that we looked at - yikes!! Thousands of dollars for 4 people to be sleeping within arms reach of each other. Ummm, no.). Two bedrooms, a kitchen, seperate bathrooms, a living room, and terrace were where it's at for us. Floridays was about 15-20 minutes away from the Orlando theme parks that we wanted to go to. The only exception to this was Legoland. Legoland is 45-50 minutes away from Orlando, which we didn't know about until we got there (we didn't check) but it was all good. Just know that if you're planning on visiting Legoland that you need to figure in 90-120 minutes of travel time depending on traffic. It was much quicker to get to the park in the morning. It was in the evening that we hit some traffic going back to Orlando.

I discovered (or confirmed) on this trip that bright colors and whimsical designs make me so happy. They really lift my spirits and I can't help but smile when I'm around the wonderful zaniness that is Dr. Suess and all those whirls and swirls, and TRUFFALA TREES!

How much fun is this?!

The frosty cold butterbeer in Hogmeade's was REALLY good!! You can get frosty/icee or regular and I highly recommend the icee one.

The Harry Potter area of Islands of Adventure was the most disappointing to me of the 5 theme parks that we visited (full disclosure though, I am a non ride-loving person who was also with one child that is also of that same variety - oh we like simple, calm rides like the Suess ride through the Dr. Seuss area but rollercoaster and vomit-inducing spinning things are not our thing). I wanted Hogsmeade to be more built up and have all of the stores be actual stores that you could go into rather than be merely storefronts. I would have liked to have the castle be more interactive so that you could see what the various rooms looked like that you hear so much about in the books. The castle ride may have shown some more of that but there was no way I was going on that and Ryan concurred. Mike and Jessica went on the castle ride and enjoyed it. We went through the castle tour part and then split off and exited before the ride part started

I think this is the only photo that we have at Hollywood Studios which was much more fun than we expected. I thought I would like this park the least so maybe it has something to do with having no expectations. Jessi absolutely had to go see the American Idol Experience, something we would not have thought to do if she wasn't so insistent and it so enjoyable and well-done! We are so happy that we did this. She wanted to audition but you need to be older to be able to do so. The three contestants all had such great voices. The one in particular that we all voted for ended up winning. He not only had a great voice but he had stage presence, a great song, and seemed to be enjoying himself up there! One girl up there was only 16! What courage it takes to do that! I don't think I would be able to (but that may be because I know what voice I have! LOL!)

Updated to add: It helps if I include the one photo from Hollywood Studios that I just referred to, no?

I had left our camera in the backpack in the lockers and so we had another family take this with one of our iPhones.

More photos to come!

Eating Vegetarian at the Orlando Theme Parks

I spent hours on the computer before our trip to Orlando checking to see which places would be vegetarian-friendly for Jessi and I and here are a peek at my notes:

Disney Reservations Center (407) 939-3463 - call to book and make dietary requests

ANIMAL KINGDOM  - LODGE

• Jambo House - Boma - dinner - buffet - lots of veg options - veg skewers,  soups
• Jambo House - ***Jiko - African -  no t-shirts or tanks; jean are okay - collared shirts/polos - dress nicer here - separate veg menu!!  (THIS WAS THE BEST MEAL THAT I HAD WHILE AWAY and will DEFINITELY go back there next time we visit the parks. Mike's filet was great too so it pleases omnivores and vegetarian's alike... and the kids loved their mac-and-cheese too!)
• Kidani Village -  Sanaa - African/Indian - lunch/dinner - veg options but also has angus burger w/greens, tomato, and raita (lunch), NY Strip & Beef Short Ribs

ANIMAL KINGDOM  - PARK

• Tusker House - lunch/dinner - http://allears.net/menu/menu_tus.htm - Buffet (Spiced Tandoori Tofu) - Great buffet that we'd also definitely go back to next time we visit Animal Kingdom, lots of yummy vegetarian issues and I enjoyed the Tandoori Tofu a lot! They have a kids part of the buffet that is not as high as the rest of it so it was really easy and fun for the kids to serve themselves (Ryan kept going back again and again, loving the independence).
• Rainforest Cafe - breakfast/lunch/dinner - veg burger, portobello burger 
  
• Counter service - Dinoland - Restaurantasaurus - Veg sub

EPCOT

We visited during the food & wine festival so there were dozens of additional food stands and we were so full that we ended up not eating at Via Napoli as planned. 

• Land Pavilion - Garden Grill menu
• Japan - Teppan Edo 
• Italy - Via Napoli - lunch/dinner
• Mexico - La Hacienda de San Angel menu - the kids had cheese empanadas for the first time and are hooked. Now they want me to make these for them for our weekly Mexican night. I'm going to need to find a good recipe for them (preferably baked, not deep-fried... I can't, in good conscience, serve them something deep-fried. It's not in my make-up).
• Morocco - Marrakesh - lunch/dinner  - roasted veg couscous, goat cheese w/crispy bread
• United Kingdom - Rose & Crown - lunch/dinner (if you have a really late dinner from here you can see Iluminations) - Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie
• Counter service
• Morocco - Tangerine Cafe
• The Land - FutureWorld - Sunshine Seasons

UNIVERSAL CITYWALK

• Emerils menu -  Note: This was our worst meal while away. Easily. Mike and I had been here ~10 years ago and I had one of the best soups ever but I felt like we were trying to be killed with butter and cream here. ICK! And I wasn't the most vocal about it. I enjoyed mine the most. The kids though the mac-and-cheese was disgusting and Mike's pizza was inedible. My truffled pizza was oozing butter. Pizza? Ouzzing butter? That's just wrong.
• Bob Marley (Jamaican) menu
• Pastamore (Italian) menu
• Latin Quarter menu - veg paella, quac, black bean soup, salad, 

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

• New York Street - Mama Melrose's - lunch/dinner | kids menu
• Hollywood Blvd - Brown Derby - dinner menu - Noodle Bowl
• Echo Lake Area
• 50s Prime Time Cafe menu - Pasta w/Artichoke, Ricotta, and Summer Squash (this proved to be wrong, which was unfortunate because I was really craving this and when we got there I saw that they had spaghetti and "meatballs" in marinara sauce which I didn't want at all - this was the only place that I had an issue with the menu being out of date) 
• Hollywood & Vine - buffet with some veggie options

DOWNTOWN DISNEY

Wolfgang Puck Cafe - lunch/dinner | Kids

Portobello - Lunch | Dinner | Kids

MAGIC KINGDOM

We ended up not going to Magic Kingdom but I had done the research so I'm including my findings in case it's helpful for your trip.

• Main Street - Plaza Restaurant menu - Vegetarian sandwich
• Main Street - Tony's Town Square menu - Eggplant Stack, Pasta Primavera
• Liberty Square - Tree Tavern - lunch menu - Vegetarian Pot Pie (basil biscuit, bean ragout, sun-dried tomato pesto, seasonal veggies)
• Counter service - Tomorrowland - Cosmis Ray's Starlight Cafe

ORLANDO AREA RESTAURANTS

I didn't get to try as many as I would have liked (and I didn't get to cash in on my March Madness bracket victory of getting to pick any restaurant I wanted to go to just because of time constraints).

• Agave Azul - Note: SIMPLY AWESOME!! It was so good that when Mike had to go back to Orlando for a business trip a few days after we had gotten back he went here for dinner. And the rest of us were big time jealous!
  
• **Ethos Vegan Kitchen menu -  407-228-3898, 1235 N Orange Ave, #101, Orlando, FL, 32804, north of downtown Orlando, Mon - Sat 11am-10pm, Sun 10-3 burnch only
• ****Dandelion Communitea Cafe menu - Mon - Sat 11am-10pm, Sun 11am-5pm 618 N Thornton Ave, Orlando FL 32803
• Mediterranean Blue menu - quick sandwich - 435 East Michigan Street - 407-422-2583
• Ceveiche Tapas Bar & Restaurant - Dinner menu LOTS of veg options- 
• The Rusty Spoon - 55 W Church Street 

Whole Foods - right off I-4 - 8003 Turkey Lake Road, Phillips Crossing, 407-355-7100

Double check the restaurant menus (these may not be the latest as I found out with 50s Prime Time Cafe):

http://allears.net/din/vegtsparks.htm

http://allears.net/din/vegantips.htm

http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm#epc

http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

Menus change all the time so call ahead and double-check with the restaurant that you plan on visiting just to make sure.

 

Sketchbook peek

I brought this journal with me on vacation and I'm so glad that I did!! The journal is 5.5"x8" 140lb watercolor paper spiral from the Strathmore Visual Journal series and I LOVE it. It's the perfect size for travel... not too small, not to big. Just right!

I also brought along a few black Sakura Micron pens in various tip sizes (03 was the one I used the most), my 36-color watercolor paint set, and 2 Niji waterbrushes (small and medium). These waterpens are my absolute favorites to pack along and bring with my on-the-go!! You fill the chambers with water and then don't even need to dip your brush in any waer you just squeeze the pen a little to release the water to the tip of the brush and dip into your color and start painting. To clean your brush you gently squeeze the pen and wipe the brush tip a few times on a cloth/rag or napkin/paper towel until it comes clean and then you're ready for the next color.

I didn't paint everyday but if I found myself with some time while I was waiting for someone to finish up in the shower I'd grab and doodle for a little. Airports were another good place to turn a wait into some welcome creative time. I find that I don't mind waiting at all if I have something fun like this to do.

I drew and painted the right side of the page while on the plane flight home on Saturday and the flight attendent complimented me by saying he really liked my drawings and also added that I'd make a really good tattoo artist! I had to laugh a bit because if he only knew how much I really don't like needles! I get allergy shots every week and I can't bear to watch the process. Never have, never will. Ever since I was a child I knew I would never be a good nurse! A women sitting across the aisle from me struck up a conversation with me when she said she was admiring my work and then asked if I always travel with paints and how wonderful she thought it was that I brought my kit along. I told her it was a relatively new endeavor and we struck up a good conversation that I hope she feels as good about as I do. She said she always wanted to be an artist (and still does) but struggles with the same feeling that most of us have: that she's not good enough. And it's this feeling of not being good enough that stops us from even trying and coming into the great potential that is waiting for us.

Oh, how familiar I am with this I'm-not-good-enough sentiment. I haven't painted in over 2 years because I felt like I wasn't good enough (with a little does of I-don't-have-the-time - the ultimate excuse, right? Because everyone has time - it's how you choose to use it that matters!). I encouraged her to just DO IT and that eventually you will work through it and push through it and be what you want to become.

It was Van Gogh, afterall, that said:

If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint,"

then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.

I couldn't agree MORE!

Keeping this in mind and intentionally surrounding myself with images and people that inspire and uplift I am at the beginning the journey to being an artist. I unsubscribed from many of the blogs I used to read that made feel not-enough and only kept the stuff that made me feel alive. I realized that the only way to become an artist is to actually create some art. Duh! But to know this and take the next step are really two different things, one more difficult than the other.

The only way I'm going to get better is to try and learn from what does and doesn't work. Not everyone is going to like my style or the way I do things and THAT'S OKAY. There's a whole lot of art out there that I don't like and wouldn't want to hang in my house. Some of it was actually IN my house - pieces that we bought to fill our home when Mike and I were younger. In my decluttering efforts over this past year I've eliminated a lot of it, even with the bare walls to prove it (which I'm TOTALLY okay with)!! At this point in my life I'd rather have BARE walls than stuff on it that I don't absolutely LOVE.

What's important going forward is that the art I create is stuff that *I* like it and that I would want to hang on the walls in my home and that something inside of me is ignited when I am in the act of working on the piece! As long as those things happen then I'm good with it.

And when things are not going well with a piece that I'm working on?

Well, then I'll just embrace the suck and push through it! LOL!