Coffee And Paint Drips Blog - Page 26 of 79

Finished on Friday

Finished! Done! Next!

This watercolor painting had me going, I almost trashed it, then I decided to just stop working it. There comes a time when you have to stop yourself from going over the cliff when I can’t help myself. I am notorious at painting way too long on a work.

Bouquet ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
9×12 Watercolor, Arches cold press paper

It’s finished.

What’s next? I have no idea right now. I’m just so glad this one is done, I can’t even discuss this any further. Blah.

Thought for Thursday

“If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.”~Michelangelo

Sort of Wordless on Wednesday

Take a look at an amazing bird’s eye view of Long Island, NY’s Jones Beach. If you look closely you can see the turnaround at the water tower. Just before taking this photo I was able to see my favorite beach, Pt. Lookout and the Loop Parkway leading to it.

Jones Beach from the air
©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis

Making Armenian Cheese Boerek

Monday is a great day. The weekend is over and we are back to business here. Easter was lovely and tiring all at once. Between attending church and the preparations, I am spent, but we pulled it off.

So, how about a little distraction before the week of painting gets under way?

Part of my contribution to Easter dinner was baking a favorite Armenian cheese pie we call boerek, with homemade phyllo dough. It’s not exactly as thin as regular phyllo, a little thicker and, in my opinion, tastier. My grandmother was an expert, but I try my best.

The trick is to roll it out so that you can see through the dough. That’s when I know it’s thin enough. I use a dowel I fashioned from a broken broom stick and sanded off the paint. I roll it and flip it to stretch the dough.

When the dough is ready I lightly butter the surface and fold, butter and fold, until I have a neat square. I pop it in the refrigerator to rest, work the next ball of dough, roll out the first to the size of my pan, and fill with muenster and mozzarella cheeses, and a sprinkle of feta. It bakes until brown and melty.

Sorry, there are no photos of the finished cheese boerek. And there is none left!

Finished Friday

There is so much going on here I don’t know how I find time to post. In a nutshell: prepare to go on a vacation, go to the destination, return and unpack, dive right in to Holy Week preparations, attend church services, bake the required Easter things, keep up with the painting schedule, keep up with the Get Organized class, run the regular errands, and all that.

I am tired.

But here is a finished item for Friday, before I collapse!

Tomatoes ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
9×12 Watercolor, Arches cold press paper 140lb

Just thought I’d throw in the photos of the work in progress so you don’t have to jump around here to see it. And that brush I didn’t like working with over there in the center photo, you remember? A commenter had such good thoughts about using tools you love, and how this particular brush is supposed to be used.

Now I just have to finish up this week and a brand new Monday will be waiting for me. Ahhh..

Thought for Thursday

“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successfull personality and duplicate it.”~Bruce Lee

Wordless on Wednesday

Thought for Thursday

“Artists today think of everything they do as a work of art. It is important to forget about what you are doing – then a work of art may happen.” ~Andrew Wyeth

Annoyed With Brushes I Don’t Want to Use

It’s Monday again. Another start to a very busy week ahead. Every single day of the coming week has things going on. I can’t get into it. It’s all just too much stuff.

With all the things I have to do, guess what I DID do? Yes, I painted. It’s just this short of amazing. Where did I find the time? How did I get myself to the studio to do anything? Maybe since I rearranged things, and made the space comfortable, colorful and cozy it draws me there. Has to be it.

The photos of last year’s CSA shares of produce and flowers is dwindling. I’ve used almost all of them. Thankfully, I find great compositions in the detail areas that make for good work. This time I chose these color packed tomatoes for this painting.

Now take a look at one of the newest brushes I bought. It’s a pricey Isabey watercolor brush in a size I didn’t have. Everyone raves about these brushes. I really don’t know why. I’m not that happy using it.

When wet it holds plenty of water. I usually use more color and less water, so I remove water by turning it against a sponge, then I go for color and paint. That’s the part I don’t like. The brush gets mushy. There is no spring. It becomes a flat, wet mess and goes no where. I should’ve taken a photo of that. I paid all that money for a stupid, horrible, flat mess of a brush.

I might write the company a letter of complaint, I am that annoyed.

Okay, Windsor&Newton sable brushes are untouchable these days, so I guess it’s not that bad. But really, it is bad because I spent money on a tool that I hate to use. W&N brushes I already own are wonderful.

Any Isabey brush users out there want to chime in with your thoughts? Come by and leave some in the comments. I can’t wait to hear what you think about this brush.