Coffee And Paint Drips Blog - Page 41 of 79

Thought for Thursday

“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” – Jacques Cousteau

Big Yellow Umbrella at the Beach

Today was an amazing beach day at Pt. Lookout, N.Y. At home it seemed as if the weather would not cooperate, cloudy and overcast with a hint of a sprinkle. There was no way I wasn’t going to the beach. No way. I packed myself up and left. Total drive time to the beach was fifteen minutes without traffic. I arrived at just past noon.

Other people must have thought it wouldn’t be a good day, but it turned out beautiful. Like I always say: Heaven is an empty beach. After relaxing in my chair for a while and having lunch, I got out my trusty travel watercolor set and pad and set to work painting the big yellow umbrella right in front of me.

Big Yellow Umbrella (c)2011 Dora Sislian Themelis
7×11 Watercolor on Canson paper

Twenty minutes and I was finished with this painting. I don’t know if it’s the paper that dries so quickly or the beach weather. It was a pleasure to sketch with the paint and forgo the pencil for most of this work. I did draw just a little to get some proportions correct, but overall I just went with paint. And it was good.

Off on Tangents, but Painting Happened Nontheless

My day began with a bang. Not really a bang, but maybe there’s another word for it. I was minding my own business pouring my second cup of coffee on a nice, quiet morning. I reached for the half and half, yes I like half and half, and started to squeeze the carton. Let me explain, I get a carton and open the folded and sealed top to form a spout and then I close it up. If I squeeze the carton a nice small stream of milk comes out. Nice and neat.

Well SOMEBODY opened the carton for the spout, and I, unknowingly (not paying attention), pour it out all over my lap, my tablecloth, and my coffee. I started to think to myself that this may not be my day, and it was only 8A.M.

I went along my day. Farmer’s market, supermarket, bank, etc. Errands. I thought I might not get to paint, but I knew I had been losing my fight with Mr. Resistance and, bad day or not this was going to be it.
What do you know? I had run out of the large size watercolor paper I had been using.

Now what? I really didn’t want to use the travel pad and my subject was going to be too big for the small Arches block. Great. I opened up the small block and now I see I need a spatula to get the protective paper off. I trudge to my basement studio, where the light still doesn’t work, and fetch the tool.

Now what? Phone call from The Mr. about some computer problem. I trudge back to the basement and the computer, flip it on and we discuss. Ok. I passed the kitchen and remembered I wanted to roast some peppers I had. So I go at that, almost forgetting my painting outside.

Then I think I should have painted these peppers, but now they’re all cut up. Bright idea: take photos, and add a shiny platter for contrast. That’ll show that book deal guy I can paint Greek themed stuff. Right.

I’m all finished with the peppers, put them in the oven after their photo shoot and remember I was supposed to be painting. I go back to the basement to get another watercolor block. While I’m running around my house I am thinking that I must be some crazy kind of idiot, going off on tangents, not getting anything done.

Finally, I get myself to my painting set-up and sketch out my idea. I wanted to paint from the photos of the sunflowers from the farm. I sketched out the subjects and started getting into it when I remember I had peppers roasting in the oven. Shades of my turkey debacle from a couple of weeks ago.

I run to my kitchen, remove the peppers that were not burned and returned to painting. Now can I get down to business? Yes, I did and I am happy to say it felt good.

Sunflowers Outside (c)2011 Dora Sislian Themelis
12×16 Watercolor on Lanaquarelle paper

At Pt. Lookout Beach

I finally made it to the beach this Sunday. Pt. Lookout was beautiful on a warm sunny day. Traffic going there was light, not many people hogging up the sand, the water was warm, as was my company of family. I never got to take a photo of the beach itself because I didn’t want to enjoy the whole day through the camera lens. It was a perfect day in every sense.

But I must be really tired because I just posted this to the wrong blog! I thought my banner looked a little different after I pressed the button that says Publish Post! Yikes! My apologies to the 100 Paintings Challenge if anyone was over there and up popped my beach pics! Hahahaha! My bad.

Thought for Thursday

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ~Howard Thurman,American Theologian, 1900-1981

Thought for Thursday

“They say life’s what happens when you’re busy making other plans. But sometimes in New York, life is what happens when you’re waiting for a table.” ~Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw from the HBO show Sex and the City

Summer in New York City

Zipping along 5th Avenue in NYC

Yesterday was my last day on the job. The babysitting job that is. Gorgeous is a teacher and she’s finished for the year. To celebrate we took a ride into NYC to shop at Bergdorf-Goodman on 5th Avenue. Manhattan is always a treat. Something or other is happening at every turn so you just never know what kind of adventure you might have on a visit.

Gorgeous, with Mushy in her stroller, my sister and I enjoyed a lovely day. Window shopping, real shopping, browsing, people watching, eating, laughing, and being stuck in the usual traffic was all fun.

Central Park

Rats near the Plaza Hotel

Watching tourists on a bus at 57th Street and 6th Avenue
while we had dinner outside

Do you know what they sell at Bergdorf’s? All kinds of high end designer duds. Name your shoe designer, they have it. You want Christian Louboutin? Got it. Manolo Blahnik? Yup. Dior, Chanel, any others? Yessirree. Can you say “butterrr”? Uh huh. Say it the NY way-Buttttaaaaa. Can you recall “Sex and the City”? Yeah.

This time only one of us bit. Last time we all bit and hard. But let me tell you, there’s nothing like putting on a shoe that feels like butter. This is going to be an annual thing, I can tell! It was too much fun to skip.
What a way to teach the little one about retail therapy, right? At least there were sales.

To top it all off, today is the third wedding anniversary of Son#1 and Gorgeous. May they have many years of wedded bliss ahead, with health, happiness and love.

My Pop always liked to sing us the appropriate Frank Sinatra song at various events so here’s his favorite at such times: The Best is Yet to Come.

The Wild Goose Chase

Early this spring I signed in on a vegetable cooperative. I had been wanting to do this since last year. I liked the idea of helping to keep a local farm in business and reap the benefits of fresh produce closer to home. Thus began my wild goose chase.

I received an email that my bi-weekly share was to begin two weeks ago and I was very excited to see what kind of produce I would be getting. Thrilled to say the least. I opted for a half share of all four items available: vegetables, fruits, eggs, and flowers.

The pick up site was about a twenty minute drive from my house. Perfect! I was going to be on the north shore of Long Island anyway that day, helping Gorgeous do some things. On my way home I would get my stuff. Well, my directions were no help, pointing my in the totally opposite direction than where I was supposed to be.

That day I had also chose to be the day I roasted a whole turkey for dinner and the subsequent leftovers. Also perfect! I had timed it so that the turkey would take a few hours, more than enough time for me to help Gorgeous, get my stuff and come home. So while I’m tooling around northern Nassau County looking for this pick up site, my goose is getting cooked at home, so to speak.

I drove back south, I drove back north, sweating in the traffic, thinking the turkey is on fire along with my house. God help me come home to an intact house without firemen and trucks outside, please. Back and forth I drove to no avail. The light bulb in my head said “Forget it. Just go home.” And so I did.

Two hours into my wild goose chase, I thankfully returned home to a happily roasting turkey and a safe house. I’ll never do that again. I got on the phone to the CSA to rant about their directions. The girl on the other end of the phone asked if I was sure it was MY day to pick up. Well, I did get the email. She replied she’d check the roster and return my call. As luck would have it, it was NOT my day. Phew!

Last week I set out again. This time without a turkey in the oven and with my trusty GPS. I made it in no time flat. What I didn’t know was that I was supposed to supply my own carrying bags. They had some plastic and we made do. See some of my haul below..

Blueberries, strawberries, half a dozen brown eggs, a bunch of lavender, kale, scallions, arugula, cilantro, salad turnips, beets, two zucchinis, some other squash-like thing, and a head of red leaf lettuce. All very lovely and delicious. And almost all gone by now.

What was the next logical thing to do with all this bounty besides eat it? Begin to paint a watercolor of it, of course.