Battling Clutter… Streamlining your kitchen utensil drawer!

On January 17, 2013January 18, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn HOME3 Comments

Note: If you haven’t yet taken the poll on the design of this site, please see the end of this post. Only takes a click to select (or type in your own response) then click VOTE. I don’t know who responds, so feel free to answer how you like, you won’t hurt my feelings! Appreciate your help!

You know the feeling… a jammed utensil drawer in the kitchen. Always fun, right? I haven’t organized mine in a year or so and I swear the “stuff” multiplies… I find myself sticking stuff in the drawer “just in case” I need it. If I find a part that fell off of something, I stick it in the back of the drawer in case I ever figure out what it belonged to. Bad idea. I read an article in Real Simple magazine and what it boils down to, is the fact that you don’t need 5 different pancake flipper things (called spatulas)… or 4 wooden spoons (that I never use because I’m freaked out about how bacteria will stick to it, then you can’t put it in the dishwasher). The list goes on and on… I was surprised. I emptied the drawer, washed it out. Pulled out ALL THE STUFF I HAVEN’T USED IN THE PAST YEAR (or ten). I put that “stuff” in a few stacks. One stack to toss, I mean really… I’m saving CORKS in case one goes bad? I had enough for an army… another stack that there was a small chance I could use again (I put this in the garage. If I don’t use it in a year, it will find a new home), and the rest I deemed good enough to put back in the drawer.

I used to despise opening that drawer. It was full, inevitably something would jam it and make it a pill to open. But NO MORE! I am ORG-A-NIZED now! Woohoo, it feels good!

Oh, did I mention giving the drawer a good wipe down? Now is your chance to clean one of the busiest drawers in the kitchen (at least my kitchen)… go ahead and clean the organizer that holds your silverware while you’re at it… EEEK! How does dust get INSIDE a drawer? Never mind, I don’t want to know…

It would have been nice to purchase a few things to hold the supplies, but I haven’t yet, so I made do with what I had… I wish I would have taken a “before” shot! I threw out quite a bit of stuff I haven’t used in years, the rest ended up in a shoe box in the garage… If I find I need anything in that box I’ll come back for it, but I’m pretty sure I won’t!

Do these little things… no matter what drawer, the same principles apply and it just FEELS GOOD! Use the same rules as cleaning out your closet, click to read my past post, “The Simple Way To Organize and Clean A Closet”…

Here’s a list from Real Simple, this is what they say you need in your utensil drawer!

All You Need in Your Utensil Drawers

An instant-read thermometer, to take the guesswork out of steaks, chops, and roasts.
A large Microplane grater, for cheese, citrus zests, ginger, chocolate, and garlic.
A straight-edge wooden spoon, for getting in the corners of saucepans.
A classic wooden spoon, for everything else.
A natural-bristle basting brush holds more liquid than silicone versions.
Nesting measuring cups conserve space.
Stainless-steel measuring spoons last longer than plastic ones.
A large slotted spoon, to scoop food out of boiling water.
A low-tech can opener that pops bottles, too.
A metal spatula, for pancakes, burgers, and cookies.
Long tongs, for tossing salads, turning chops, and plucking vegetables from a steamer. The locking kind store most easily.
A standard spoon, for sauces.
A Y-shaped peeler: more control than the standard variety.
A silicone spatula, for mixing and getting the last bits of batter from the bowl.
A palm-size vegetable scrubber offers serious leverage.
A mini offset spatula, to free frittatas, lasagnas, and brownies (and to frost cupcakes).
A whisk, to get air into eggs and batter.
A fish spatula: thin, flexible, and perfect for fragile foods, from flounder to fried eggs.
A ladle, for soups, stews, and sauces.
A potato masher: also great for breaking up canned whole tomatoes for sauce.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Featured Artist… Erik Weisenburger!

On January 16, 2013December 8, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment

“Night Pursuits” by Erik Weisenburger

(Image via MAINE MAGAZINE)

Maine Magazine is a fabulous magazine full of all kinds of great art and design in Maine. This painting by Erik Weisenburger is so cool and different. I love that big moon peeking through the trees. Erik’s art is very different and so interesting, check it out if you get a chance! This painting reminds me of being a kid, maybe at camp, walking through the woods with night approaching, the spooky story telling coming soon, maybe a bonfire and some marshmallows… great painting!

Here’s a blip from Erik’s website:

My current work is a continuation of my exploration into patterns and community, drama and subtlety while creating an image that will mingle with personal memories, including the anthropomorphization of the natural world I encountered as a youth. I have had a long interest in natural patterns, their mathematical balance, mysteries, and symbolic histories. Memorializing the small dramas and peripheral images from my surroundings and interests has been a long running theme in my work.

A series of memorial gardens that pay homage to mentors and influencers to my education as an artist, and paintings based on the history and inhabitants of Graceland Cemetery in Chicago served as a precursor to the images I am creating as a relative newcomer to Maine. Here, landscape dominates my visions: the movement of the ocean, wind, and visiting animals, while my interest in the history of painting and illustration often becomes it’s own source for re-interpreting these observations and events.

I work in a painting tradition used by the Dutch still life artists. Its luminous qualities and history-rich process best allows me to explore and interpret the mingling of memories, monuments, permanence and impermanence.

I am fascinated by our society’s intense efforts to keep death and change at bay. For those that do consider death and impermanence, there is an instinct to keep a foot in the mortal world through monumental and sentimental remembrance–attempts at permanent connection with others. It is my hope that viewers will find a personal meaning in the work, a moment of calm or a stirring of memory.

If you have a second… please take this poll… THANK YOU!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Featured Artist… Shirley Novak!

On January 14, 2013December 8, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured Artist3 Comments

NOTE: Yep, it’s me again, making changes to the way this blog looks…

Well now that we’ve had a tease of warm weather I’m loving all these bright happy flower paintings! Not that we go lacking for sunshine in the winter, but these are just so happy! I love Shirley’s use of color, how each compliments the next so nicely. Bright, happy and they feel as if they’re moving… dancing perhaps!

Shirley shows her work here in Charleston, SC at the Sylvan Gallery, so if you’re in the area be sure to stop by and check it out, otherwise her website is fantastic!

Read a blip about Shirley from her website, (I LOVE the Calvin Coolidge quote below, ha ha), what a fabulous write up… I love this!

Sometimes I think of myself as Shirley Poppy Seed. I love to harvest poppy seed, their seed pods are like a salt shaker and one of my childhood joys was shaking poppy seed out of their pods. I am still a child in this way, last year I harvested about three pounds of Shirley Poppy seeds, that is approximately three million seeds. I love to share my seeds with fellow gardeners. As I am writing this it is late May and my first Shirley Poppies are bursting into bloom. The Iceland Poppies start their bloom in mid April and bloom best in cooler weather, but will bloom from April thru November. Deadheading is the necessary element in continuing their bloom for so many months.I guess I have always been “garden mad” as the British say. As a child I loved to go to the nursery to buy plants and then bring them home, and create a flower bed and then water it to death. So painting flowers is just natural to my being. Color, intense and delicate color harmony, has always moved me emotionally. My love of flowers and love of color are the passions that drove me to be come a painter. Like Claude Monet said ” I perhaps owe it to flowers for having become a painter”. Since childhood the voice has been loud and clear telling me I must paint.I painted regularly thru most of my youth and young adulthood, and less often during my daughter Natalie’s childhood. In the early 1990’s I could finally focus on my need to paint. I took several painting workshops and knew that I could become a professional if I worked persistently and patiently. This quote from Calvin Coolidge speaks to this…”Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”By the mid 1990’s I was ready to risk everything in order to make painting my life. In 1996 I left my life in California and headed to Colorado to study with one of my workshop teachers, Len Chmiel. I sold a terrific house in a pastoral setting with ponds, creek, 100 yr old trees and views of the White Mountains. I lightened my load of material objects by 2/3, shed my old skin, stepped outside of myself, let go of the outcome and let the universe handle the details of my future. This was January of ’96, I arrived in Denver in a snow storm. I moved into an apartment and enrolled in classes at the Art Students League with a firm belief I would be OK. I must have taken this quote from Thoreau to heart; “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams… live the life you’ve imagined”. Joseph Campbell’s words also gave me confidence during this transitional period of my life. Especially these; “Follow your bliss and doors will open for you”. During these years many doors were opened to me, many opportunities and amazing people came into my life.During the next year I studied with Len Chmiel on a private basis, and also took classes at the Art Students League with Mark Daily. Mark Daily taught his classes to “paint what you love, and let your work become known for this”. For me it was easy to know what I should paint, loving flowers and color all my life. I’ve always been drawn to country gardens and the old fashioned flowers, and decided I had to learn to paint them.

In August of ’96 I took an outdoor painting workshop in Aspen, Colorado. This is where I met my husband Ralph Oberg. Ralph is a very successful landscape and wildlife artist. We had so much in common, we discovered very quickly spending lots of time together was easy, comfortable and natural. Ralph has spent his life hiking and painting the Rocky Mountains west and has a deep love of the wilderness. During the first two years of our time together we made numerous painting trips to most of his favorite mountain ranges. I loved getting to know his world and seeing so much of the western United States, and getting to paint my way through it. We were married in December of 1997 and the next year in May we bought property in southwestern Colorado and built a house and studio. I have been double digging flower beds at every opportunity since. The last three years have been spent building our garden. Ralph has constructed rose arbors, and laid our rock walks and terraces out of Blue Stone, while I have been building the soil structure in our numerous flower beds and filling them with perennials. I have really worked hard and this year it is starting to feel like an established garden.We had a garden cottage built for me to paint in and use as a potting shed. We designed her after some of the adorable New England cottages we saw on a recent trip through Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, We named her ‘Poppy Cottage’, she makes a great garden studio.I love reading about the passion Claude Monet had for his garden. Pissarro and Van Gogh were also avid gardeners. My garden gives me great joy and countless ideas for paintings. Each year I let nature have her way and let seedlings sprout in new places and in combinations I wouldn’t have thought of. There are always delightful surprises in every corner of my garden.What I try to do with paint is recreate the joy I experience in my subjects; the flowers that I grow, and the wildflowers in mountain meadows. This quote from Joseph Campbell, “The function of art is to reveal the radiance running through all things”, suggests why I have such strong emotional responses to our natural world.I took plenty of time to develop my process and my way with paint so that I could ‘sing my own song’. I wanted to honor these quotes I happened across “The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are” and” What I do is me, for that I came”. This was frightening much of the way and still is at times. Something inside of me keeps telling me to stay on this path. When I am at the easel I try to let the experience happen without forcing anything, and without judgment or negativity. Painting is a huge gift to my life. I love to encourage friends to give it a try, I believe we are all creative at our core. I love helping friends reconnect with their inner child and helping them experience the gift that painting is to me. Click HERE to read more!Catch you back here tomorrow!

Warm temps, time to hit the beach with the beast!

On January 13, 2013January 9, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn HOME6 Comments

Well, as unbelievable as it is… it’s about time to hit the beach! This weather can’t possibly last… warm temps, near 80… makes it a nice time to hit the beach with Charlie… Since he can’t go in the summer (unless it’s before 10AM or after 6PM) we like to go in the spring and fall, anytime before May 1 or after September 30th, then they can go any time of day.

I still remember the first time he went… he was scared of everything, the sand, the wind, THE WAVES! But then he got his feet wet, and started chasing the waves, now when we go he jumps right in, no matter the temperature!

Hope you are all having nice weather as well! Get out and enjoy your day! Catch you back here tomorrow!

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood…

On January 12, 2013December 12, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn THOUGHTSLeave a comment

I swear spring has sprung! We’re supposed to have mid to upper 70 degree temps today, crazy for JANUARY! Did I say January!? Get out and enjoy the beauty, it’s all around you!

This photo was taken last May… a peony… my absolute all time FAVORITE flower! Their simply elegant beauty is stunning! We can’t grow them here in Charleston, SC, but Harris Teeter carries them, thank goodness!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Featured Artist… Gay Faulkenberry!

On January 11, 2013December 8, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured Artist2 Comments

“Swirling Tide, Shark Harbor” by Gay Faulkenberry

NOTE: I made a little theme change… let me know if you like it, or if you don’t… I’m trying to freshen things up for the new year… (To comment, click on the LEAVE A REPLY link directly under the title of this post)… happy reading!

Gay Faulkenberry is a plein air painter who has a nice loose style. What a nice peaceful painting! If you can’t make it to the coast, you just need a painting like this to make it FEEL as if you’re there! I love those rocks in the foreground, then the rougher churning water with it’s fabulous colors and finally the distant water with hints of the rock colors. Very nice painting! I enjoy looking through the host of paintings on her website, I think you will too!

Check out Gay’s work, it’s quite impressive. Looks like she’ll be teaching a few workshops this year as well, one in Easton, MD and the other in Italy, more info on her website!

A blip about Gay from her website:

“My love of color inspires me to take on one of the greatest of challenges: painting from life. I am driven to capture the excitement and subtle nuances of myriad reds in a poppy field, the values in a stand of golden aspens, reflected hues in a shadow, or glow of a backlit flower petal. Each of these encounters demands that I see the world with a fresh eye, which is what I hope to convey to viewers.” –Gay Faulkenberry

Gay Faulkenberry has been a force on the American art scene for more than two decades. Known for her impressionistic approach to color and light, she is renowned for plein-air paintings of urban and rural landscapes and for studio paintings of intimate still lifes, florals, and interiors.

“Taking my pochade box outdoors into nature excites me as much as designing a still life arrangement or re-creating the ambience of a room setting. Whatever the subject, I’m inspired by the way light reveals form and essence,” Faulkenberry says. She takes equal pleasure in designing her environment, including the French Cottage-style home and flower gardens she shares with her husband Roger, and her vaulted studio/loft with its ironwork cabling and antique shutters.

A native Oklahoman, where she continues to live, Faulkenberry was raised throughout the West and has traveled extensively in Europe. Her grandmother and “best friend” was a painter and Francophile, who favored the French Impressionists and displayed Taos artists at a lodge she and her husband operated in Northern New Mexico. Luminous color made an imprint on Faulkenberry, who worked in watercolors from childhood through her studies at Southwestern State and Oklahoma State universities. Focused on detailed dry-brush renderings of homes with architectural ornamentation, she first encountered alla prima paintings on several trips to Taos in the late 1970s. Her transition to oils was facilitated by independent studies with Russian master Sergei Bongart. Subsequent workshops with Ray Vinella, Ned Jacob, and Mark Daily refined her skills. “I remain a student of art, always reaching for higher levels of excellence,” she says. “However, it is the artist’s job to discover his or her personal voice in creating a language that communicates beyond words.”

For the past decade, Faulkenberry has been a popular instructor herself, conducting workshops throughout the United States and abroad. As a mentor, she shares her insights and technical expertise in using the eyes, heart, head, and hand in translating the joy of life onto canvas. She also encourages her students to see and study art by past masters, including artists who have influenced her: the bravura brushwork of Nicolai Fechin and John Singer Sargent, William Merritt Chase’s attention to textures and colors indoors and out, and the “quiet magic” of Emil Carlsen’s still lifes.

Faulkenberry’s work has been featured in leading art publications, and she is frequently asked to jury art shows. Her work is represented in corporate, private, and museum collections across the country. A Signature Member of the prestigious Plein-Air Painters of America since 1996, she served as PAPA president and spokesperson in 2008-2009.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

The simple way to organize and clean a closet!

On January 10, 2013January 10, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn HOME4 Comments

(Image)

Let me start by saying YOU AREN’T SEEING THINGS… I made a theme change to my blog… it’s about 4:40PM, so if you visited earlier YEP it looked much different! Cleaning things up and giving them a fresher appearance, let me know if you like it… or if you don’t!

It’s almost always time to clean out your closet. If you do it on a regular basis it’ll never get out of control… BUT you have to start somewhere, right? Make today the day you start getting your life in order. Start with one closet at a time and you will feel so good! The steps couldn’t be easier… It’s easiest to go through everything and put it in one of four piles… Note: I’ve written this to apply to cleaning a closet, but same goes for art supplies, a garage, kitchen cabinets, etc.

C L E A N Y O U R C L O S E T – C L E A R Y O U R M I N D ! Don’t laugh, it’s true!

KEEP

These are the clothes/shoes/etc. you KNOW that you wear on a regular basis. The items that you can’t live without.

TOSS

These are the clothes that have seen better days. You know the ones, the holy shirts, and I don’t mean the ones you wear to church on Sunday… these are the shoes that are worn slap out.

DONATE

This is where you can do so much good with items that you may want to hang on to. It gives you motivation to let go of “stuff”. There are so many places that accept donations, the Kidney Foundation, Good Will, local homeless shelters, etc.

SELL

Whether it be a yard sale or a consignment shop there are some items that will make you some money. That never hurts, does it? What doesn’t sell can later be donated.

If you have a some things that you don’t really want to keep, but don’t want to toss, donate or sell, pack them in a box. If you don’t pull them out of the box after a year (or two!), its time for them to move on…

It’s nice to have boxes to put items to Donate, Sell and Toss.

Image: Rd.com

Before you hang everything back in your closet go ahead and give it a good cleaning. Wipe down the shelves and walls. Wash (or vacuum) the floor. It’s not easy to do this when there are clothes hanging in the way, so now is your chance.

Hang your “Keep” clothes back in the closet. One idea is to hang the hanger backwards. After you wear the item hang it the way your normally do. After a period of time, you’ll see the items that you’ve worn (hung the regular way) and the items you haven’t touched (hangers hung backwards), so the next time you clean out your closet you won’t have to wonder if you wore it or not. It should be easier to get rid of!

They say the best time to clean a closet is in the morning. It’s when you’ll make the best decisions. Remember we all have stuff, some is sentimental and we don’t want to get rid of… but sometimes stuff is just stuff and it overtakes our lives. You will feel a sense of calm when you walk into your closet (or open your dresser drawers, etc.) when its not overflowing with STUFF. When you look and what you see are possibilities and none of the items that you know every time that you look at them, that you’ll never wear.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Featured Artist… Aaron Schuerr!

On January 9, 2013December 9, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment

The Road To Nowhere by Aaron Schuerr

Image: BetsySwartzFineArt.com

I feel as if I’m on this road, walking up this winding hill… I have my lunch in a backpack and a nice cold water, oh and maybe a Baby Ruth, you know, for safety’s sake… *ugh* let me get back on track here… I guess what I’m trying to say is… I feel as if I’m in this painting…

I. AM. THERE. It’s too cool when an artist can make you FEEL something… and this artist definitely makes me feel as if I am there…

The earth is amazing, the colors in the road… fabulous, the beautiful green, the mountains in the distance and THOSE TREES… those nice wild trees… makes this one spectacular painting. This painting is by Aaron Schuerr. Here’s a blip about Aaron from the Betsy Swartz Fine Art Gallery in Bozeman, Montana:

Aaron Schuerr began his art studies at the Art Institute of Chicago and then moved on to art college in Scotland. It was here, somewhat accidentally, that he was introduced to plein aire painting while out painting on the beach with a friend. As he describes “I packed up all my postmodern cleverness and became a landscape painter.” After graduation, he returned to Montana where he married his Rocky Mountain sweetheart. “In many ways, the school of nature was my best training”, says Aaron. These days he can be found loading up his field kit and heading to the Paradise Valley to paint. Working in both oil and pastel, he brings a quiet intimacy and sensitive rendering of light to the varied landscapes of the Rocky Mountain West. “I’m not just trying to paint a pretty picture; I’m trying to tell you what it was like to be there.” Aaron’s paintings can be found in private collections in America and Scotland. He is a signature member of the Pastel Society of America, a founding member of the Montana Painters Alliance, and a dedicated plein-air painter.

Check out Aaron’s website for more paintings! Also check out his blog, he’s got a sense of humor and his blog is a good read!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Pork Tenderloin with Pears and Onions… the best recipe ever!

On January 8, 2013November 8, 2023 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, HEALTH, Recipe2 Comments

Mmmm, pork tenderloin… nice and lean and when pear and red onions are added and a honey balsamic is drizzled over the top this turns into an absolute masterpiece. Some friends of ours had us over for dinner and this is what we had. What a treat! I couldn’t believe how wonderful this was, how the flavors were perfectly combined. This is quite possibly the best recipe you will ever make. It’s a 5 star recipe from Williams-Sonoma and it is… TO. DIE. FOR. It’s like something you would get in a very, very nice restaurant. It’s healthy and it only takes minutes to prepare… are you ready?!

Scroll to the bottom for the printable recipe… Note: I put my sweet potatoes in the oven 30 minutes prior to starting the pork tenderloin… then pulled them out of the oven after the pork had a chance to rest a few minutes… hope you enjoy…

Season the pork tenderloin

Sauté in an oven proof sauté pan until brown

Transfer to a plate

Saute onions and pears

Return pork to pan and drizzle with honey and balsamic vinegar mixture, scatter thyme leaves

Put pan in oven and bake until juices run clear

Remove from oven, place pork tenderloin on a plate and cover with foil. Allow it to rest 5 minutes… it’s worked hard… it deserves a rest!

After the pork has had a little siesta, cut it into slices, place slices on a plate and top with the onion and pear mixture… spoon a little of the honey balsamic vinegar mixture from the pan…

I served with a baked sweet potato and green beans.

Here it is from the Williams-Sonoma website…

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Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Pear and Thyme

Printer Friendly Version

Combining juicy pork tenderloin with fresh pear slices and red onion, this simple dish is perfect for an autumn evening. Honey and balsamic vinegar form an appealing glaze on the meat.

Ingredients:

1 pork tenderloin, about 1 lb., trimmed of excess fat
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 red onion, cut into 1/8-inch wedges
4 Forelle or Bosc pears, cored and each cut into 8 wedges
2 Tbs. honey
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
Leaves from 12 fresh thyme sprigs

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 400°F.

Season the pork tenderloin well with salt and pepper. In an ovenproof sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil until shimmering. Sear the pork, turning occasionally, until well browned, 6 to 8 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.

Add the onion and pears to the pan and sauté for 1 minute. Return the pork to the pan and drizzle with the honey and vinegar. Scatter the thyme leaves in the pan. Transfer to the oven and roast until the juices run clear when the pork is pierced with a knife, 15 to 20 minutes.

Transfer the pork to a cutting board, cover loosely with aluminum foil and let rest for 5 minutes. Cut into slices 1/2 inch thick. Divide the pork, pears and onion wedges among 4 individual plates, drizzle with the glaze from the pan and serve immediately. Serves 4.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Cooking for Friends, by Alison Attenborough and Jamie Kimm (Oxmoor House, 2008).

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Oh heavens… this sounds good right NOW! Catch you back here tomorrow!

Featured Artist… Cynthia Reid!

On January 7, 2013December 9, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured Artist4 Comments

Flower Mosaic by Cynthia Reid / Image: AddisonArt.com

How’s this to brighten up a dreary day? I love these nice bright colors, it’s so happy! We can’t complain here in Charleston, SC about gloomy weather… we had a day of rain, which was so nice… an all day gentle rain. I happen to love those kinds of days, but from what I can gather I’m some sort of anomaly when it comes to weather… I hear others say WHERE IS THE SUN after a day or two of clouds… I say WHERE ARE THE CLOUDS, hee hee… Fall, Winter and the beginning of spring are what we live for here in Charleston…

Here’s a blip about Cynthia from the Addison Art Gallery website:

Cynthia Reid left a successful career as a physician to pursue a passion for painting that had consistently increased while she was practicing medicine. Her interest in art began when she was young and painted with her paternal grandparents, both of whom were oil painters.

An avid gardener, Cynthia finds inspiration in gardens and in travels throughout the U.S. and Canada. Some of her paintings, especially those featuring poppy fields and lily ponds, reflect scenes from recent trips to France.

In working with oil paints, Cynthia uses a palette knife technique to juxtapose complementary, vibrant colors to recreate the joy, beauty, and textures of the natural world. She believes that painting is about trusting her intuition and the process, while being open to the unpredictable. Her contemporary impressionist style keeps mystery in the painting.

A member of the American Impressionist Society and Oil Painters of America, she has studied with Kevin Macpherson and abstract expressionist, Josh Goldberg.
Artist’s Statement
I paint because I have a passion for expressing the beauty of the natural world. Using a palette knife and oil paints allows me to capture that beauty by recreating nature’s varying textures, color, and movement. These three elements are seen in my recent works — bold sunflowers, vibrant poppies, dancing irises, and waterscapes.

My intention is that each painting allows the viewer to enjoy a sense of being in a particular place. I believe that the viewer completes every work of art and want my paintings to start a conversation.

Now THAT is a love of art! Stop by the Addison Art Gallery website to view more of Cynthia’s work, or stop by Cynthia’s website to see more great work!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Do you ever feel that you can’t get in the swing of things? You’re not alone!

On January 6, 2013December 31, 2012 By Barbara StroudIn THOUGHTS9 Comments

This cracks me up. I’m so glad I had my phone nearby to snap a photo… last year, after Fred and I were in Maine and Charlie was “at camp”, we picked him up, gave him a bath, brought him in the house and he jumped up in his “dog bed” (his sofa) and was facing the wrong way. Normally he plops himself over the arm of the sofa LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW. I think he was so mixed up with us being gone for so long that he got into this position, and let me tell you it wasn’t easy…

So if you feel like you can’t get in the swing of things, don’t worry you’re not alone! Whether it be diet (more good healthy recipes coming soon) or the need to get organized (a few tips on that as well!) we all feel that way at some point!

(And yes, the sheet on the sofa and the “blankie” makes quite the nice fashion statement, don’t you think??)

Catch you back here tomorrow!

The not tough dog toy that stood the test of time… kinda!

On January 5, 2013January 8, 2014 By Barbara StroudIn THOUGHTS4 Comments

Sometimes it’s the little things in life that make you so happy… Our niece bought Charlie some dog toys for Christmas. He. Loved. Them. We don’t buy him toys because he destroys them in ten minutes. We make one exception… Christmas. We buy him a toy and he loves it more than anything for a full ten minutes and then it is destroyed beyond belief. Lindsey bought tough-destroy-resistant toys. Nearly indestructible ones, for a normal dog. Ten minutes and *BAM* missing leg… ten minutes on the other and *BAM* missing ear… then the not-tough toy, the braided blue/green/white toy. Now THIS is the not tough dog toy that stood the test of time… kinda… I guess the term “time” is relative. For some it may be years, others months, some weeks, and a few… a day. He pulled the fuzz.. he tossed it around, he chased after it… whoa, this is the one that’s going to last! I re-wrapped it for Christmas day and he had a blast ALL DAY… the stuffing was gone, but he was good about not swallowing it. He would finish by UNBRAIDING the three pieces… and there they were… three individual pieces… which I would braid again, tie in a knot and give back… that lasted until Christmas night when there wasn’t much left to braid. So I traded him for a cookie. He was good with it. I think he was pooped! This will become a Christmas tradition! Hope you all had a nice holiday!

Thanks Lindsey!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

New Site: JamesFitzgerald.org – Monhegan paintings included!

On January 4, 2013December 23, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured Artist2 Comments

MONHEGAN FISHERMAN by James Fitzgerald

I have to say… James Fitzgerald is one of my all time favorite Monhegan artists. There are many great ones, but his style is so unique and his subject matter always so interesting. It just really makes you want to know more… the stories behind the paintings! It hasn’t always been easy to get a lot of information about James Fitzgerald, but now there is a new website that will be updated regularly. By chance do YOU own a James Fitzgerald piece? If so, please contact them so that they can make this James Fitzgerald Catalog the most current it can possibly be…

We have the James Fitzgerald book which is so interesting and full of stories… I remember the first year we stayed at the Island Inn on Monhegan Island his paintings were hanging in the dining room. I. WAS. MESMERIZED. Stunners every single one of them!

MONHEGAN FUNERAL by James Fitzgerald

Ohhhh, the stories these paintings tell! Here’s a blip about the artist from JamesFitzgerald.org – he led a fascinating life and ran into some pretty cool people along the way!

James E. Fitzgerald (1899-1971) was born in Boston, MA. By the age of four, his artistic talents were recognized, and a studio space was created for him in his parent’s attic. As a child, he would visit his grandparent’s farm in Milton, MA, where he began a lifelong love of painting horses. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1918-1919, he enrolled in the Massachusetts School of Art (1919-1923), and subsequently at the Boston Museum School (1923-24). During semester break in 1923, he shipped aboard the Elizabeth Howard out of Gloucester, MA, initially to paint and sketch, but following a violent storm that left one sailor injured, he joined the crew and learned to jump into the dories for halibut fishing off the Grand Banks. In 1925 he made his first visit to Monhegan, Maine.

In 1928, Fitzgerald sailed as an able bodied seaman on the Dorothy Luckenbach out of New York City, working his way to the West coast. Although he had intended to reach Alaska, his travels took him to Monterey, CA, where he settled, married and built a home/studio. While in Monterey, he became a part of the circle of friends who gathered at the Cannery Row marine biology laboratory of Edward ‘Doc’ Ricketts. The group included John Steinbeck, Krishnamurti, John Cage and Joseph Campbell, among others. During this time, Fitzgerald’s interest in Eastern Philosophy matured, and he brought to his art its principles, seeking to express the inner vitality or spiritual rhythm of his subjects.

Fitzgerald exhibited extensively in California during the 1930s, winning at one point first prize in the California Watercolor Society exhibition. He continued to travel east and paint on Monhegan during those years, and eventually decided to settle there in 1943. Its remoteness led to the dissolution of his marriage, and Fitzgerald, who in the 1940s had exhibited at Vose Gallery in Boston, gradually withdrew from the commercial art world.

On Monhegan, Fitzgerald became part of the year-round community, purchasing first the studio and then the house built by Rockwell Kent in the first decade of the 20th century. As a studio artist, he was seen standing for hours capturing mentally the cliffs, gulls, or fishermen as they worked, returning to his easel to paint. His images of gulls wheeling over fishermen cleaning cod on Monhegan’s Fish Beach have become iconic. In those years, a lasting friendship developed with Anne M. Hubert, who along with her husband Edgar, eventually became his executors and heirs.

For the last 25 years of his life, Fitzgerald visited Katahdin in the off-season to paint, and in the late 1960s he visited Ireland several times, where he died on the Aran Islands suddenly in April 1971. The James Fitzgerald Legacy, a part of the Monhegan Museum, represents the artist’s estate.

And hey, if you are in the position to make a donation to keep the JamesFitzgerald.org site funded, that would be much appreciated as well!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

(Photos: Monhegan Associates Facebook)

White cheddar, tomato & kale omelet! This is too good to believe!

On January 3, 2013December 13, 2013 By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, HEALTH, RecipeLeave a comment

You know what they say… eat breakfast like a KING, lunch like a PRINCE and dinner like a PAUPER… meaning, eat your biggest meal early and scale back from there. Hard to do in modern society, but if you’re home and have the option it’s worth giving it a whirl. Dr. Oz (and others) stress how important it is to get protein into your body within 30 minutes of waking up. Not easy for all of us. I just like coffee. Period. Coffee, newspaper, iPad, and peace and quiet, ha ha… then I usually hop up, drink a protein shake, head out for a walk and the day begins… This omelet is a good choice for breakfast, lunch OR dinner!

Add what you like, the more veggies the better!

I use a nonstick skillet, add a small drizzle of olive oil…. beat two eggs. Get the pan hot, add the eggs *sizzle*, I added a few grape tomatoes that I sliced up, and big handful of kale, and a small amount of shredded white cheddar cheese… cook it low and slow… then slide it out of the pan and enjoy! Catch you back here tomorrow!