I’m very happy with the richness of these colors! What do you think?
Cosmos flowers
Artistro Watercolors – why I love them!
Feeling the need to try new watercolors? Here’s one – Artistro that you’ll find both on their website http://artistro.com as well as on amazon!
It’s complete! A grab n go set stocked with everything I need – a brush, pencil with eraser and a sharpener, sponge and a brush pen – all at my fingertips!
The Colors! There are 48 of them – beautiful, vibrant and non toxic and they include 4 fluorescent and 4 metallic ones too!
AND I love how rich and deep the pigments are!
Did I mention the PACKAGING? It’s a gorgeous mint green box that is snug enough to carry in my handbag!😍 Perfect for travel!
Awesome! Isn’t it? So if you’re interested in getting one for yourself use my code SIMPLYSEEMA to get 10% off both at Artistro.com and Amazon USA, Canada, UK, and Germany!
https://artistro.com/discount/SIMPLYSEEMA
https://artistro.com/?ref=zf80liv16w
Have a wonderful day😍
Autumn themed digital products!
Autumn’s here in her deepest and most vibrant version and Thanksgiving is not very far! So here are a few digital products I’ve created to help you make this season even more memorable!
1. Glorious Autumn digital papers – Fourteen of them! In beautiful fall colors for you to use them in your scrapbooking projects, digital planners, greeting cards, party invites or anything else!
2. Beauty of Autumn digital stickers – 40 of them! Pre-cropped and individual PNGs for you to use them with your GoodNotes planner or other purposes! Cute pumpkins, pretty coffee cups, thanksgiving quotes and days of the week – you’ll find them all here!
So do stop by my etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/designsbyartsygals to see more!
Have an awesome day😍
Roses
Bokeh Ballerina
Continuing with the ‘Bokeh’ effect from my last blog post, here’s another piece you might like. I chose a ballerina this time as my main subject as it is close to my heart…Becoming a ballerina was a childhood dream! So here she is in deep blue in a bokeh cloud…..
Have an awesome day😊
The Bokeh Effect
Have you noticed that out-of-focus blur while taking a picture?
Do you see the bubble like things in the background of the painting below?
Welcome to the world of Bokeh!
I learned about painting bokeh from an art collab on Instagram where a group of artists came together to create artworks with a bokeh background.
The first time I felt like backing out as I found it very difficult to paint despite watching several videos on bokeh! I had never been this frustrated… neither of the papers I use for my watercolors proved to be useful!
I was about to throw in the towel when I picked up a scrap paper from Canson Acrylic pad (mostly used by my daughter) and decided to give one last try. I cannot express my delight at the sight of the little ‘bokeh’ effects I got right on this paper!
A little bit of the process
- Wet the paper on different places.
- Using different colors dab the brush on the wet surface.
- Add darker colors at some places.
- Let the paper dry completely.
- Using a wet brush create small circles here and there. These circles will appear faded or white depending upon how many times you use the wet brush on them. (Don’t overdo it or else the paper may start tearing) you don’t want that..right?
- Ta-da! Your bokeh is ready!
Hope you enjoyed this post!
Have an awesome day😊👩🎨
Still summer
Hello how’re you all doing? It’s been more than a while since I last posted anything here on WordPress! So here I am sharing something that I most love – my art!
And here are closeups of some of them!
Have a lovely weekend😍
Tulips on the window
A bunch of tulips is what I need to spruce up this little corner in my kitchen and with the bright spring morning light streaming through the windows, everything feels ok…..
…..the simple things!!
Happy Earth Day to all!
Let’s continue to reduce (waste), reuse and recycle (whatever we can) and restore this beautiful planet. After all we only have one of its kind!
As an artist I reuse my old or not-so-great artwork by cutting them out and saving them to embellish future scrapbooks or greeting cards! I reuse pickle jars to hold my brushes or water. I also save my old paintbrushes for painting with masking fluid or stirring paint. And I’m desperately seeking a way to create new paper from the discarded pile…
Around the time pandemic started, I turned vegetarian. I bought some sturdy 100% cotton bags to buy grocery. I started cooking more and buying and consuming less processed food. I realized this in itself led to less paper and plastic waste. Using cloth over paper, reusables over disposables was a major turning point!
I’m still working towards living as green as possible. It’s a journey and the goal is to reduce the burden on the planet as much as possible. What I’ve learned is it’s ok to have an occasional slip up (sometimes I forget my cotton bag or have run out of them and sometimes it’s not possible to recycle). It’s the intention and the awareness that matters and that is enough to save our planet.
Have a beautiful day🤗💕🌱🌸🌈🌎
The cottage in the hills
There’s a sweet little cottage in the hills tucked away near a cluster of evergreen pines. No one knows who lives there!
Each morning a pair of bluebirds meet on the branch of a pink blossom tree. They sing and flutter over the roses, peek under the daisies and peck at the purple lupines. Sometimes they race each other to the chimney on the cottage.
And before dusk arrives, they’re back on their spot on the pink blossom branch. Only they know who lives up there in the hills!
Spring in the meadows
Just another beautiful spring day up here in the meadows under the warm sun and a clear blue sky, among the scarlet, blue and yellow hued blossoms…
A lovely day for this pair, pausing to soak up some sun….
Have a wonderful day!!😊🌸
The Spring Garden
This painting has been inspired by the memory of my grandparents’ garden back in India. There was this river stone studded path that ran from the patio all the way to the main gate.
On either side of that path were fragrant flowers that graced the flowerbeds, a dense litchi orchard and a pretty little pond inhabited by a turtle, some fish and a few lotus flowers.
There was this bright red swing set in the middle of the orchard that my brother and I loved to visit everyday. There were so many secret little places to play hide and seek, fish to observe, bird songs to listen to and the fresh air of the valley to breathe in.
Their home and garden have been renovated since then and a lot of things have changed but the memories of holidays spent at my grandparents have not.
So when a group of artist friends and I picked up a collaboration theme – Spring Garden, my thoughts floated back to those sweet moments spent in a forever spring garden – in the cool shade of the litchi trees where dragonflies followed the fragrance of sweet smelling roses and tulips and one little turtle lazed under the afternoon sun between the lotus blossoms.
Have a great Sunday😊🌸🍄🪴
A walk in the woods
A path in the woods lined by tall oaks and the scent of wildflowers permeates the air….
Do I hear a babbling brook somewhere?
Finally a clearing…bluebells and wild mushrooms lining a clear stream and the scent of fresh pine in the air…..
Did you enjoy this stroll in the woods?
Deep in the forest
I’ve always been in awe of the woodlands. The tall pines and oaks, gurgling of the clear streams, the wild berries, and sunlight making its way through the tangled branches….it’s almost as if I’m standing right there taking in the freshness of the pines!
Where are these memories originating from? Is it those long hours of Enid Blyton books I devoured as a kid? Or those hikes I went on with my family? Maybe a little of both!
Nonetheless the woodland is a beautiful, whimsical place! I sometimes wonder what secrets this place holds. Do you?
Flowers and memories from another time
I love flowers – appreciating, painting and photographing!
But whatever little I know about flowers I learned from my mom. She paints as well as plants them and when she talks about them you can simply feel the joyous energy wrap around you!
I remember rows of flowers – dahlias, roses, sunflowers, zinnias and so many others that lined the fence around our home. And I remember the loving care that my mom put into nurturing those beauties that she referred to as her kids sometimes!
As I posted this artwork on instagram today, I was reminded of my mom’s garden, the fence lined with blossoms in pinks, yellows and reds, and the sun shining down brightly on the perfectly manicured green lawn.
Loose watercolor flowers
March is here and guess what? Spring is coming (soon)! I’m looking forward to warmer weather! Are you?
Have a great week😊
New Redbubble Digital pattern!
Nothing brightens up the day like roses! Right?
New digital products launch!
Looking for some special last minute Valentine themed digital items? I’ve just introduced two new products at my shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/designsbyartsygals
1. Hearts and Roses Patterned digital papers – there are 10 of them in pink and lilac! They have been created on the procreate app and measure 10”x10” each. Ideal for scrapbooking, digital planning, making greeting cards or party invites!
2. Cupcakes, Roses and Hearts Digital Stickers – available as pre-cropped for your digital planner on GoodNotes as well as individual PNGs for other uses! There are over 40 of them including messages and words. All of these have been created using the procreate app.
Happy Valentine’s Day and thank you for stopping by😊😊
Good ol’ vibes
Books always give me good ol’ vibes! The always take me back to the summers when I visited my grandparents, to the library my little brother and I sneaked into, to the pages – some yellowing and others crisp where we’d lose ourselves for hours.
Watercoloring a succulent
I started painting a succulent last night and simply couldn’t put down my paintbrush. It was such a meditative experience!
If you have not yet, you should definitely give this a try! Painting one leaf at a time, layer after layer, in shades of greens and a little turquoise here and there – I lost track of time!
Have a peaceful weekend😊🙏🏼
Sofa
I’m mostly a floral person so I’d never imagined painting something so simple such as a sofa would be so much fun and interesting! And that’s the whole point behind art challenges! They help you grow and expand your perspective.
Here’s another prompt – sofa!
Have a great week😊
Art prompt – Door
Leading us into the new – hopes and dreams,
Welcoming us back to the comfort of our homes,
Simple, plain, ornate or fancy,
That’s our door
Have a great weekend😍
A watercolor Galaxy
The prompt from an art challenge on my instagram feed stated – Blues, Purples and Violets and I thought how about a “Galaxy”!
So here’s the final product! I usually don’t paint these (maybe they seem a little daunting) but this time I wanted to try something new – to get out of my comfort zone. I tried several techniques before settling for one where I started with some empty white space in the sky gradually adding colors around the space and creating some drama to the sky! The best part was using the Winsor and Newton art masking fluid (for the first time) to create the starry sky and the crescent moon.
Stay safe and have a great day!!
Digital stickers for Goodnotes
In my last post I talked about digital pattern papers. In today’s post I’ll talk about digital stickers. But before I do so let me talk a little about digital planners as they were the reason I created these stickers.
I used to be happy with the organic process of writing, doodling and sometimes even water coloring in my paper planner but for sometime I’d been realizing a need for something more easily accessible like a digital planner (at my fingertips)!
So I decided to try one out. I created a very simple planner using Keynote which comes along with the iPad and then downloaded the planner into the Goodnotes app (a one time purchase). I also created a few stickers on Procreate and dropped them into the goodnotes app before cropping them.
Now I had both the planner as well as the stickers in one app. I started planning out all my to-do lists here taking a lot of help from the stickers! This really sped up my creative process and helped me become more efficient. While I worked on improving my digital planner I also created some more stickers that I put up in my etsy shop.
These stickers are precropped for Goodnotes which means when you purchase and download the sticker files you only need to drag them into your planner. You can then crop them further if you want to. There’s also a zip file with 2 PNG sticker sheets which you can use for other purposes. There are a total of 25 stickers in shades of blue.
Thank you for stopping by! Stay safe and have a great week.
Calm Blue Digital Patterns – the product and the process
Here is the design(s) in blue I was referring to in my last post. I’ve been experimenting with digital patterns lately and have fallen in love with the process of creating them on Procreate app.
Product
This time I am bringing a set of 10 digital pattern papers. Each one is 12x12in and has been created on a procreate canvas with a resolution of 300 DPI. You might recognize one of them ( the one with small blue flowers ) from my last post.
These can either be printed out to be used for crafts, cards or scrapbooking purposes OR simply used digitally as backgrounds or wallpapers. Although they are 12×12 in they would still work for 8.5x11in projects.
Process
1. I started out creating each pattern on a 12x12in Procreate canvas using a resolution of 300 dpi (dots per inch). This is important if you want a crisp image.
2. Using the app Canva I created a few mockup images for a better presentation. It’s totally up to you and with Canva you can go totally crazy (creatively)!
3. The final step is uploading the images on Etsy and filling in the boxes. You can save as draft until you’re ready to publish it.
In my next post I will talk about my other product – digital stickers and how you create them!
Pretty Blue Flowers
This is the name of my new design that I have up in my redbubble shop that I co-own with my daughter. Since it’s my favorite color I decided to begin the year playing with this hue in my digital designs.
Here’s what it looks like on some of the items you’ll find in my shop.
In my next post I’ll introduce some more digital designs I have created in shades of Blue!
Hello
Hello again!
Some of you must be familiar with this herb called Holy Basil also known as Tulsi in India. It’s a fragrant herb used as an ingredient both in cooking as well as in traditional medicine like Ayurveda!
It seems strange but as I looked at the art prompt “houseplants”yesterday on instagram, the first thing that came to mind was this herb with memories of the pretty plant sitting snug in a clay pot in my mom’s yard.
What I remember most about it growing up in India was the “tulsi tea” that my mom often brewed to cure a cough. She plucked fresh leaves and let them boil in the water along with tea leaves before adding some milk and sugar. I loved that tea – the fragrance and the warmth of it all.
So this is it for now. I hope to write more often.
Take care and stay safe!
Wild poppies and buttercups
If you’re like me and already missing summer (here in the northern hemisphere), here’s a cheerful summery digital illustration of wild poppies and buttercups for you! I’ve created this on procreate app on a canvas 10 in x 10 in. The inspiration came from some watercolor poppies I had painted sometime ago!
http://designsbyartsygals.etsy.com
The same print is also available on various items in my red bubble shop! You can find them on tapestry, stickers, tote bags, journal covers and several other items besides the ones below.
Thank you for stopping by! Have a happy thanksgiving!
Teacup Flowers
Do you like teacups? Floral, plain, tiny, dainty, and vintage? I love them all! My favorite thing to do while browsing through the aisles of a home goods store is to stop and breathe in the beauty of these exquisite things. I think one just cannot have enough of these!
And they aren’t just for tea you know that. Right? Let them overflow with some pretty blossoms!
Here is a set of 2 miniature watercolor pieces of dahlias, peonies, and a few buttercups in teacups. They are painted on cold pressed paper. Each is 5.5 inches in height and 4.5 inches in width. Look out for these beauties in my Etsy store!
Fall Foliage Pattern
Fall is here and so are the beautiful shades of amber, scarlet and mahogany! I made this digital pattern using some of my original watercolor artwork as an inspiration.
Dress up your couch with this fall themed throw pillow!
Maybe spruce up your phone cover with some fall leaves!
This tall mug would make a pretty gift!
This pretty mask with glasses-friendly nose wire is available in adult and small sizes.
These are examples of some of the products you’ll find at my redbubble shop. Thank you for stopping by! Have a great week!
Coffee in San Francisco – Two versions!
A photograph from my trip to San Francisco inspired me to make a watercolor art for an Instagram Challenge and since I had just acquired the app Procreate and was in love with it, I decided to digitalize the watercolor! It was and is a great way to explore and experiment with the myriad of tools that Procreate offers.
And finally the photograph that inspired it all! I still remember that day two years ago – windy but beautiful and the view of the Golden Gate Bridge – breathtaking!!!
And by the way the digital version is up on my Redbubble store!
Pretty Little Birds in Watercolor
Here is something to bring some cheer to your walls all year round. This is a set of four watercolor paintings that illustrate different birds in various settings. Each painting is 5 in x 4.5 in.
Please scroll down for a detailed picture and description of each bird.
A yellow warbler on a wisteria branch! Spring is here and the days are beginning to get longer.
A bluebird sitting on a branch of a golden chain tree. This takes me back to summer!! Anyone else missing summer already?
A little robin perched on a pine branch. She is a busy bee these days with the days getting shorter and cooler!
A cardinal on a juniper branch! Here in Texas even though I see these birds year round I somehow attach them to winter most! I wonder if it’s their color that complements the festive season or does that brilliant redness brighten up the shorter days of winter??❤️
You can buy these little beauties in a set from my etsy shop Artsy gals!
Whimsical forest
Deep in the forest flows a babbling stream lined with tall blue grass and scarlet red mushrooms. Dragonflies dance in the sunlight streaming through the tall foliage. There’s a cool breeze blowing. In between an occasional croak, and the warbler’s notes lies a soft hush.
Hours go by in this quiet little place. Sunlight begins to retrace its steps and in the light of the setting sun the dragonflies begin to change little by little. One rests on a rock…..
Welcome to the land of whimsical!
My Etsy shop
I recently opened a shop called Designsbyartsygals on Etsy with my daughter!
I mostly use watercolor and love to paint flowers especially poppies. I can always feel the summer breeze when I paint poppies. I also love peonies – there’s just something about the arrangement of their petals and their overall shape that makes them so beautiful.
I also love painting landscapes mostly simplistic. Here’s one I did from a memory of a visit to South Beach, Miami. I was blown away by the warm blue green waters and the vast expanse of the golden beach.
Here are two more mini landscapes I did in watercolor. You will find them all in my shop!
And here are some of my daughter’s artwork you will find in my etsy shop. They have been done in acrylic. The left one is called Minimalistic Abstract Art’ and the right one is called Glittering Ocean Waves.
Please do stop by our shop and have a look at our art. Many thanks:)))
Redbubble
Some time ago my daughter and I opened a shop called Artsygals on Redbubble. For those of you who don’t know Redbubble is an online market that sells print-on-demand products based on the artist’s designs. It is a good starting point for any artist who wants to share their work with the world as well as make some money out of that (although that might take some time)!
So I invite you to visit our shop and have a look at some of our designs and artwork on a variety of products….
The above two are examples of my floral watercolor art on products. The following two cacti designs are examples of my daughter’s artwork on products. She likes to work with watercolor, gouache, and acrylics mostly while I like to work with watercolors mostly.
Do stop by our shop and have a look at our work. Thank you!!!
Wild spirit
I only wanted to paint the tiny perfume bottle! Believe me!! Sometimes one idea leads to another. Right?
Mints, Anyone?
I love the flavor and fragrance of mint. To me Mint spells “fresh”, “clean”, “summer”. I mostly use mint in its herb form as a garnish or as a spicy condiment but it is also a blessing for an upset tummy just as well. I also keep a mixture of peppermint, eucalyptus and lemongrass essential oils for the occasional aches and pains. This also works as a great pick-me-up to fight the blahs.
Coming back to the mint ‘herb’, the very first thing I do is to wash the herbs in cold water and drain off any excess water. Next I snip off any leaves that are spoiled. After this I select one good length for all the stems and remove any lower end leaves if needed (I always end up with a good number of them) and then cut the stems so that they are all almost of the same length.
So first with the leaves…
I keep some for the recipes I need right away. I spread the remaining leaves on a paper towel on the kitchen counter top for 1-2 days keeping them covered with another towel especially at night. After a day they dry up and shrivel in size but retain their fragrance. I usually give them another day to dry completely as any moisture left in them might cause spoilage. Next I store them in a clean bottle or jar and there you have it – your dry mint herb.
How do I use these?
I use them in pasta sauce or while cooking ethnic Indian food by crushing them and sprinkling over the dish mostly in the end to jazz up the overall flavor! Sometimes I also use a couple of leaves in my morning tea.
Now we are left with mint leaves on stem. What should I do with them?
I use them in one of two ways. I put some of them in a small glass jar filled with just enough water to submerge the ends of the stems and leave them as such in the fridge (a good way to get rid of the odor)! This way anytime I need fresh garnish it’s there. The other option is to make a green ‘Condiment’ or ‘chutney’.
The Recipes
Here are the 2 recipes of Mint Chutney that best accompany Indian snacks and meals. But don’t just stop there! Try them with potato fries and mozzarella sticks also! They can be stored in a clean jar for 1-2 days in the refrigerator. I have kept Mint Cilantro Chutney frozen for a few weeks. It becomes darker in color but retains its flavor (and that’s what matters, right?) If frozen, it needs to be thawed before use. I have not tried freezing Sesame Mint Chutney however. Maybe I’ll try it sometime.
RECIPE 1 – Quick Sesame Mint Chutney
Ingredients
Sesame seeds – 3 Tbsp roasted lightly
Mint leaves – 1/4 cup
Ginger – 1/2 Tbsp chopped
Green chillies – as per taste
Salt – as per taste
Lemon juice as per taste
Method
Blend all the ingredients together. You may have to add some water if the mixture is too thick. You can also add more or less leaves as per your desired taste. Add some lemon juice at the end!
RECIPE 2 Easy Mint Cilantro Chutney
Ingredients
Mint leaves – 1 cup
Cilantro leaves – 1 cup
Green chillies – as per taste
Ginger – 1/2 Tbsp chopped
Tomato – 1/2 cup chopped
Salt – as per taste
Lemon juice – as per taste
Method
Blend all the ingredients. Add a little water if the mixture is too thick but don’t let it become too runny. Add the lemon juice in the end.
So there you have – some interesting uses for mint leaves! If you have any other ideas or tips please share. I would love to hear from you.
Sunset in Yellowstone
A watercolor painting inspired by a photo of Yellowstone Park I found on unsplash. I loved the sunset scene and the beauty of the sky reflecting upon the water. So I tried to recapture that in my painting!
Update on Green Living
I am proud to say that I have avoided bringing at least 150 plastic bags into my home in the last 2 months! And I feel good about it. If you look at my previous post https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/happytimebreak.wordpress.com/1170 I talked about the steps I’d been taking to try to live a greener lifestyle despite the pandemic. I just want to share some updates on this topic.
So first of all I was very pleased with the set of 4 cotton bags (Red Earth brand) I’d ordered from Amazon. These are sturdy bags with at least six side pockets on the inside which is very handy while loading bottles or jars. They did shrink a little after machine wash (I do wash them in quick wash setting after every grocery trip in cold water and then air dry them).
But soon I realized they were not enough so I ordered a set of 5 cotton canvas bags as well as a set of 10 cotton mesh bags. The latter came in large, medium and small sizes and I use them for buying produce. I wash the canvas bags in machine but hand wash the mesh ones. And yes ALL of them did shrink as they are made of 100% cotton but they are still roomy enough for the average grocery shopping trip.
Loading grocery in the cotton bags followed by unloading, washing, drying, and folding them may seem like a tedious process but in the end it’s all worth it especially when I look back on the number of plastic bags that I avoided bringing into my home and sending them to the recycling center!
Yes often we kid ourselves into thinking that we’ve done a great job at recycling but not every piece of plastic gets recycled and if they do, some of them are turned into products that may not be able to be recycled further! So it just makes sense to “avoid” getting plastic and non recyclable things into our homes in the first place!
Hope this post inspires anyone out there who is trying to get started on living sustainably. More in a future post!
Growth as an artist
The inspiration to paint this came from an earlier and similar watercolor I’d done last year around the same time. So I decided to redo the older one with a fresh perspective! (If you scroll down all the way you’ll find it).
So here it is – a beautiful morning, the sun slowly rising behind the mountains, its rays lighting up the top of the mountains and the lavender fields!
And here’s the older version from last year. Sometimes I think it is a good exercise to redo an older piece of art or take inspiration from one. After completing the painting I could assess how much I had grown as an artist.
A jar of cheer!
A mason jar is one of the prettiest things around the kitchen! Serve creamy coffee in it, sip lemonade from it or….stick some pretty flowers into it and uplift the energy of the room!
Floral Illustrations in Pen
Here are two illustrations I drew using Micron pens in 01 and 05. I had never attempted this before so I was quite nervous when I took up the draw-with-me challenge on Instagram.
The first one is an illustration of Hydrangeas something I love to watercolor. It was a little tedious drawing so many little flowers. But I was happy how it turned out!
And this is an illustration of Anemone. I had never painted this before so had to take inspiration from photographs. I actually fell in love with this flower! I am looking forward to paint them in watercolors soon.
What I discovered was watercoloring and illustrating with pen were two very different things – night and day – more or less. When I watercolor I allow myself to glide into a dream – really! I let my paintbrush flow with a mind of its own. It is almost like a dance. But when I draw (with a pen), it is a different story. I have to be very focused (no dreaming please)! A lot of detailing is involved in the process. At least this is what I experienced while illustrating these flowers.
In the end I loved the result and would like to create more floral illustrations using pen!
Sweet spot on Lake Tahoe
The other day I was browsing through some pictures from a vacation when I came across a few from Baldwin Beach, a quiet little beach on Lake Tahoe. There was this picturesque spot a little away from the beach and just before hitting the road. It seemed like a mini lake with ducks gently paddling away in the blue waters laced with tall grass waving in the summer breeze.
I just had to relive the moment, this time with watercolors!
Yosemite memories
A watercolor painting of Yosemite inspired by a photograph!
Two summers ago I visited Yosemite National Park. Memories of standing at the base of El Capitan, a granite monolith over 7,000 feet tall and listening to the thunder of Yosemite Falls made me feel like a grain of sand or maybe an ant! I remember the grueling climb to the top of Vernal Falls and back to the base where the peaceful Merced flowed. Every minute spent there – in the meadows under the sun or near the roaring waterfalls – was filled with awe and admiration for the majestic beauty of nature. It’s impossible to come out of that experience the same!
Mini Landscapes
Here’s a collage of a few mini landscapes I’d been working on during the month of June. Whenever I felt inspired by a picture or memory, I would loosely paint a version of that. Sometimes I painted something out of my imagination!
This one was inspired by the memory of the warm waters of Key West, Florida.
I think I was thinking of the sun just about to rise and the soft rays bringing things to life….
The majestic El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California of course!
By the morning light
I love painting by the window as the sunlight dances on my paper and paints. The dappled sunlight brings every flower to life. I love to see the water turning a deep shade of pink, yellow and lilac like the flowers on the page.
Blueberries
It was a cloudy day and I was looking around for something to inspire me to paint. I peeked into the refrigerator and found some left over blueberries. I took a cup and carelessly dropped the blueberries into it letting some scatter around it and voila! this turned into a perfect piece of inspiration.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Comfort food
Thought I should do something different for breakfast so instead of the usual oats I decided to prepare some cream of rice that I had bought last year for a dessert recipe I had seen on youtube. And I am so glad I did because it tasted absolutely heavenly! It turned out to be an easy recipe too. I am happy to say it is now a part of my list of comfort foods.
Cream of rice is gluten free as well as fat and cholesterol free. It is a good source of minerals like iron, manganese and selenium and vitamin Bs like thiamine and niacin. What’s more it is also easily digestible.
Ingredients
Milk – 1 1/2 cups
Cream of rice – 2 tbsp mixed with a little water
Almonds – chopped 1 1/2 tbsp
Walnuts – chopped 1 tbsp
Raisins – 1 tbsp
Cardamom powder – pinch
Any kind of sweetener – as per taste
Method
- Heat the milk on medium and let it come to a simmer.
- Add the rice and water mixture to the milk and stir. As the entire mixture starts thickening, turn off the heat and add the rest of the ingredients reserving 1/2 tbsp of almonds for garnish.
- If the mixture becomes too thick add a little more milk to thin it.
Note – Instead of cardamom you may add 1/4 tsp of vanilla.
Enjoy
Living a Greener Life
Ever since the pandemic started I have become startled at the ‘waste’ being generated. I am also shocked at how much we ‘need’ to survive. Every time I shop whether in person or online I am appalled at the quantity of plastic, metal and paper that makes its way into my home and sadly some of this is not even recyclable. To make things more difficult the local grocery store has discontinued its bulk food which just means more plastic packages!
The problem with plastic especially is as I learned that only a small percentage of gets recycled while the rest makes its way into the landfills where, by the way, it can not biodegrade, so it just sits there. Just imagine that!
So here are a few steps I have been taking in order to tackle this problem.
- Cotton Bags First of all I bought a couple of bags made of 100% pure cotton. I machine wash them after every shopping trip and they are good to go!
- Substituting Paper Towels for Cotton As much as possible I have replaced the use of kitchen paper towels with cotton towels – ones you can machine wash and reuse.
- Glass Jars I try to buy food such as pasta sauce and condiments that come in glass jars as they are easier to reuse or recycle. After the contents are emptied, I like to look for creative ways to use the pretty glass jars. For example, I have one for holding all the paintbrushes.
- Reusable Bottles I have replaced the bottled water with a stainless steel water bottle. Recently I also bought a pack of reusable straws that come in pretty colors!
- Homemade Skin Care Skin care products in plastic containers are another source of unwanted pollution. I use a homemade facial oil made with essential oils and store it in an amber glass bottle. https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/happytimebreak.wordpress.com/126 However I cannot replace every skin care product. So I do use some of them products but with a mindful approach.
- Cloth Masks During quarantine I also decided to make the switch to a more sustainable version of protection – cloth masks made of 100% cotton that are totally washable and reusable.
Everyday I am learning about sustainable options and trying to incorporate them into my life. It gives me the deepest satisfaction to know I am making a difference on this planet even if it is miniscule.
If you have more ideas about how to make sustainable choices please leave your comments. I will love to hear from you.
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle as much as possible.
Loose abstract poppies
My summer
So a week ago I hosted a watercolor challenge (on the suggestion of my daughter) on IG! It was a mini challenge with prompts related to my favorite season – Summer! And I’m going to share my work from that challenge. It was a wonderful experience and it was refreshing to see some very beautiful pieces of artworks by talented artists on instagram.
My favorite summer dessert!
I used to love the mountains and streams (and I still do) but the sea has changed me. The wide blue skies, the turquoise waters and the golden beach….need I say more?
I totally believe in this quote by Kellie Elmore. Do you?
What is your favorite thing to do on summer days/evenings? Stargazing is one of my fav activities (not just during summer) and whenever I spot the Orion I’m ecstatic!
Florals are my favorite things to paint not just with watercolors but also digitally on procreate. And dragonflies have become my signature style as I just can’t stop painting them!
Tell me what do you love most about summer? I would really love to hear from you!
Until the next post😀
Happy Time Break 