Artists are different. 

Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic. 

Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world. 

I am such an artist. 

"An Artist gives:

gives visually, gives through workshops or with free advice,

through generosity of spirit and through the need to share."

~Veronica Roth

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♥  The Exception

Available on Netflix is a romantic war drama set in the WWII era, and based on the novel The Kaiser's Last Kiss. It's not one I would have readily watch based on the description, the trailer, or the publicity photos. The only reason I turned it on Friday evening was because I adore the actress Lily James. You may know her best as Cousin Rose on Downton Abbey or as the young Donna Sheridan in Momma Mia 2 - Here We Go Again. 

Although this film is historical fiction, it did open my eyes to a couple of things: 1) Not every soldier serving the Reich was a Nazi, and 2) Kaiser Wilhelm II was a king. Not sure how I completely missed that fact or that Prussia was ruled by kings up until Wilhelm II. Now I want to learn more about the history of Germany. 

In addition to Lily James, the film stars Christopher Plummer as Kaiser Wilhelm. The fact that the only other role I've known him to play was another high ranking military official threatened by the Nazi regime was not lost on me.

This film is so well written, the scenes so beautifully set, and the actors so attractive, I can't believe I've never heard of it before. And the plot nuances were so subtle, I found myself watching the movie again to pick up on clues I didn't catch the first time. Yet beware, it is rated R deservedly for violence, language, sex, nudity and adult themes. 

♥  Figs!

It's fig season at Windy Acre Cottage and the one fig tree that stands on the property is prolific!

Our Heavenly Father, revered in his majestic glory for creator of the universe and author of salvation, kindly winks at me and smiles on a daily basis. His sense of humor is subtle at times, but when you get the joke, it's not only funny, but ingeniously creative. For example, the fig. It's not a fruit. It's a flower... an inverted flower. So how in heaven's name can the butterflies and bees pollinate it for reproduction? They can't. The process requires a fig wasp. I kid you not!

The female fig wasp descends into the hard, green, inverted fig flower and lays her eggs, but this only works if she has chosen a male fig which is perfectly suitable for her wasp egg nursery. During this process, she picks up the pollen located inside the male fig and shares it with other figs. If by chance she has entered a female fig, the pollen is still deposited, but the environment is not suitable for a nursery and she dies from either starvation or exhaustion. 

Back to the male fig... the eggs hatch, first the male wasps who bore holes to help the females leave when they are hatched, and then later the female wasp babies emerge and fly out through the holes created by their brothers. And with them they take pollen to the next tree of figs. The fig wasps can not survive without the fig tree and the fig tree can not survive without the wasps. It is a totally symbiotic relationship. 

The relationship between the figs and the wasps is vital to producing figs... you need both. This is the reason I grow my figs organically. I don't want to chance killing the wasps vital to the process. So if you visit Windy Acre Cottage and want to pick a few figs, wear long sleeves and boots. You may get bitten by a bug or two. 

 

    

P.S. Yes, the dead female wasp's body remains in the female fig, but the fig will digest it. You will not find her in her original form in your fruit. Circle of life. 

♥  Southern Living Cookbooks 

 

Depending on your age and location, you, too, may have been raised with the latest edition of Southern Living magazine atop the family's living room coffee table. I was. Today, there are many magazines celebrating the southern lifestyle, but for decades none compared to Southern Living. 

Admittedly I don't subscribe to Southern Living or any magazines at the moment, though thoughtful and generous friends, family, and students have gifted me with several, various subscriptions. However, I never fail to purchase old Southern Living cookbooks when I run across them. They have the BEST recipes. 

My sister-in-law wants to make Fig Preserves from the abundance of figs being harvested daily, so I hoped to find a good recipe in these pages. 

I wasn't disappointed. 

Directions:

Coarsely chop figs and place in dutch oven. Add water to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook uncovered for 20 minutes. Drain figs and set aside. 

Combine sugar, lemon juice, and 6 cups water in Dutch oven. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Add figs, return to a boil and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add thin lemon slices and boil 30 minutes until figs are tender and clear. 

Carefully remove figs and lemon slices with a slotted spoon and set aside. Boil syrup 15 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and skim off foam with a metal spoon. Return figs to syrup. 

Pack figs and hot syrup into hot sterilized jars close to the rim. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rims. Cover immediately with lids and screw on bands. 

With this much sugar used, it should be safe to simply store in a cool, dark place until used or gifted. However you may want to process in a water bath for 5 minutes for added assurance the jam is preserved.

Yields:  8 half-pints

♥  Goods for the Study

The bucket list has a new line item. The destination is a little stationery store in New York with one location on Mulberry Street in Soho and the other in the West Village on W. 50th Street. It is the Fatherland for the pen obsessed!

I love writing as much as I love painting, but with colored pens you can do either! They also carry exquisite writing instruments, leather carrying cases, interesting notebooks, and custom stationery. They even have a fountain pen club!!

Allow me to thank friend and student Carol Hearne for the gift of a Blackwing pencil. I love it! And they carry Blackwings here, too.  

And thank you to friend and student Judy Davies for sharing with me the treasure her son-in-law inherited, a handmade wooden box filled with WWII Medals and a collection of fountain pens, pens, and mechanical pencils from the 1920s-1950s. I was in heaven!!

Goods for the Study Photo Credits: Deedee DeGelia

♥  Jolie Laide

I am fascinated by rich colors and lush words, phrases and expressions. They are the building blocks for creativity in my world full of painting and writing.

The french expression "Jolie Laide" is one I had not heard of until recently, and I'm haunted by it's meaning. Literally translated it means "Beautiful Ugly," but the connotation is much deeper. It's basically a woman who is unconventionally beautiful or attractive despite possessing physically "imperfect" or ugly features. 

Say what you will about the French, but I applaud a culture that embraces beauty in all it's forms, even the unconventional ones. In the 1980s, Cindy Crawford showed amazing courage and self-confidence by refusing to have her upper lip mole removed when a modeling agency insisted. Apparently they didn't find her asymmetrical face perfect enough to grace the covers of magazines. Boy, were they wrong!

Barbara Streisand didn't have her nose surgically altered, and Freddy Mercury didn't have his teeth fixed even though they were both scrutinized in the public spotlight and had the financial means to do so. Both more interested in perfecting their art, than their faces. 

Vive la difference!

"Love is a great beautifier."

~Louisa May Alcott

 

"Beauty is Truth."
~John Keats

 

"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful,

for beauty is God's handwriting."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

"Beauty is not in the face: beauty is a light in the heart." 

~ Kahlil Gibran 

 

 

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Adventure Awaits! Illustrated Travel Journaling Workshop

The September Adventure Awaits! Illustrated Travel Journaling Workshop is scheduled for September 14 at the Athenaeum in Columbia, Tennessee. We may even do a walking tour over a block to see the Gallaway-McKee House. This was the headquarters of cavalry genius Nathan Bedford Forrest during the Civil War, but to those of us who live in Columbia, it was most recently the home of Phil Everly from the music duo "Everly Brothers." Phil passed away in 2014. His wife Patti sold the house and moved back to California. It was purchased by Kings Daughters and is now home to their administrative offices.

To register for classes or workshops, please call me at 615-668-8263.

*NEW* Travel Journaling Workshop Open Studio

Can't make it to an all-day workshop? Or want more time and guidance to paint illustrations in your travel- or nature-journal? You may want to consider attending the Adventure Awaits! Open Studio for Illustrated Journals. Offered on September 5 from 2-3:30, you'll have an hour and a half to work in your journals using your photos from your travels, and I'll be available to assist you with any questions you may have or help you need with your illustrations. 

The Open Studio fee is only $25, and students can register by calling 615-668-8263.

 

*NEW* Creative Horizons Daily Paintings Class

Beginning September 12 at 2pm, the Creative Horizons painting class will be offered. This weekly class will focus on smaller, simpler paintings based on the national trend started back in 2004 by Duane Keiser, the father of "Daily Painting."

We will paint for an hour a small (6 x 6 up to 10 x 10) painting with a simple subject comprised of basic shapes using my 5-Step process. It's light, colorful, fun, and stress-free. Perfect for advanced students wanting more painting time or beginner students who want to learn creating easier paintings.

It's called Daily Painting because the trend sparked a movement among artists who challenged their discipline by painting and completing one painting a day. Several websites popped up to host the onslaught of miniature paintings and galleries began hosting Six Squared and Miniature shows. People who would have never considered investing in original art found where they could love and afford these miniature beauties which are priced between $10 and $1500. But more about all that in class. 

Join us won't you?

Reserve your easel by calling 615-668-8263.