Three

From Orchards Fields and Gardens with cover art by Anna Emilia Laitinen

My copy of From Orchards, Fields, and Gardens arrived and I have to tell you that it is such an inspiring collection, truly one of the best I've seen. Kerstin Svendsen has curated, designed and published a smart and beautiful book. It is comprised of writings, personal histories, photography and artwork about gardening, good food, agriculture, and more so if you enjoy any of those topics, you will find something special inside the pages of FromOF&G. It came at just the right time for me personally and reading the contributors' stories has given me a sense of refreshment, since I've been feeling sad that summer and summer gardening are coming to a close. I am also very happy to have a small watercolor painting included. Learn more about Kerstin's project, see some peeks of the inside and pick up your copy here.

One of my favorite spreads in the book, by Shari

It was fun to guest blog at design is mine while Summer was away. Thank you Summer.

I made a new blog banner, which I tend to do every six months or so, as it's a fun exercise to collage different bits of my drawings together. And I suppose it's a small way to celebrate the fact that this blog turns three years old today.

:)
H

Friday morning noticings

film shot from my recent vacation

I like noticing the little things around me, don't you? Almost like a child does. Perhaps it helps wake me up, shakes me from grown-up complacency that can set in and veil the beauty and mystery that is around us all the time. This morning on my walk I saw acorns in little piles at the base of trees and stepped over cicadas with their white, chalky bellies face up on the sidewalk. Dried up brown sycamore leaves are falling and the sun in it's angle downward is creating shade again behind trees; no more straight up in the sky sun. Does this mean the season is turning? Turning from beginnings to endings? Already?

Even so this week we planted beet, mesclun salad mix, bok choy, spinach, kohlrabi, and collard seeds for our fall garden in plots where our spring plantings had died. There's still time for new growth.

Before I go, I want to thank you so much for your encouragement about my book, Water Paper Paint. That's something else I was thinking about on my walk this morning, how grateful I am to you for all your kind acceptance of this work. It means a lot for you to share that with me. I hope this book will be helpful, inspiring and valuable to people.

And thank you to Rachel and Alicia for spreading the word. Don't miss Alicia's giveaway of an awesome leather cuff bracelet she made!

Have a good weekend,

H

My book Water Paper Paint is available for pre-order!

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I would soon be sharing my book cover with you. Well, earlier today the cover proof (shown above) for my book Water Paper Paint, Exploring Creativity with Watercolor and Mixed Media arrived in the mail, then I got so excited that I promptly put together a newsletter to subscribers. And now I'm thrilled to share it with you!

For those of you who may be new here, Water Paper Paint is a project I have been writing and working on for over a year and is written for any creative person who wants to learn and explore watercolor. The book evokes the feeling of an artist's journal and is full of information, projects and inspiring visuals. It has nearly two hundred process and finished product shots photographed by my friend and artist Rachel Saldana and a gallery section I curated of paintings by contemporary artists working in watercolor. Water Paper Paint is being published by Quarry Books and will release January 1, 2011.

And I am so excited to announce it is now available for pre-order!

Wahoo!
H

ps. I wanted to put exclamation points all over the place in this post but really had to restrain myself. :)
pps. Feel free to share the news.

shooting stars

One of my favorite summer vegetables is okra. More than any other in our garden, I look forward to watching the buttery blooms form fruits like shooting stars, and gathering handfuls each day. Early this morning around 5am I got up and stood on the balcony hoping and waiting and yes, I saw one meteor. It was a gift. I wasn't expecting to be able to see any here in town, especially with the street lamp blaring, but one dashed beside the little dipper.

We have a full weekend ahead, today we celebrate a house project my husband's company just completed, wahoo! Then on Sunday celebrating and remembering the life of his grandma who passed away this week.

I'll be taking an extended weekend so see you back around Tuesday,

H

Umbrellas

In the mailbox this afternoon was the roll of film from my beach trip [I have to send film off to KC now that our local photo shop closed :(] My sister and I set up our little camp right there most days, going either in the morning or late afternoon. The third photo I took here in town but on the roll it just happened to be next to the middle photo and I liked them together. You have to look closely to find the umbrella in that second shot.

You know, I've got a mental block on learning how to can fruits or vegetables, but if we could figure out how to "can" that summer feeling of being at the beach, I think I'd learn.