THE SCARY SPIDER BOX!

"The Spider Box" 

original art work by Julie Jacobsen all rights reserved

constructed by Chris Jacobsen

So, tonight my son, Charlie, asked me if I had written on my blog recently and I sheepishly said, "No but I've watched a lot of kitty videos on Facebook".  Bad.  Bad.  Bad!  So, that got me off my you know what and I decided to show my most recent project.  

Chris gave me a box like this years ago and he had taped a licorice wrapper on it because he KNEW I would be a fool and fall for it.  So what happened.....I eagerly opened the box and promptly had a heart attack and died.  Well, the second part isn't true.  I'm still here but I did scream my head off.

After that we embraced the spider box and there have been many an unsuspecting victim that we have pulled it on (kind of like the fake poopy diaper that  we wore out from overuse-so so fun).  Many years went by and Chris decided to figure out how to make it.  The original spider box he bought.  Smart guy that he is (I don't know how he did it) he made one!  I've actually painted 3.  They are so much fun!   Just think.  The box is so inviting!  This particular box theme is everything licorice because the person we're giving it to loves it.  We hope they'll get many years of fun out of it.  I'm going to put a rock hard finish on it and we'll hope the spider doesn't get yanked out by grandchildren.  Hahaha.  The spider that's in one of the other boxes that we made has been played with so much by our granddaughters that it's kind of pokey coming out of his hole.  He might need a repair soon.  As we were Face Timing today we watched the 1 year old, Rinnie, open it up and give the spider a kiss.  Too funny!  It makes all the work worth it to see that.

I hope you can get a good idea of how these look.  For some reason the photos are blurry.  I may have to change the image size but not tonight!

*I did but to no avail.  So I left all but the first one small. You can click on each one to see the detail better.

**I take it back.  When you click on them they're even smaller.  I think you might be able to stretch them on a phone or IPad.  Oh well.  I should have used my regular camera but I don't think the colors are as good as with my IPhone.
 

Don't let the spiders get you tonight!  Hahahahaha!    

Finally "You're My Cousin Buddy" is finished!

"You're My Cousin Buddy" by Julie Jacobsen

I know this took me a long long time but you have to understand that I had so many things going on
at home that I just couldn't quite get it done.  One of the things was another painting that I did for my husband's nephew's wedding present.  Once I completed that I was able to get back to this project.

Now, I don't know if I have mentioned this before but I painted this on a wrap around canvas.  So I had to continue the painting onto each side.  More work on that end but the best part is I won't have to frame it.  It's ready to hang!  Yay!

I really love this painting as I feel like it's a good composition.  It keeps your eye wondering around in a circle.  It's unified in all ways.  These are my grandchildren, Brandon and Kyra, and I love them too!   It's an intimate portrait showing their bond with each other.  That makes for a successful painting, I think.  I accomplished what I set out to do.  I also left this a little rougher than my usual portraits.  I wanted it to be more painterly.

Now it's onto the next project:  another small wedding painting for my husband's brother that got married last year.   Oh and I'll have to post the other one that was completed.

DOODLES! How I love them!

A doodle - Julie Jacobsen

Just a fun little doodle.  I've read some fantasy books lately and that kind of got me in the mood for this.  Another thing I thought about was when the Arboretum started at the University of Utah when my kids were little. It used to be you could walk around the area more freely.  There was a part that was like this.  Actually it was oak trees that surrounded you as you walked through a kind of tunnel of vegetation.  I remember feeling a little on edge each time we went there because it's by Red Butte Canyon and there are a lot of rattlesnakes up there.  We never saw one at that time but I did years later at the more formal gardens-a snake slivering through the beautiful flowers.  Creepy! 

This drawing also reminds me of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow".  Can you see the tree stump that almost looks like a man?  Hmmmm.  Eerie, right?

IF ROSES WERE POLKA DOTTED, ETC.

 "Perky Petals"  Julie Jacobsen

Well, here's another of my doodles that I did in church.  I love patterns and, I guess, that would be an Asian influence in my art.  Plus I love flowers and drawing them.  Good combination, I think.  What do you think?

It's done! THE TABLE PAINTING (well it's really marker)!

"Breathing Colors" - Julie Jacobsen

Okay.  I had sooooooo much fun with this!  I was in danger of "eating my painting".  Meaning overworking it.  I could have gone on forever.  I just loved the malleable aspects of the Sharpie pens.  If you do it on unfinished canvas cloth then you can get all sorts of dry brush effects, along with the think applications that you associate with markers.  Plus!  They're transparent and you can layer them!  What more could you want?  Well, I'm hoping for permanence.   I did a test a while back with them.  I drew a marker on a scrap of canvas and left it out in the brilliant sun for a few days and I couldn't see any difference.  So I feel like it should be great in the house.  Plus if it does fade I can paint over it with paint.  It's canvas, right?  Why not.

What I like about this is that it almost gives a stained glass quality to it.  Flipping it on the wrong side it looks pretty interesting too.  

I have to do more of these!!!!!  Hope you like it!

Now, I find that honesty is the best policy.  I found a photo of the birds on the internet.  So, if I wanted to make a million dollars on this design I would have to get permission from the photographer.  I'm not planning on doing that.  But if I did want to do that I would have to just redo this and use a photo of some birds that I took myself or get the required permission.

YOUNG CHRIS AND THE ROCKET!

"Young Chris and the Rocket" - Julie Jacobsen

Here it is!  This is the painting that I gave to the garbage man!  I am so mad at myself!  Remember I said I tried to fix it after too many years and I messed it up.  Why, oh why, didn't I just cut out the part with Chris and the car?  Better yet-why didn't I just stick it in a corner and let it be?  But nooooooo-I just couldn't leave it alone.  I should have ignored the fact that the landscape didn't fully match the cabin area.  Dummy!  I really like it.  "Garbage Man, wherever you are, I would love to get this painting back!"  Well, that's not going to happen.  Do you think there's a website for all the garbage men that ever was?  Probably not.  

So, let this be a lesson to all of you out there.  Don't pitch a painting that has sentimental value and good elements in it!  

 

close up "Young Chris and the Rocket" - Julie Jacobsen

Well, these pics aren't very great because I just couldn't get this to focus right but I'll have to get a professional to do it or something.  Anyway, this is the part, at least, that I should have kept.

By the way, this is Chris in high school, I think.  It's a photo I borrowed from his friend.  See his red hair!  The Rocket was an old car that was his dad's.  I just can't believe that they drove this thing into the Uintah Mountains in the winter time!  He said the tires were so bad they had to load the trunk with spares because they would get so many flat tires on the way there.  The hand gesture was a typical "Chris mannerism".  I haven't seen him do it for years but he used to all the time.  By the way-this is a composite composition.  That's why I didn't know how the landscape looked.  I just had 2 separate photos of the cabin and Chris.  I had only been to this cabin once years before and couldn't remember what it all looked like.  I painted this for him as a surprise when we were dating.  Here comes another lesson:  never give someone a surprise party when you're dating and don't really know how they feel about these things.  He was not a happy boy at all....ha ha!

THE FIRST FIXER UPPER

"Pink Tiger Lilies" - Julie Jacobsen

Just like I talked about yesterday:  Here's the first painting that I'm fixing.  Actually it looks pretty good because I didn't want to post a pic of how it looked before.  I'll tell you how it looked.  It looked flat and dullsville.  See the purply looking flowers at the bottom?  Those are the ones that I was too lazy to paint right 7 years ago.  But I liked the colors and general feel of the painting-so I framed it and hung it on our bathroom wall.  So for 7 years it's been bugging me!  Just last week we decided to rip off all the wallpaper in the bathroom (a huge job) and the painting came down.  Now's my perfect opportunity to do something with this painting.

I'll post another pic when I do some more.  I know I should have shown you the "before pic" but just look at the bottom and you can imagine how it looked without that.  You've got a good enough imagination, right?

Okay. I think it's fix it time!

 "The Beauty of Literacy" - Julie Jacobsen

This painting has nothing to do with my post.  I just thought I'd add a picture.  It makes it more fun to read.  Right?  Right.

Well, I have a few paintings on the wall that I've been struggling over what to do.  They just aren't exactly the way I want them to be.  So I'm going to do some fixing.  You do have to be very careful about going back and working on a painting after it's been a long time.  Your style can change and you'll ruin it.  I have, personally, done that.  I did a wonderful painting of Chris, my husband, when we were dating, of him at his favorite cabin.  It really was great, except he didn't like it.  That's because the landscape didn't match the area where the cabin was.  I had no idea what it looked like.  So I made it up!  Not a good idea with something so specific. 

So we got married and the painting was hung over the mantle for quite a while and I decided to fix it.  Very bad idea.  I had no idea what I was doing and ruined it!  I was so disgusted I threw it out on the trash can.  Another big big mistake (dummy dummy me!).  I should have just cut the portrait part out-along with the cool old Rocket car (they really were great, I have to say) and put it aside.  Now a garbage man has a semi nice painting of someone that doesn't even mean anything to them.  Dang.

Sooooo.  There's a few lessons to be learned here:

1.  Don't go back on a painting to fix it after it's been too long
2.  Don't give the garbage man the whole painting
3.  Don't paint a made up landscape, etc.-trying to make do.  It never ever works

That being said-I still want to fix a little bit on these and I'm going to be careful. 

Also, remember, in a much earlier post I told you all it's OKAY to throw a painting away if it's absolutely a dud.  You don't have to keep it and mope over how unsuccessful you are about problem solving. 

And, no, I don't have a picture of these fixer uppers yet.  I'll post when I get them done.  I have a photo of the "Chris and car" painting some place.  When I find it-I'll post.

So this is how I'm doing it now.....

Austin Deuel

Austin Deuel is an artist noted for his sculptures and paintings.  He's also featured in a book that I love called "Being an Artist" by Lehrman.  I may have written about this book before.  Anyway, it's a book that is so great to read if you're feeling discouraged about producing art and in a rut.  All these successful artists, at one time or another, have struggled to become successful.  They also impart little pearls of wisdom to give any creative person a shot in the arm.  I love what Austin says about what makes a painting sell:

"1.  Tell a story.  Like that Andrew Wyeth painting.  A water pump, a board, and an old bucket.  The bucket is the story.  Because it puts the human touch to it....Smoke out of a chimney, light in a window.

2.   Create a dramatic mood.  Fog. Snow. Rain. Sunset.  Even the heat of day with all the shadows burned out.

3.    Dramatic composition.  Every painting has to have a strong vertical in it.....every artist from Michelangelo to Tiepolo...they all used strong verticals.  It's what draws you across the room, and it has nothing to do with style or subject."

I agree with Deuel's concept 100%.  I may have told this story before but here it is again.  Years ago when I first started my house paintings I was dang proud of them.  Then one day a coworker of my husband's came over and took a look at my portfolio.  He was a real character, this guy.  The kind of person that could be quite blunt.  After looking at my glossy pics he asked me, "Why?"  I asked him what he meant and he asked what was the point of all the paintings.   I said I had done commissions for people and that's what they wanted:  photographic paintings.  I, honestly, was a tad peeved about his comments but through the years I'm glad that Brent said that to me.  I needed someone to get me thinking about truly becoming creative.  Deuel's theory is part of my reasoning.   

I hope when you all look at my paintings you'll see a story.  In "Julie's All About Blue 1" you'll notice the wind blowing through my hair.  This adds just a hint of atmosphere.  It's obviously Spring and that's why I put in the tulips.   You don't see my face but I'm very deep in thought.  Here's the story about how I made this a more meaningful composition.  Years ago I was in church and feeling sort of alone, I guess.  I must have been going through a moody phase and did this drawing.  I don't know if I've ever mentioned this but I've always said to keep any doodles and sketches you do because someday you might want to use them in some way.  Here's a perfect example.  I remembered this when I was getting into this little house painting and I asked myself, "why?"  I needed to put the story in.  Now I don't have a dramatic angle but there is somewhat of a tilt to the bench and that helps create a different perspective to draw the eye in better than just straight on.

As I said in my title-this is how I'm doing it.  What I mean is that I'm going to post to Facebook after I post as I think more people will see my blog that way and I love sharing about my art (as well as other things).  I hope this is successful and I can spark something in someone.  Even if it's to go out and carve a totem pole or something.

Getting Back into the Swing of Things!

This is just terrible.  I haven't posted since April!  I did have a busy last year.  I traveled a lot to see our kids and new grandchildren.  Plus my mom passed away in September.  Before I knew it- Christmas was here and I had to get stuff done with that.  Now I am getting back to my art and other creative things.  I'll have more free time now that I don't have to go to the care center several times a week.  After 12 years I am relieved-even though I miss my mom.

I finished 3 paintings that are quite small.  Having only done wrap around canvases a few times before I thought it would be fun to try again..  It sure beats framing but harder to carry the colors and perspective around the edges.  Here's what I came up with.

As you can see from the beginning of this post I did a painting of a blue house that we saw when we visited Boston last year.  The front yard was very bland-so I recreated it to add a better feeling of spring by putting in several colors of tulips.  Then added a figure.  That girl is me when I was young. Originally I was dressed in my favorite dress from junior high.  It was navy blue with florescent green piping and tights.  It actually was a mini skirt because it was the '60's and that's what was in style.   But it was too dark and didn't stand out.  So I changed the color scheme and I think it's much more successful.  Actually it could easily be my daughter, Gracie, because she looks a lot like me.

Here's how it looks with the wrap around sides.

This painting is entitled "Julie's All About Blue 1" because-as all who know me-blue is my favorite color!  I also used my creative license and added a red door.  When I looked at blue colonial houses they often had doors this color and I really liked the idea of a door that's totally unique-apart from the blue.   It's quite small 6" by 12".  I wanted it to be part of a small grouping.  Here are the other 3:

"Julie's All About Blue 2" and "Julie's All About Blue 3".  #2 is a picture I took of a beautiful sky last summer on the way to our cabin and #3 is of a flowering dill weed.  These 2 paintings wrap around also but it's not anything too different form the blues.  So I didn't take a picture.  They're both 4 3/4" by 4 3/4".

Of course these paintings just make me feel so happy when I see them because of all the different blue shades.  I wanted them too convey a feeling of peace and contemplation.  I feel that has been achieved.  

It just feels so good to finally create something on canvas.  Now I have a new art project to begin.  So I'll start posting a step by step as soon as I get that going.

FUN!!!!! 

Here's my horsy buddy-TREAT!

"Treat"

I just was reading one of my favorite blogs (emilyandjoshashdown.blogspot.com) and read how they have just started learning how to ride horses.  I wanted to put my pic of Treat into my comment but couldn't figure out how to copy/paste it.  It wouldn't work.  So I thought I'd just post my buddy's pic and tell about it with a link to my blog.

So, Emily and Josh, I'm in love with this horse.  I grew up riding horses all the time when I went to my friend, Jane Garff's, ranch.  We had so much fun.  I wanted a horse of my own so badly but with a divorced working mom it could never be afforded.  I loved to go with Jane whenever I could.  I think she probably got tired of me asking when we were going to ride the horses but Jane has always been one of the kindest people that I know.  She humored me a lot.  We even did barrel racing and herded cattle (nasty horse flies!). 

"Deseret Livestock Ranch" - the ranch house (commissioned by Jane)

Jane's ranch was "The Deseret Livestock Ranch"-biggest in Utah-and it was sold to the LDS church.  They use it a lot now for Pioneer Trek, I've heard.

So we grew up and I didn't ride much at all.  I even had a scary experience in college when I was in a horseback riding class where my my saddle turned and I fell off (always always check the cinch!).  I had to get back on the horse to go back to the stables and ride down and up through a gulley first.  The horse knew I was shook up-so he proceeded to try to scrape me off on the bushes (didn't work).  Just keep this place in mind-Dimple Dell.

"Hot Date" (that's Cliff, my son, in New Orleans)

Many years later I was doing a print signing at Granite Furniture in Orem and a gentleman asked if he could trade me an Arabian horse for my painting of New Orleans.  I wanted to cry!  I had always wanted one but didn't know where I could keep it or if I could afford it.  I had to decline.

Recently a friend of mine, Becky, that owns 2 horses asked me if I wouldn't MIND going riding sometime.  I said, "Mind!  You must be kidding me!  When can we go!?!"  So I have become her new riding buddy because her kids are not available to ride and her husband has a bad back.  Wow!  So wonderful!  She's teaching me all the stuff I never learned-like saddling the horse, cleaning up, grooming, etc. etc. and she is so patient.  She's teaching me how to do everything properly.  Best part yet is that I get to ride Treat, a beautiful red chestnut Morgan.  I love him!  But now I'm finding out that Treat has some funny little quirks that I have to learn to work with.  Like he kicks out his back leg when he's first riding and that can be a little unsettling.  So Becky rides him around for a big until he gets his kick out of his system.  I didn't know that when you take the saddle off that horses love to roll in the dirt.  They paw the ground like a cat first. It's so funny to watch.

Now.  Remember Dimple Dell?  Guess where the stable is and the riding is....you guessed it...across the street from Dimple Dell.  You can imagine what I thought when I learned that.  Memories are oh so cruel but I thought, "I don't care.  I'm doing this no wonder how afraid I am".  And.  I am!

Unfortunately I just had hand surgery in September.  So I'm a little out of commission for a while but I'm looking for some riding boots.  So, Emily, if you find a good deal or a second gently used pair in a 7 1/2 let me know.  Because I want them!

Emily and Josh have fun!  If I hear of my horseback riding opportunities I'll let you know.  Horses are so wonderful.  They're one of Heavenly Father's choice creatures.

 

"My Paradise" (mine all mine but I'll share with people I love and I know they'll be there too)

9/11-comment, I must

So the 10th anniversary came and went.  I was amazed at how I felt just as bad as I did back then.  It was like it had happened just yesterday.  Even though it has been that long I still have terrifying flashbacks of Chris, Charlie and Gracie and I standing in a room in one of the buildings.  Not to say that we were in that particular room but we could have been since it was only 3 weeks before that we had been to the top of 1 tower.  I have this horrible visualization of us having to make a choice of staying or jumping.  Then I have to tell myself to not "go there" and jerk my thoughts away.  Have you ever had that happen?  When you had something happen or a possibility that is so frightening that you have to stop yourself from thinking about it?  Probably everyone does.  Maybe if I focus on it and wear out the scene I might be able to reduce the power of the bad situation.

Okay.  Time to get out my book on cd and listen.  Distract my thoughts and move on.   Like to the fact that I've got lots to do around here and sitting at this computer is wasting my time..............

Building the crystal clear flowers

I had to go back to the D. I. (Thrift Store) to get some clear glass to smash.  While looking I found plates that were a gorgeous violet and a plate that's sage green-all glass.  Anyway, I had a smashing good time (couldn't resist) and filled several plates with my new treasures. 

Building these flowers is not a day project because the glue needs to set for just about each layer.  If you notice that it looks white remember that it dries clear and I worked on it last night.  It's a delicate and dangerous process using razor sharp glass and I should be wearing some gloves (dummy) but haven't.  Anyway, they are going to be like a chrysanthemum type flower.  At this point I'm thinking 5 is nice and I started a new smaller one last night.

When finishing the outside edge it doesn't feel quite right to use more china.  It's busy enough already.  So I think I'm going to see if Chris can get me some kind of copper cording to wrap around it.  It will give some more zing but have the plain surface I want.

You can see from this photo that this is the effect I want-shimmering flowers that one doesn't notice at first glance.  The light will pop them out.  Any colored ones would have been too busy for this.

Excerpt from "Being an Artist" by Lewis Lehrman:  "Even though I'm my own boss, I feel guilty if I'm not painting"(quote by artist, Arne Westerman).  And look at me-here I'm working on this great mosaic but the nearby easels are haunting me!  Time to put pressure on my son and his wife to figure out what they want me to paint for their wedding painting.  I have to move on with that and my brain is already going crazy about new ones for Chris and I.

Hot Cocoa-the rose that stays hot!

I was at Millcreek Gardens yesterday buying a miniature rose bush for a friend to honor her mother that had passed away.  I just could not resist getting this floribunda rose bush for us.  And by the way-if you don't know what a floribunda is then let me tell you.  It's a rose that has about 7 blooms on 1 stem instead of the tea rose that just has 1.  The tea rose is what you see in a bouquet.  I usually don't like floribundas as much for flower arrangements because they're more difficult to arrange but who cares when they're as gorgeous as this one.  Anyway, this prize winning variety is called "Hot Cocoa".  Hopefully you can see that it' a burnt orange in the middle and surrounding that is a mocha/orange/purplish color.  I read about them last night and people commented that they're very difficult to photograph and get the true color.  I had to play around on Photoshop because the initial photo was too bright and didn't show the brownish color.

Apparently this variety is very disease resistant and grows on it's own root ball.  Another thing I didn't know for years is that most rose bushes are really a lovely variety grafted onto a wilder rose root ball.  Why they do that, I don't know.  But I had a yellow rose (replaced by this yesterday) that had turned into junk the last 3 years at least.  For probably about 10 years it's was a beautiful producer and bugs and diseases didn't attack it at all but the wild rose took over and ruined it.  At that point you might as well just pull it out.  That's what the rose expert told me yesterday.  That's okay because I know I'll love "Hot Cocoa".  She said that I will really love this because they produce all summer even when it's very hot.  My kind of rose!  I have to bring them in the house all summer long and usually in the middle of summer I don't have much at all to do anything with.

By the way-the one I bought for my friend is called "Smoke Rings".  I really want to get that one also.  It's very similar to the other one and they would be so great in the same arrangement together.  For a miniature it's just delightful and that's next on the list along with...............  I may have to go get that today.

P. S.  Can you imagine how beautiful it would be to reproduce this color of rose with the glass mosaics like my rose in the middle of the last post's entry called "Scarlet"?  With the green rose leaves surrounding it?  Good thing I didn't toss all my mosaics covering my table in my studio.

Grand Rapids Music video-very fun!

I was watching the news tonight and there was a story about Grand Rapids, Michigan. I didn't catch the full story but I think it talked about how that city was a dying city. In response to that the whole town put together the best music video ever. It is so fun. Here it is:



Now if I knew how to make this link work, I would do it. Just copy paste it in the address bar, sit back and ENJOY!

Red Butte Garden-5th step

This is the last step before I start with oils.  At this point I have only done acrylics.  The basic painting is where I want it but it definitely needs a lot more pizzazz and that will be brought about by lighting and veils of color.  I really like this final step because the painting comes to life this way.   A lot of that has to do with the Winsor and Newton Liquin that I mix with the oils as a medium.  That will add depth and vibrancy.

I wish I could say that I'm doing a lot of painting on canvas.  That's not the case right now.  I've been putting a lot more of the paint brush on the wall, floor boards, window trim and heat vents.  You get my drift here, don't you?  It's home improvement time.

At least yesterday we had a window in between rain storms to plant our vegetable and flower gardens.  I felt like we were in a race and it proved to be true.  As I worked this morning at my computer the rain just came pouring down.  If they tell us on the news that we still have to be careful with wasting water I'm going to scream.  Remember the days when you could hear the children outside laughing and running through the sprinklers?  What about washing your car in the drive way and hosing off the sidewalks.  Now you don't even see sprinklers running during the day.  It's all at night because that's the most efficient way to water.  No one would think of letting a hose run unrestricted.  Now we have to listen to those leaf blowers clearing the sidewalks and breath the fumes from them.  I remember when a broom and strong arms cleared off the debris.  Okay that was probably a 100 years ago.

P. S.  If you scroll down to the May 4th post you can see the previous steps.

America's Favorite city! San Francisco! Well Maybe........New Yorkers?

Just read a comment from someone about how they are so sick of the nickname "Frisco".  Well I searched San Francisco nicknames probably in 1996 for my painting of California Street in that fair city.  I always thought it was a good title and still do but I don't think everyone would agree upon it being every American's favorite.  To a New Yorker that's blasphemy.  Probably holds true with New Orleans, LA, Chicago and Seattle.  What's your favorite?  I remember years ago seeing a big poster with a giant New York City and the rest of the country was miniscule.  I thought that was quite funny but I've been told that that's often how New Yorkers feel.  Well, I guess it's great to love where you live.  I happen to be a big fan our ours, Salt Lake City.  Well, usually.  Right now I'm so tired of the dreary weather and hoping to somehow have some summer this year.  It really doesn't seem like it will ever happen.

San Xavier Mission-I feel dreamy

It is such a dull day here in SLC and so I thought I'd post one of my old paintings that is filled with light and glowy color just to perk everyone up.  I also feel a little spacey today having just gotten off of work and having a very hectic day.  I think I'll go take a nap and continue the dreams.  Hopefully I'll have some energy when i wake up because I really should get something done.

I have to admit that all the news about Japan has been crushing.  I look at the Japanese people and see my grandson, Brandon.  Thank goodness he's here in the US and not over there. 

And now for something different, Harbour Island-can you hear the Bahama roosters?

Our anniversary dinner at a great Italian restaurant next to the swimming pool, I mean, ocean!

 Chris and I went on a anniversary (27!!!) trip to the Bahamas last week.  Oh, it was so gorgeous.  We actually flew to Nassau and spent 1 night.  Then flew to Eleuthra Island and took a water taxi to Harbour Island.  I have to tell you the difference between Nassau and Harbour Island is like night and day.  Nassau was beautiful but it was filled with honking horns and bad traffic.  Harbour Island, on the other hand, is mostly golf carts that kind of jaunt down the road.  If you happen upon a Bahamian they politely wave you on with a friendly smile and kind word. 

If was so lovely there.  We stayed in the Bahama House Inn-a wonderful bed and breakfast.  John, the owner, makes you feel right at home from the start and fixes a great breakfast every day.  We had a wonderful ocean view room.  Well, it was perfect.  I highly recommend staying there.  The maid service was superb and it was spotlessly clean.  Gorgeous foliage and even a Tiki house in the backyard for parties. 

You can see the Atlantic at the top and the Caribbean at the bottom

Harbour Island is famous for the pink sand and we even brought some home.  The beaches are so beautiful.  On one side you have the Atlantic with all the waves and on the other side is the calm Caribbean.  Unfortunately because of the cold front up north it carried down to where we were by being very windy.  So not ideal beach swimming weather.  That was disappointing but we did go in some.  The water was like looking into a swimming pool.  Crystal clear.

All day long you could hear these silly roosters crowing-especially early in the morning.  They're all over the place, wild, along with hens and chickens.  At night you can see them flying up to roost in the trees.  We walked by a cemetery and there were horses grazing.  That's something you would never see in our town. 

The big deal in the way of sea food is the Conch (you know-like Conch shells that you listen to to hear the ocean sound).  I did try some of that but the best sea food we had was at the Sip Sip Cafe for Lobster fajitas and coconut cheese cake.  Oh, we went to a local fruit stand and asked if they had any fresh coconuts.  The owner must have been about 85 and he told me to wait a minute.  Before I knew it he had climbed a roof and gotten me a fresh one, drilled a hole in it and I had the best drink-along with the meat inside.  Delicious!  His name was Anthony and he's a celebrity around the island.  He used to be a monk.

We tooted around on our golf cart looking at gorgeous multimillion dollar estates.  Even the least expensive shacks on the island are 1 million-no kidding!  Only the outsiders pay any taxes.  The locals don't have to.  They have the lovelies pastel houses.  

This estate had the Atlantic on one side of the property and the Caribbean on the other (imagine that!)

We just didn't want to leave.  It was too sad but hope we can return someday and bring our kids.  Forget about Nassau.  Just go straight to paradise on earth, Harbour Island.

Can't remember the name of this beautiful hotel but notice the conch shells around the front desk

P. S.  I have to give credit to Grace and Dave.  They were the ones that discovered this all last year and we just went in their footsteps.  Grace researched and found all this out.  Thanks to them!

The Atlantis Hotel, Nassau

*A side note:  On Nassau there is a fabulous world class hotel called the Atlantis.  There is one other in the world in Dubai.  It is incredible with amazing fish tanks that go on forever.  We walked around at night.  Outside, looking up at the hotel we felt like we were in a science fiction movie.  It was "other worldly", unreal.  There are pools with sharks swimming around and we heard that there is even an escalator water slide.  We didn't see that.  But it's definitely very worth seeing.  You can even pay for a day pass to the water park areas.  We didn't do that.

Little Closeup jewels and Winter vegie soup (for Nancy)

Did you ever look at a painting and notice that there is just one spot that by itself was independently beautiful?  It's like it could just have been the painting by itself without anything else around it.  Here are 2 of my quick paintings where I have zeroed in on my favorite parts.  They're both of Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City.  I, especially, love the way the first one turned out.  It was one of those that I felt was never that great.  So, several years later I went back in and changed some things.  I just really like how the lighting turned out around the pine tree. Plus I added little sprinkles of pink flowers and that added some delicate interest to finish it off.  The 2nd painting always worked for me without any later fixing.  Just wanted you to see these.  It goes to show you that if a painting isn't working all the way you might want to take out the trusty scissors and cut that part out-of course leaving enough to restretch it onto some frames, if large enough.  If not you'll need to mount it flat on a heavy duty plywood board or just foamcore board and frame.  Then, voila!  A new painting that you'll love.

Second of all-this part is for my buddy Nancy from the "Lemon Verbena Lady" blog.  Look, Nancy!  See the parsley that I dried out of the garden added to my soup today?  You would be so proud of me!