boire !

If I miss my afternoon tea, I am not myself. My habits are born of a gene pool of taste and temperament and need. I was told that my grand mother rarely had to drink( but her afternoon tea), and I am kind of like that. I drink a lot at breakfast and then nothing until tea time .So it is tea and tea with a little water sprinkled in between if it is really hot. two breakfast in a day, two special pleasures that I never tire of.

sketches from daily life

I am a bit obsessed by women's plight.It is better than it has ever been, but still cruelty, profit, religious fanaticism seems to prevail in some part of the world

le blurr

it is the invading line moving elastic like between my life in art and in food. It is my inspiration in the kitchen or at my easel. It feed me me literraly and figuratively.One of my favorite artists has always been Giorggio Morandi, obsessively recreating the same pale tabletop studies in haunting shades of gentle greys and creams. the bottles, the vases and glasses, fragile, feminine,reserved,comforting,strong and soft.
The other day, I was able to "play" with L in her studio and create some images that blended my art work with food. Here is a snapshot of a sweet potato galette with sage butter on a black and white canvas.

kind of poetic greenish blue with tea

after the rain came the tropical humid heat. that was new and welcomed, by me at least. so I stepped back out into the backyard, and as I sat, further into the brambles, to catch the lowering rays, behind the tall bamboos, I found myself surrounded by the healing colors of greens.the bees were making a last ditch effort to lick the last crumb of pollen,and the married squirrels were feasting on my burned toast that I had crumbled and left by their climbing tree.The rosemary bush thought it would be lovely to flower again,bringing the clean scent of wind dried linen to my delighted nose.
My harvesting of full herb leaves, for a French inspired melange of tisanes, is boxed and ready to go.( if you are interested, leave me a note and I will respond)...



I went to meet a friend for tea in a cafe that takes Halloween pretty seriously.



and now it is raining again.


ps; if you have noticed, I love tryptics.But the page format makes them so small.You can always click on an image to make it bigger

hibernating

I know some of you like the rain, the sleet, the cold wind, the numbed toes,the slippery roads,the wet heads.
I do not.
Can I please hibernate and meet you when the plum trees flower ? Can I curl up in my downy wraps and wait for the first burst of peas and asparagus ?
Well, I can see that this upcoming darkness and winterizing has gotten me down.Plus, it doesn't help when I get bombarded daily by news of Afghanistan or read accounts of out of control gang war fares in Rio such as this one in last week New Yorker, that I read this morning as as sipped my scottish breakfast tea: "the dead man was young, wearing only red underpants.As they lifted his body, a jet of blood arced some eight feet into the air out of a bullet hole in his back, perhaps in his lungs".....
made me draw some pretty gloomy heads:

in the air

Fall is here.grey sky,chilly mornings and nights,and rain on the way.Yes, we have seasons here, and leaves that turn yellow, red, and brown.
Dot found this fire engine metal desk on the sidewalk and thought of me, I put a curl up leaf on it, tried my" procamera "close up setting on it and you have it !

confession

I admit it. I am addicted.
When I go to bed, I pick up my iphone and open my" brushes" application.Then , I draw , with my fingers, on this bright screen.Every night I try to practice to get all the little details worked out for one piece.I try to develop a style, and play with layers and colors.
I feel childlike,and instead of applying myself to a big piece of paper taped to the wall of a classe maternelle,I play freely and endlessly on a digital canvas,deep in the warmth of my cosy bed.I am having fun ! I have lots to learn and practice, but I will share some of my scribbles so far....

sense of taste

C, who lives in New York,just sent me a care package.It is from" Live, live and organic" a company that sells raw, organic foods and skin care products.After lunch, i opened one of the little boxes:the cacao and agave and Oh my !.. the 100% raw ingredients rain forest cacao powder,virgin coconut oil,raw blue agave nectar,cacao butter and Himalayan salt sent me right over the edge of taste.melty mouth feel with an incredibly powerful and intense chocolate that lingered for a very long time. I had worked last year on some raw desserts that were particularly sinful and healthy at the same time.So, I knew that raw goes well with the sweet end of meals.With the treats came a small container of their"bee yummy" moisturizer made with live and organic ingredients.Doesn't that sound amazing ? I love the packaging, the concept and evidently:the results.

maltese figs

I am 19, worked for the month of July to pay for my summer vacation.A friend who had a brother studying medicine in Malta,proposed to go there.hitchhiking from Switzerland where I had made a stop to visit my parents, all the way down the boot,sleeping in meadows, youth hostels and the like.lugging a backpack through Pompei in the searing heat of August was memorable, as well as the cleanly shaved chest of the sicilian truck driver who took pity......Malta was beautiful, rugged, and very hot.One day, on the side of the road, I saw my first fig tree loaded with dark fruits.a resisting pull, and the tear shaped , organ like jewel was split to reveal its juicy pink center.It was love at first bite.Since then, I wait for the summer to unload its prized fruit,the bite into the crunchy and sweet center, or with the oven roasted ones drizzled with honey ,or tossed in muesli, or savory salad with blue cheese and arugula.My backyard fig tree is the thread to that memory....