Meet Owyn

The little man exploring Owyn

This is Owyn.  Nope, he's not our boy.  But our boy loves it!  He can't take his eyes and hands of it, eversince  we got it.  

Waiting for Owyn was like waiting for the stork to bring home a baby.  We were filled with anticipation from day one.  We waited one weekend and four days, but it was all worth it.  I was excited to see how our little man will like it.

Owyn travelled more than two thousand miles from Los Angeles to Chicago.  Despite the long travel, it arrived in great shape.  It was superbly packed, cushioned with styrofoam to ensure it's comfy.  One can tell it was built and sent with much love and care.  How can it not be, it was made by a mom.   A mom who creates gorgeous mid-century children furniture from her old garage.

Owyn Toy Box by Mod Mom Furniture

I love pieces that have stories behind it.  As a mom myself, I can just picture her sneaking into her garage during her kids' nap times and getting creative.   Someday when our little man asks me where we got Owyn, I'll tell him it came from a magical garage in a sunny place filled with love, made by a super mom.

Maybe I'll get lucky and hear him say, 'Just like you mom?'.

Turtle Tale and Flu

A Foot Away Too

Fine Art Photograph

Here's the story behind yesterday's Wordless Wednesday photo.

It was the third day of our much-awaited vacation in paradise.  Couldn't be more exciting, right?  That day, I tried to keep up a cheerful attitude.  Moms are great with that.  However I tried though, it was just wasn't working.  

All of us we're still recovering from the nine hour flight.  Traveling with a fifteen month old isn't a walk in the park.  Lugging a car seat, stroller, bags, suitcases, and an active toddler who wants to conquer everything all at once, is next to mission impossible.  I can hear my mom's old adage, 'That's why God made moms young.'  Oh yeah.

The irrepressible 'jet lag' was another thing.  Ever felt so tired you wish to sleep the whole day through?  The only caveat, sleep won't come even way past the nine hundred ninenty-ninth sheep you counted.  And just when you're about to really doze off, you realized it's just lunchtime.  Your body clock is still ticking the central time zone.  Trust me, your toddler will remind you it's still day time, no matter what.  He is on his own PST timezone - play specific time.

Not much too sweat, since there's Dad.  He can cover the bases while I catch a cat nap.  I wonder if cats really do sleep that short.  But flu decided to spend time with Dad.  It was the worst flu he ever had.  We decided to isolate him in the bedroom to contain the virus as much as we can.  Thank goodness for hotel housekeeping!

Always the optimist, my husband urged me to get out and spend time on the beach with our little one.   He'll get as much rest to get better quick.  Good idea.  I scooped up our little man and drove to the nearest beach.  It was sad not being with Dad that day.  I was looking forward to seeing him build a sand castle with our boy, while I lay on the beach watching them.

Why, of all days, flu will come.  I could really use extra hands, so I could relax myself.  Looking out on the horizon and feeling the cool afternoon breeze perked me up.

And just when I thought things were going astray on our vacation, God sent a turtle to cheer me up.  

A foot away from my feet.  Where's that camera?  Click!

Wordless Wednesday

A Foot Away

Fine Art Photograph

Up Close and Wordless?

Find out more about this photo tomorrow.

Uptown Girl

While in uptown Portland, I took the opportunity to paint the greenest city here in the United States.

Please click here to find out more about this painting.

Birds of Paradise - New Work

The Making of a Painting

From top to bottom, left to right (please click photo to zoom):  

-  Value Study (HB pencil)

-  Color Study (colored pencils)

-  Color Sketch (watercolor pencils)

-  Color Sketch (watercolor pencils)

-  The Palette (new refined Holbein watercolors and pure sable brushes)

-  First Washes and Underpainting

-  Painting, Final Phase

-  Finished Painting

Birds of Paradise

Watercolor on Canvas, 16 x 20. SOLD.

To find out more about this painting, please click title above. Interested in my work? Feel free to contact me, I'd be happy to hear from you.

Thank you for appreciating my art.

What's For Breakfast?

The Artist's Cereal Mix

We started this morning with an 'oh-so-summer' breakfast, packed with lots of flavor and nutrition.  The refreshing colors are so irresistible, I had to take a photo of it.

Want to make yours?  Here's how:

Mix the following in your favorite bowl:

- cup of homemade granola cereal (we got ours from the local French Market)

- walnuts

- raisins and/ or plums

- sliced fresh cantaloupes

- sliced melons

- lastly, pour milk (we added vanilla almond milk for added flavor)

Yum! We love the crunchiness and juiciness in every spoonful. Enjoy your breakfast!  

Let me know how you like it.

Warning:  Not for those who have 'nut' allergies.

What's in the Photo?

Tulips along Michigan Avenue.

Last week, I promised to tell you about the photo I posted for Wordless Wednesday.  Here's the scoop about those beautiful tulips.

After my first mile run during the Mother's Day 5K, I was gasping for air.  Before our little man passed the official 'toddler' mark, I didn't have much time to run.  So, you can imagine the shock in my body when we woke up that day at 5am and announced we're going for a run, a 5K run.

Back to the first mile, I decided to take the very premature breather I was saving for the third mile.  I didn't want to seem too weak, too soon.  So I found my excuse - the lovely rows of tulips along Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago.

Mustering a huge smile, I waved to hubby who's strolling the little man in his uber-comfy jogger (we call it 'buggy').  Give me the camera!  These flowers are b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l (spoken lengthily and slowly to emphasize how mesmerized I was).  Come on, I know you do that sometimes too.

I can see the perplexed look in hubby's eyes.  Handing the camera won't be an easy feat, especially with the thickening crowd between us.  We are several feet away by now, so I squeezed myself through the anthill of walkers and runners. Camera on hand, I set to complete my little mission to sneak a 'break'.

Snap.  Wait, this angle is better.  Ooopps, focal point out of scale.  Click.  Hmmmm.  I think this bunch will look better.  

There. Perfect.  Mission accomplished!  Breathe.....