My husband and I decided to celebrate New Year’s Eve this year with an all day chinese cooking fest. Thanks to my friend Tracey who shared with me a great website called recipes.com, I found several easy to make chinese dishes with many of the items on sale at our local grocery store. My youngest step-daughter and I made a list and off to store we went.

Our menu included:
 Pork fried rice
 Steamed dumplings
 spicy barbeque ribs
 egg rolls
 chicken wings
 spicy beef and snow pea soup

To compliment the night’s dinner we bought a pineapple and fortune cookies. I have to say everything was delicious! Even though we forgot about the soup! My husband loves to cook and when he gets in that kitchen... he’s creating! 

After our chinese feast ended, I was eager to create too! With the pineapple under my arm, a cup full of fortune cookies and the fistful of paper umbrellas.... each object gingerly took it’s place under the spot light... or should I say .... “sun ray’s”... transforming into an oasis...a paradise... The pineapple filled in the background landscape while the family of fortune cookies unpacked their umbrellas and laid out white beach towels. The glass reflections and cool blue backdrop lent it self nicely to enhancing the feel of a cool sapphire blue pool.

.....and the fortune cookie said: Paradise is exactly like where you are right now.... only much, much better.

As the two bottle-blonde lemons navigate their way through the dimly lit, crowded bar room, they find themselves nestled shoulder to shoulder on their quest to quench their thirst. They pucker up their lips, quickly glanced at their reflection in the mirror and say in a saucy voice to the bottle-neck waiter.... “Lemon spritzer, please.”

The Frisbie Pie Company was founded in 1851 by William Russell Frisbie in Bridgeport, Connecticut, when he bought and renamed a branch of the Olds Baking Company. The company was located on Kossuth Street in Bridgeport's East Side, where nearby school kids tossed the plates around and yelled "Frisbie" so they wouldn't get hit by the spinning tins. The game the children played made its way to nearby college campuses.

My husband Dean loves to collect unusual memorabilia and  antiques... he loves scouting out tag sales and the local flea market for hidden treasures. This particular find was from his friends Dave and Ann. So, I did some research on where it came from.

As I was gathering all the ingredients for an apple pie that I was making for my son, I feel in love with way the sunlight streamed in through the kitchen window to kiss each object with a cool winter shine.

I added the cast-iron “A” to carry on the alphabet theme I’ve been working on this month.

This bold crimson red table and chairs look so inviting in this scene. As the afternoon sunlight washes over the sage green room, the furniture seems to be crying out, “ Come sit down,  relax, enjoy the day while you still can...take this moment in time to cherish with a friend, invite them over for a cup of coffee, a conversation or ...perhaps a time to pray together.”




When moments like this prompt you to act... where do you think that bright idea comes from?

“Every time you hear a bell ring, it means that some angel’s just got his wings.” 

                                            Frances Goodrich

After my third trip to the grocery store this week, I managed to sneak in a small package of Oreo cookies, a half glass of milk to compliment the # 3 Oreo Cookie Car that caught my eye on our bookshelf. My husband Dean inherited his older brother, Bobby’s die-cast racing car collection when Bobby passed away 6 years ago from cancer. Dean loves to display these cars on our bookshelves and give one or two away to his nephew Brandon each year as a birthday gift. 

One of my girls just loves strawberry milk! I’m sure it has something to do with the color.. pink but also for the sweet taste... as a special treat when she was younger I would buy her a pink frosted donut and strawberry milk. She was thrilled! Nowadays milk doesn’t last very long in our refrigerator.

This painting is available for purchase a Click here for SHOP.

This was truly a challenging piece or should I say peace for me... either way you word it... it stretched me way past my comfort zone. 

A few weeks ago my son Ray, his friend Chun and I were poking around Target, just to kill time before Ray’s dentist appointment. That morning I said a little prayer that went like this, “ Oh Lord, please help me with an idea for our family Christmas card this year..I can’t come up with anything.” And off it went... out into the universe, not even realizing that it was postmarked “speedy delivery”. 

Well sure enough I came across these magnificent metal stocking holders on the shelf at Target. I walked by once, twice, picked up the box to confirm the weight but it was the P and the E and the A and the C and another E that drew me in. I just love fonts, type, typefaces, letters.... all 26 of our uniquely designed alphabet. 

Ever since I was a kid, I can remember going into Koneigs Art Store in Darien and wanting to purchase their letraset Font book so I could copy the letters. The sales person refused at first because as she put it “this a display book for all our press type.. it’s not for sale, sweetie”..... but I was determined. I plopped down a handful of coins and the first few dollars I earned as a mother’s helper... and “sold” is all she said. I was hooked, it was my first taste of graphic design and still to this day you’ll find me glancing through the typestyle books at B & N.

It took about a week to gather the pieces for this still life and to get the courage to even attempt something, well, just a little bit complicated, to me that is, but it wasn’t until last night that I had no peace, a sleepless night again that I began this painting at 3:15 am and worked until 2:15pm. With a few breaks in between... I was truly in a peaceful state of mind as I could hear the birdies churping, the smell of cinnamon scented pinecones and orange zest fill the air.... my hope is it brings peace and joy to you this Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Amongst the chaos in a house full of kids this weekend I started and finished this painting of me in “my studio”. From this perspective one might gather the impression it’s a truly blue artist’s studio but it’s really not. It’s a nook. A niche. Or perhaps an alcove... why not a cubbyhole? Whatever the definition of “my space”... it’s were I find my comfort zone. The place I set up shop to delve into a world of color on canvas where ideas are swirled, twirled and fused together. A place where I can withdrawal from the everyday hoopla and find peace and harmony from the spokes of a color wheel... where cobalt blue, daffodil yellow and crimson red... pave the way.

Dining out has always been a challenge for this couple of pears.They’re favorite little italian restaurant down the street offers a wide variety and something for the whole family. The heavenly aromas greet you right at the front door and hunger immediate steps in. The only problem this couple has is keep all five of their kids seated, with proper manners... ok, a flicker of manners will do... until their meals are served. Two of the more energetic kids seem to slip away from the table to explore the rest of the restaurant... mostly in search of grabbing a handful of after dinner mints they spotted on their way in... only when the hostess isn’t looking, of course.

This painting is available for purchase a Click here for SHOP.