Ice and Tea

Not iced tea. Ice and tea. Sunday's weather was mild and weird. Pouring rain in January. Not normal. Then, overnight, winter decided to come back. Yesterday was bitterly cold with high gusts of wind. So all of that rain and melted ice and snow from the previous day froze--unevenly. Meeko's and my walk in the forest was 'careful'. I wore cleats on my boots as I do most of the winter. Meeko is agile but even he had to carefully avoid patches of ice and the odd pocket that wasn't fully frozen. We only met one other brave soul walking so we kind of felt like adventurers. 

When it's cold and rainy or cold and icy, tea comes to mind. I need coffee to wake up in the morning but I love to drink tea the rest of the day as I find it to be very comforting. I was very happy to sell one of my Time for Tea prints over the weekend to someone who was giving it as a gift to her best friend with English roots. Two of my grandparents were born in England so I have English roots too. I'm not sure if that's why I like tea so much but it is a nice connection. 

When I photographed my Time for Tea print to post on Instagram the other day, I used one of my grandmother Viola's teacups as a prop. I am lucky to own her Limoges china set and really should use it more often. Yesterday, I was finally (finally!!!) sitting back at my painting table in my studio but wasn't quite sure what to paint. I have a painting I need to finish from before the holidays but I really wanted to do something new, just to loosen up and gain confidence again. (Yes, it only takes a few weeks of not painting to lose it. ) My grandmother's teacup was staring at me, delicately, and seemed to be the perfect choice.

This is more of a sketch than the paintings I usually do. I tried not to get too caught up in the detail and or to feel that it had to be perfect. The metallic gold paint I bought on a whim a long while ago was perfect for the china's gold trim. I like how the painting turned out and want to paint this cup again. It's nice to have my first painting of 2016 done. I am over that hump and now on to the rest of the year! Happy new year, everyone!

Tea with a Friend

One of the best parts of being in Paris was seeing my friend Lucile again! Having an overseas friend is a lovely thing but it makes getting together a little bit difficult.

Lucile paints gorgeous watercolours and sells them under the name lucileskitchen. (You can follow her on Instagram if you are interested in seeing more of her work.) We became internet friends in 2011 when I was in the process of opening my Etsy shop. I contacted her because I love her art so much and I had some questions about how she did her prints. We soon learned that we had lots in common--watercolour art, teenaged children, a love of cooking and gardening, a sense of humour (absolutely essential to artistic sanity) and an interest in each other's world. We are in touch with each other on a regular basis to discuss art, Etsy, Boucherville snow, Paris rain, flowers, food, our children and Meeko!

We met each other in person in 2012. We were very lucky (well, actually it was planned) to vacation in New York City at the same time. Because we were there on family vacations, our time together was brief but very enjoyable. We visited the Ellsworth Kelly plant drawings exhibit together at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Our families had dinner together at one of Mario Batali's restaurants.

I own three of Lucile's original paintings, one of which is this lovely watercolour of macarons, a Sheffield's teapot and tea cups. It hangs in our dining room. Lucile and I have often mentioned how nice it would be to have tea together someday. Well, we finally did! Best of all, it was in her lovely Paris apartment! She invited my husband and me for 'un gouter'--a delicious snack at her place.

I was so grateful that she was able to squeeze in some time to see us. Lucile is currently working on a crazy schedule--doing three paintings a day (three!!!) for a recipe book contract that is due in May.

I completely adore Lucile's small, warm Parisian kitchen with its big personality. I love that it is painted with a strong yellow.  Although not exactly the same yellow, it reminded me of Monet's boldly painted kitchen at Giverny. I also love the historical Vilmorin vegetable plates on the walls.

Lucile bought a gorgeous strawberry tart from a local pâtissier to share with us and her children Jeanne and Werner. She poured tea. We ate. We chatted. It felt like we did this all the time.

Just before leaving, we had a peek at Lucile's studio. I had glimpsed it previously in an Etsy blog post on inspiring workspaces. It was so lovely to see it in person. I was very touched to see that a little heart watercolour I did for Lucile as a thank you for her help a few years ago was framed on the wall beside her Wacom Cintiq tablet.

Her softly lit studio had an almost magical quality for me, with its high detailed ceiling, the beautiful chandelier that belonged to her grandmother, the tall window and the painting she had worked on that day drying on the table. I love that now when Lucile tells me that she is working on a painting or cooking dinner that I will be able to picture her exactly where she is.

Sending a big anglophone hug across the ocean, Lucile. Until next time, my friend!

❤  ❤  ❤  ❤  ❤

Coffee, Tea and Cake

In the past two weeks, I have worked on two paintings, one of tea and the other of coffee. My idea was to show the plant behind the beverages we enjoy on a daily basis. I tend to drink coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon. I love both. And, as you already know I adore flowers, so I was happy to learn that both tea and coffee plants have beautiful white flowers.

The coffee painting gave me some problems early on. I just wasn't happy with how it started. That's when watercolour can be a troublesome medium. With oil or acrylic, I could have covered over the parts that were bothering me. I thought of abandoning it, but my stubborn nature kicked in and I found a way to balance out the composition and have ended up liking it after all.  The tea painting is already available as a print in my shop. I just have some small details to finish on the coffee painting and then it will be made into a print too.

Emma made the most wonderful orange cake over the weekend. It was as delicious as it looks. She used the recipe here. Perfect with a cup of tea or coffee.

Chloé has her March break this week. Emma has hers next week. It's the first year that their breaks have been out of sync. I hope to find moments to paint in between spending some time with them. I have so many painting ideas swirling around in my head these days.