January 2021
Normally I am given great freedom in what I write about each month for SDHS.As long as it has to do with plants and gardens.I had an idea for this January, but Karen gave me an assignment for January 2021.
Karen asked me if I would write about what Pat Welsh has been up to lately. I am delighted to write about my sweet mother and what she has been doing this year.
Read Full Article
https://www.sdhortnews.org/post/catching-up-with-hoys-pat-welsh-horticulturalist-of-the-year-2003
How Our Collective Passion of Gardening and Nature Helps Us and the World
Today is November 29, 2020.This has been a difficult year for all of us in one way or another. In yet we are all so lucky to have the passion of gardening and nature, during this time especially.
It has been said that 85 percent of the world is stressed right now because of the Corona Virus. In yet, we who have the passion for plants, gardening, farming anything to do with nature are able to, at times move free of our sadness, grief.
Feelings of loneliness into feelings of freedom and Joy. Pure JOY, as we dead head roses in November; or saver the fragrance of ‘Firefighter,’a red highly fragrant tree rose in my garden.
This Thanksgiving was different than any we have ever experienced in most of our lifetimes.We have not experienced a pandemic in over 100 years. It is also a time to be thankful for our many blessings.And as hard a time as this is for most people, harder for most people; We can still be Thankful for the Good in our individual lives. As hard as this is to see with many problems and troubles; Deepak Chopra, among many say that by being thankful we make space for good to come into our lives.This is so hard to do if our life seems to be falling apart.But getting our hands into the dirt, smelling the soil, tending to a garden, or walking in nature can change our focus completely and bring us into a space of light, love and joy, no matter what we have had to endure in this lifetime.
I found myself feeling sad the day after Thanksgiving, because normally I would be with children and grandchildren. This is not a biggy compared to other people’s sorrows, but I was feeling very sad none the less! I actually felt I was in a depression and I might have been, but certainly depressed.
One thing that helps me is routine of exercise.For me; it is in the form of swimming at the Boy’s and Girls’ Club; as many days a week as I can make an appointment on line, and if possible walking every day.
Painting Always brings me out of a slump!
I had not painted a painting since the beginning of this Pandemic, early March.
Last week All of a sudden I got the idea for a new Series of Paintings. The idea came from my passion of Gardening!
‘Healing The World Through Consciousness of Thought’ ‘JOY’.
As I write I hear a frog that has been living in my garden for months outside my office. Pure Joy is what I feel and smile as I hear his croak, perhaps looking for a mate? Many months ago I had one in my back garden,I have never seen him but I sure hope he finds a mate.Pure Joy wells up in my heart as I hear the Frog’s sweet voice in the garden!
In Conclusion We are coming into the Holiday Season. Actually We Are In It. It is normal to feel negative feelings at this time of year when we are all suppose to be filled with so much joy, but remember to go outside into your gardens and or nature and this might help you feel Joy, love, peace, contentment, and all other good. Our thoughts are a collective body of Truth. We can all help heal ourselves and the world mentally and physically by doing what we love to do! For me it is Painting!
Follow your passions,
Francesca
Happy New Year! My life has been consumed of late with my art shows; Art San Diego 2014 and Spectrum-Miami back to back and painting between them. But we also had Christmas during this time period and so I was cooking a lot too. I am thrilled to report that I am in a new gallery opening February 1st, La Jolla Gallery, curator/owner Elizabeth King, 1274 Prospect Street, La Jolla, California 92037.
From the time I was a tiny tot I have memories of sitting in the back seat of my grandparent’s Jaguar, feet up on the seat, driving down to La Jolla and walking with Mimi and Grandbot through the streets of La Jolla. My step-grandfather, John Lloyd Wright, always wore a large 10 gallon Stetson. I could not say grandpa, instead I said grandbot. It is a thrill indeed to have my art in one of those shops that many years ago might have been a dress shop that I frequented with my grandmother. What does this have to do with lemons and lemon meringue pie? you ask. Absolutely nothing! But my art on Prospect Street reminds me of my dear grandparents and so now to Mimi’s delectable Lemon Meringue Pie!
Several people saw my gluten-free lemon meringue post on Facebook in December and asked for the recipe. Now it is January! Time for New Years Resolutions. . . and heading back to the gym! But here is my grandmother’s delectable Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe for the next time you’re in the mood for a Lemon Meringue Pie.
When I got married my mother gave me Better Homes and Garden Cook Book. I was also given My Recipes, an empty volume to collect recipes in before I got married; an old fashioned idea! But at the time girls were to know how to cook. This was just before Women’s Lib. I had a visit with each of my grandmothers and they gave me recipes. One favorite that I have been making ever since was Mimi’s Lemon Meringue Pie. Many years later I made a change. My husband Peter said to me one day, “Fran, Why don’t you add lots more egg whites to make a really big meringue?” So now I put in 8 egg whites for the meringue instead of 3. The other change has been most recently to make the pie gluten-free. One of my daughters has celiac disease and we have many people in the family who can’t do gluten. My sister turned me on to the best gluten-free crust, so I no longer make my famous crust from scratch. A lot less work! And believe me, the crust is delicious and no one would know the difference. Whole Foods Market carries frozen Bakehouse Gluten-Free Pie Crusts. You will find them in the frozen foods section next to other gluten free products. Link to Gluten Free Post
Mimi’s Lemon Meringue Pie
Prepare pastry for one crust pie.
In my case, gluten-free Whole Foods Frozen Pie Crust
Follow instructions on gluten free pie crust package.
Prick generously with fork. Bake in hot oven 450 degrees 10-12 minutes. Cool.
Combine 1 cup sugar, ¼ cup corn starch and ½ teaspoon salt.
Blend in ¼ cup water, add 1 ¼ cups hot water.
Cook until thickened, stirring constantly.
Continue cooking over low heat until clear. (5 – 8 minutes)
Stir occasionally.
Add ¼ cup lemon juice and 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind.
Cook 2 minutes.
Blend hot mixtures slowly into three egg yolks slightly beaten.
Return to pan and cook 2 minutes medium heat stirring constantly.
Add 2 tablespoons butter and then cool.
Turn into baked pie shell topped with meringue.
Meringue
Beat eight egg whites with rotary or electric beater until they form slight mounds with beaters are raised. Add 16 tablespoons sugar, a tablespoon at a time, beating until dissolved. Continue beating until meringues stands in luscious heavy points. Spread evenly over cooled pie filling. Brown in oven 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Enjoy getting back into shape and when you feel like an indulgence, treat yourself to Mimi’s delicious Lemon Meringue Pie. For me back to my art studio! Maybe I will paint one.
Ciao for Now,
Francesca
As this year 2014 draws to a close I wish you all the healthiest, happiest and most fulfilling of New Years!
The past few months have been a whirlwind of activities. Aside from the traditional holiday events I was fortunate to have been selected to participate in Art San Diego 2014. I was also thrilled to be juried into Spectrum Art-Miami.
In conjunction with Art San Diego 2014 I was asked to make guest appearances on KUSI, NBC and the Fox Morning Show.
As well as being interviewed I created works of art while being filmed for these live TV shows. Francesca Filanc Being Interviewed and Painting on TV
Being a part of Art San Diego was exciting and thrilling. The show took place in the Activity Center in beautiful Balboa Park. Parts of Balboa Park are reminiscent of Italy, Spain or parts of France as well as San Diego! I would eat lunch each day in the adjacent beautiful gardens! They were quiet and gave me a chance to reconnect with nature and amazing architecture before returning to the show. Francescafilanc.com
Miami proved to delight me more than my wildest dreams!
It wasn’t just the people and the shows, but the experience of being around so many amazing artists and their energy.
The show was a week long and in a very large tent. The tent was the size of several football fields and about 20 stories high! It was estimated that between seven and fourteen thousand
people a day came through to view the works of art.
There were 29 shows going on simultaneously throughout the town of Miami.
There is an expression used to describe this event; Art Takes Miami. Miami houses the largest collection of art fairs in the world. The largest art fair during the time of Picasso used to be in Basel, Switzerland. Since then they have expanded and now the largest is in Miami, Florida. Since 1970 twenty-nine art fairs have sprung up all over the city. Spectrum Miami is one of these.
The history of Art Basel is as follows:
Art Basel was founded in 1970 by Basel Gallerists (also known as art dealers and connoisseurs of art) Trudi Bruckner, Balz Hilt and Ernst Beveler. Three years after its launch, Art Basel welcomed 281 exhibitors and over 30,000 visitors. While other emerging art fairs partnered in the 1970s, specifically in Cologne and Düsseldorf, Art Basel remained independent.
In 2002, Art Basel was launched in Miami Beach, under the leadership of former director, Samuel Keller.
Art Basel debuted in Hong Kong in May 2013. In July 2011, MCH Swiss Exhibition (Basel) Ltd. – the parent company of Art Basel – acquired 60% of Asian Art Fairs Limited, which launched ART Hong Kong and has the option of acquiring the remaining 40% in 2014.
These art fairs provide opportunity to new emerging and established artists to be set on the world stage with collectors, galleries and individuals interested in purchasing fine art. This has become the way to expose fine art of all prices from $50 a painting or sculpture or photograph to half a million dollars and up in price.
This was my first time visiting Miami and I did not know what to expect. The extremely friendly people blew me away and so many cultures, each with their own traditions.
I was busy working the whole time but took the opportunity, staying an extra day after the show, to discover Miami and environs. My last day in Miami started with a tour of The Everglades in an airboat. Viewing baby alligators in the tall grasses and egrets. After the boat tour we had a show at the Everglades Park that included having the opportunity to hold a baby alligator.
In the spirit of the moment, I added an informative bus tour of Miami which also included a two-hour boat tour of Miami’s famous harbor including viewing shipyards, cruise ships and the homes of many famous people! Among the areas we visited by bus were: South Beach, Little Haiti, Little Havana, and Coral Gables to name a few. South Beach teemed with nightlife, eclectic varied restaurants with myriad aromas wafting through windows and doors onto the street, new quaint and older established hotels, night clubs galore with the delightful sound of Latin music. Visiting the area known as Little Havana where we had the opportunity to visit Cuba Tobacco Cigar Co.
While there I met the great-grandfather legendary tobacconist Pedro Bello Sr., holder of the cigar industries most prestigious leaf award. Great grand-pa sits outside smoking, they say, sixty cigars a day and drinking sweet Cuban coffee! He is 85 years old! We watched a man hand-roll cigars in the traditional old-fashioned way! People had the opportunity to purchase cigars. The district Coral Gables homes and environs were reminiscent of Pasadena and Beverly Hills, California;
even housing the famous Biltmore Hotel on one of its grand avenues. Kings, Queens and Heads of States have enjoyed the old world opulence and elegance of this famous hotel.
After Coral Gables the bus finalized our tour taking us to our waiting boat. In Miami’s harbor we sailed past three islands; Star, Palm and Hibiscus that are each privately owned by the homeowners of the islands. It is interesting to note that people of such high profile have or had homes right next to each other that can be viewed from the harbor! Several of the homes are now empty or have new owners which makes sense to me during this time of paparazzi! Some of the people whose homes we passed by: Madonna, Miami Sound Machine, Ricky Martin, Antonio Banderas, Elizabeth Taylor, Bacardi Rum Family, Frank Sinatra, Don Johnson, Johnson & Johnson, Sylvester Stallone, even Al Capone had a compound and died there years ago! May I also add that many of these mansions had large expensive yachts docked right out front of their properties!
We sailed past a magnificent estate with Italian Gardens, including Italian Cypresses, parterres and vegetables. Docked at the water’s edge was an elegant yacht backed by romantic woods on either side. The joke is that this is the house that Viagra built, but in reality it is owned by an important person on the board of the company (Pfizer) that distributes the drug.
I was amazed that all these very famous people chose to live or have homes right next to each other in an area accessible by boat to onlooking tourists. Perhaps this is why several of the homes were vacant or recently sold!
I ended my day with a most delicious meal at Joe’s Stone Crab! An elegant restaurant dating back to 1913.
Joe Weiss opened up a small lunch counter on Miami Beach. Back then, Miami Beach was just a quiet, backwater town. Folks stopped in to chat and for a top-notch fish sandwich and fries. This, of course, was only the beginning, and what happened next is a story worth telling.
Yummy!
Sitting in Joe’s Stone Crab eating a delicious dinner while sipping on a up Gray Goose Martini I was lost in thought. It was so reminiscent of days gone by, viewing a traditional Christmas tree with tinsel and all — it took me back to my childhood!!
Bye For Now,
Francesca
I married a Huntin’ and Fishin’ man when I was very young. Sadly Peter passed away of cancer over seven years ago, yet I still love to fly fish! It is a Spiritual experience for me!
The bug for fly fishing all started years ago when Pete and I were at Alisal Ranch in Solvang, California. There were many activities to choose from; horseback riding, playing tennis, golf and fly fishing. I thought it would be fun to learn how to fly fish! The ranch had a lawn as long as two football fields. Those learning how to cast were able to practice without any obstructions! We practiced for about an hour and then we were able to go try the sport.
It was very hot outside and the fly fishing was not very good but I caught one little fish! I was hooked! Pun intended! After that trip Pete and I got the bug to go fly fishing regularly!
When I started writing this blog about two and a half years ago my handle was Rippin’ Lips and one of my early blog posts was about fly fishing. (Fly Fishing Blog)
Pete loved to hunt and we went seven years in a row to Seven Lakes Lodge in Meeker, Colorado. It is now privately owned by Greg Norman. At the time it was owned by Henry Cravats. He had his own private residence and we stayed at the lodge. While Pete was hunting I would go fly fishing on the lakes and along the seven miles of river frontage. During that period of our lives we also went to the San Juan River in New Mexico. People come from all over the world to fish on the San Juan! All of the fishing I am speaking of was catch and release.
I have also had very successful fishing trips in blizzards, believe it or not, catching one after another! This is a fish story, but I have the pictures to prove it! This fishing was done in Yellowstone National Park and environs of Montana.
When Erica, our younger daughter, was an exchange student her junior year at UC Davis, she spent a year at the University of Santiago, Chile. I went to visit Erica in December of 2011. While there Erica and I took a three-hour plane from Santiago to Puerto Varas in Patagonia! We stayed in a beautiful Inn reminiscent of Switzerland. A huge volcanic mountain topped with snow served as a backdrop to this fantastic location. It was right on the ocean. We had to keep pinching ourselves because we were on the ocean and not a lake! While we were there we went fishing on a huge river that was so wild and large! Our guide had just guided President Jimmy Carter two weeks earlier! He found us a wild orchid! This part of the world is so amazing. There are so many undiscovered areas!
I have also been fly fishing many times right outside of Bridgeport, California. The park system stocks some of the streams and lakes with fish every year. Peter, the girls and I caught many native trout while backpacking.
Just recently I had the opportunity to fly fish in New Brunswick, Canada. My brother-in-law suggested I check out Orvis recommendations for the Best fly fishing. The Lodge I chose was second best because the one Orvis recommended (voted best in the world for 2013) was sold out at the time, so I chose “second best” and had a first best experience at Wilson’s Sporting Camps on the Miramichi River. This body of water is world wide famous for Catch and Release Salmon Fly Fishing! However I wanted to fish for Trout! That worked out great because I was too early for the large catch and release Salmon fishing. Brook Trout is what one can catch late May early June. I only caught Salmon Pars! Those are the babies and I put them right back in the water. I caught many Brook Trout every day!
The Miramichi is world famous for catch and release salmon fishing. I was trout fishing. The Native Canadians coined the river Mystical Miramichi! I caught forty brook trout in four days (but who is counting?!). One is allowed to keep five a day. I just kept what I could eat! I was eating brook trout for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Stay tuned for the rest of my fly fishing adventure in the next blog.
Rippin’ Lips
Bye for now,
Francesca
Now that summer has arrived I am swimming in the ocean almost every day! The water has been especially warm this season, in the 70°s F most of the time.
Usually these days I go to Swami’s in Encinitas CA to swim. Two days ago, not having as much time as usual, I went over to Old Del Mar and found a great parking space on 27th Street (a real find nowadays) and walked down for a dip in the ocean in the late afternoon.
It was the last day of June and we were having what we call June Gloom which we don’t seem to have much of these days! The water looked rough, the waves were big and the air had a slight chill to it. I was meeting a friend for dinner and my hair looked good so I almost did not go into the water! Then I thought, Oh I will just walk in the shallows and then I decided to go for it!
I was the only swimmer in sight, save for a lone surfer off in the distance catching humungous waves and riding them expertly, one after another! At one point it did cross my mind the immense power the ocean has that one needs to treat with a healthy respect. While the ocean teems with life, it can destroy in an instant. Only six years ago a swimmer was taken by a shark not two miles from where I was swimming! A very rare event in southern California. While living in Hawaii I was warned by the locals not to swim before 8:00 a.m. or after 5 p.m. because that is when the sharks come in close to shore to feed. I suppose that would be good advice to heed anywhere!
The water was so WARM it felt like Hawaii! The really warm current amazed me, so much so that I thought
I hope this water is clean!
I got busy body surfing, riding the waves, not always that successfully, and all of a sudden the sun peeped through the clouds and I felt ecstatic happiness! I was a little girl again, reliving the experiences of swimming at beach parties in the early evening. I recalled swimming with my father and I could just hear his voice in my ears
Isn’t this fantastic!
And then Daddy throwing his head back with a look of exuberant joy on his face, scanning the horizon for the next big wave!
My body felt deliciously wet and satisfied in the warm salt water! A funny thing, I love the feeling of water going up my nose! It reminds me of learning to swim as a child and also swimming in the ocean as a child on Del Mar Beach!
Have Fun this Summer Enjoying one of your passions!
Have a happy and safe Fourth of July!
Bye for Now,
Francesca
Last week was the end of the year party for Olivenhain Garden Club. We were blessed to have our party in Jan Casado’s garden. Once in her garden one felt like one never wanted to leave. A few of us ate lunch at a table under a pergola looking out at the view– it felt like Shangra-La.
Jan has her degree in horticulture from Cal Poly Pomona. She was originally an art major but switched to horticulture. This is evident from Jan’s garden. Jan is also a Garden Designer.
I am not a perfectionist. My credo is from the Amish, Perfection is for God. If I had become an artist I would have been a realist.
Jan’s paintings are her gardens. The garden is her palette. Birds and butterflies fluttered by in profusion as my companions and I sat transfixed in her Shangra-La. Jan grows the Asclepius, commonly called milkweed. This is the host plant for the monarch butterfly. Butterfly blog
At one point a male hooded oriole stopped to take a drink from the birdbath, spotted us and quickly flew away before I could snap a photo. When I asked Jan her favorite garden to design, her response was “English wild garden.”
When you first climb the steps to Jan’s little piece of paradise you are greeted by a carpet of Dymondia margaretae. Dymondia is slow to grow but when established is softer and more inviting than grass, not to mention drought-tolerant. Jan enjoys walking barefoot on it and occasionally practices yoga on the Dymondia. Jan has three Duranta erecta about 12-14 feet tall painting a purple backdrop to the garden.
When I started designing my garden, my idea was to have it all blues and purples. As the garden progressed I added complementary colors. I am very proud of my Kniphofia uvaria (Red-Hot Pokers).
Why do you love to garden Jan, what does the garden give you?
Jan responded in a thoughtful manner,
Gardening gives me peace and tranquility, serenity and beauty. I garden two or three hours a day. I very seldom sit in my garden.
Jan is also a beekeeper by happenstance. One day bees planted a hive in her garden so Jan read up on being a beekeeper and now has three hives. Jan is a true renaissance “pioneer” woman. Jan made the rebar structures for her tomato plants, twelve feet tall. She remembers gardening as a very young child with her father. She learned how to use the chipper at the young age of eight. She is a truly hands-on gardener and does everything that a garden needs. Jan also composts in the bin method; very large trash cans that she moves the compost from bin to bin until it is done.
Jan has also brought some beautifully shaped agate rocks from her property in the Sierra Nevada.
I’m really a mountain girl at heart. I am most at home in the mountains and we are building a home on our property and will eventually live there full time.
Jan is an amazing cook. She makes everything from scratch, even making all the food for their many back-packing trips in the Sierras. Jan is a Pescetarian (a vegetarian who eats fish) and she eats very little dairy. What follows is Jan’s amazing recipe for sweet potato tacos.
Because this is a staple in our diet, I cook four pounds of pink beans at a time.
Prepare the beans.
Soak 4 pounds pink beans in a large canning pot with plenty of water because the beans will expand. Add 3 tablespoons baking soda (helps with flatulance). Change the water twice in an eight-hour period.
One time I left the beans too long and they molded and I had to throw the whole thing out. You can tell by the smell.
Thoroughly rinse beans at the end of the day and put in refrigerator overnight.
In the morning, put back in a large pot with plenty of water
Add three potatoes Jan likes Yukon with their skins on
8 carrots
28 ounces canned tomatoes Jan uses her own from the garden
Add lots of salt, 3 or 4 T
4 T dark chili powder Sprouts Market
1 heaping t celery seed
1 t curry
Pepper about 1/2 t
Sauté one onion and ten or twelve cloves of garlic. Cook four hours or longer. The longer one cooks the bean, the less flatulence. Once cool freeze in zip lock freezer bags, quart size.
Ancho Chilies (from Sprouts Market)
Cook ten at a time, remove the skins – Jan cooks hers over a gas stove, but it can be done in the oven. Put them in a ceramic bowl with a plate on top for twenty minutes or longer and then skins peel easily. Jan also freezes these to take out when needed.
Prepare your sweet potatoes (1/2 sweet potato per person) Peel and cube, steam until done.
How to Assemble Jan’s Incredible Sweet Potato Tacos:
If any ingredients are frozen take out ahead of time to defrost at room temperature.
Wet tortilla, (Sprouted Corn— Food For Life, available at Sprouts Market) spray small amount of non-stick canola oil on both sides and then put tortilla in frying pan about ½ minute each side.
Layer the taco in this order
Beans
Ancho Chilis
Sweet Potato
Jack and Cheddar cheese
Homemade salsa (Jan’s homemade salsa recipe below)
Put filled tacos in a casserole dish and keep warm until ready to serve, about 200 degrees. Serve with homemade guacamole, lettuce and homemade salsa.
She makes her homemade salsa in a Vitamix blender. If you don’t have a Vitamix, hand chop or chop in your Cuisinart.
½ red onion
½ red bell pepper
1/2 to 1 1/2 jalapeno
½ bunch cilantro
1 T lemon juice
6 small tomatoes or three large
heaping T dark chili powder (more is better) Sprouts Market
4 or 5 cloves of garlic
heaping t salt
1/2 t pepper
3/4 T celery seed
Dash of curry
If using Vitamix , mix on level 2 for 30 seconds, level 5 for ten seconds.
In conclusion Jan is a Pioneer Woman who has created a true Shangra-La for her family and friends! Jan’s Realism Art is evident in Jan’s gardens, her own and those she designs for others. I, and I venture to say everyone, was deeply inspired in Jan’s garden. I for one was inspired to go pick up my paint brush and pen to write!
Happy Summer and making art in whatever form that takes you!
Bye for now,
Francesca
Earlier this week I got a call from a friend. Fran I’m calling to invite you over to see my artist studio. I was thrilled to receive his invitation!
Here are a few excerpts from my interview with Tom—
Tom: There were two things I knew when I was growing up: one, I was going to marry and have a family, and two, I loved Art! . . . the most amazing achievement and expression of what humans can do! To me there is nothing better than making a good piece of art! I built this space two years ago and I am thrilled with the studio!
Tom has his bachelors in fine art and was a professional artist for many years. He concentrated on stained glass because it was big in the 70s.
Having four children is a lot of mouths to feed so Tom went into the computer industry. He thoroughly enjoyed his work in the corporate world traveling to Japan among other countries.
Tom is a well-rounded individual with many passions; sports, all sports, but running daily and playing tennis two to three times a week, reading, traveling to Hawaii and excursions to see his grandchildren just to name a few.
Fran: Tom, I see a photo of your dad. Did your father’s love of art influence you to be an artist growing up?
Tom: I suppose it did subliminally. I remember looking at a portrait my father did of my brother Dave and I thought, I’m going to do that when I grow up. I was interested in all the things boys are interested in growing up: sports, rockets, cars, but I knew that art was my thing!
Tom has been painting throughout his life but when he retired he started a routine of painting every afternoon.
I will never forget the date I retired, May 31 2013, etched in my memory forever as a very Happy Day!
I couldn’t wait for the time in my life when I could be doing art every day. I realized one day talking with Martha that we could survive without a corporate salary. Then I did it. Kids were raised, out of school and on their feet. I was then free to go back to my first love and passion. I felt liberation, freedom to return to that! I feel like a kid in harmony with the world. I am grateful.
Now my days are my own –I take a run either up here in the hills or down on the beach. I think about painting and inevitably images come to mind that I want to capture on canvas. Then I come home, have my lunch and head out to the studio in the garden.
The creative process —If you could only do one thing to leave a piece of art, that is great, that would be Success! Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great to be a businessman and build corporations -–awesome achievements in the business world, but great art. . . !
The struggle–I am maybe too much of a perfectionist to look at one of my pieces and say WOW, that’s it! The danger is that you are so examining of yourself that you overwork it! Not to leave it soon enough, know when to stop.
Tom has this quote on his wall from author John McPhee:
People often ask how I know when I’m done – not just when I’ve come to the end, but in all the drafts and revisions and substitutions of one word for another how do I know there is no more to do? When am I done? I just know. I’m lucky that way. What I know is that I can’t do any better; someone else might do better, but that’s all I can do; so I call it done.
Tom: I love that one by McPhee. Especially the part about knowing that he can’t do any better even though someone else might; I find that very liberating, very helpful in accepting one’s own work. I try to remember that!
Lately Tom has also started sculpting again. He is trying something new, carving in granite.
Fran: It seems to me Tom, that you are not afraid to start new things, to jump in with both feet and start something new.
Tom: It’s not scary for me to start a new process because I’ve never done it before. I am not afraid because it’s just for fun and to learn something new. I have confidence that I can draw and make forms and shapes! Can I do it again for a painting, to me, is the struggle because painting for me is the foremost form of art. I am a painter before a sculptor, a drawer before a painter, less scary to mess with sculpting. Like almost easier to excel when your expectations are lower, not so high.
Tom: I carved a wave in stone – I find this amusing, cracks me up. Stone has seams and stuff like that. The process of working in stone is almost delicate in a way, even though it is granite! When you start to do something new you know how amazing it is and the amazement for the people who do that kind of art goes up! Blows me away!
Fran: Who are your mentors?
Tom: The guys who could refer to the real world not just the mind. I respond to it. Nobody touches Matisse in color, line and expression. Vermeer is a sheer marvel and Goya to name a few.
Tom’s studio is large, organized and light filled. He has photographs of people and relatives whose beauty or differences inspire him to paint. He has several pictures of his beautiful wife and his daughter. Look, wasn’t she a beautiful woman?! Tom exclaimed as we looked at a photo of his deceased mother-in-law.
Pressfield says it well:
Steven Pressfield, author – If you find yourself asking yourself (and your friends), Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist? chances are you are. The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.
Tom: What I like about Pressfield’s statements is that they reflect the almost compulsive love artists must have for their work – something they can’t not do, regardless of how hard or scary it gets for them.
Tom: I am free again, back in my own skin and I am in the journey, I am starting the run. I think people who can do it well are amazing!
I came away from the morning with Tom totally inspired to get back into my own studio! As I left I couldn’t help but notice this inspiring quote on his studio door:
Art is not a thing. . .it is a way~! Elbert Hubbard
Bye for Now,
Francesca
Yesterday was Halloween and I was impressed as I drove through down-town Encinitas on Highway 101 at the numbers of families, some with grandparents in tow. The young parents of
the small children were all dressed up too!
This is a lovely new expression for the parents of young children! I have been thinking about this and how the expression of why people love to dress up in costumes. Traditionally, today, November 1, is the day of the dead in Spain and in Latin American countries.
Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where the day is a bank holiday. The celebration takes place on October 31, November 1 and November 2, in connection with the Christian triduum of Hallowmas: All Hallows’ Eve, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.[1][2] Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars called ofrendas honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts. They also leave possessions of the deceased.My daughter’s mother-in-law in Spain puts fresh flowers on loved ones graves every November 1st. (Source: Wikipedia)
In America, for the most part, Halloween has become a huge event from parties to parading in towns through neighborhoods to see your friends and neighbors all dressed up. Many families in Fairfax, California, decorate their gardens and homes to reflect the Halloween spirit. Artists and collectors in Fairfax open their homes to the holiday revelers.
A friend of mine used to own a hotel with a restaurant and bar. Halloween was their most fun event of the year and biggest money maker! The locals enjoyed coming to the bar. My friend and his wife had fun thinking in advance about upcoming Halloween and who they would be enacting.
Human beings love to put on plays. We love to pretend we are someone different from ourselves! Real or imaginary! Aside from witches and goblins and ghosts or fairy princesses there is always that excitement and FUN to be someone or something we would never really want to be…. Our alter ego if you will!?
Here’s to Halloween in the USA!!! How FUN this day is in our society!
Bye for now,
Francesca
Their oldest daughter Anushka loves to garden. She is now six years old. Every time the family comes to visit Anushka and I have fun gardening. While they were here we planted some vegetables and seeds together, picked tomatoes and strawberries, and pulled out vegetables that were spent. Anushka was able to experience the cycle of the vegetables; lettuce, purslane and arugula. She had the experience of planting them as well as seeing them regrow from seeds in the soil after we had pulled the old ones out.
This summer people have been amazed by the multitudes of butterflies in Southern California. My granddaughters and I had so much fun gardening and playing in the garden all the while butterflies and dragonflies floated as if “lazily” overhead. For months I have been curious as to this fabulous phenomenon. I was thinking that it was possibly due to so many of us planting the plants that caterpillars love to eat and build their chrysalis on such as Asclepias curassavica. Also the fact that many of us through the years have become organic gardeners. And many more people plant vegetable gardens which also may encourage a variety of colorful butterflies and dragonflies to our gardens. Gardeners have been planting milkweed to encourage the Monarchs to their gardens. My grandchildren got to experience seeing the magnificent and beautiful chrysalises of Monarch butterflies and then the butterflies just emerged and still wet on a branch. This is a link to a blog post that I wrote on butterflies. Butterflies in Our Gardens
I checked the Internet to find the answer to this interesting phenomenon. The article below speaks of this fascinating development in England also this calendar year 2013.
Britain’s butterfly population seems to have exploded this year, the buddleia bushes are bursting, the veg patches are teaming and there seems to be an invasion happening in my home.
Every day for the last week or so I have had to rescue at least one trapped butterfly from my cottage. They seem to appear from nowhere and crash desperately and repeatedly into the windows leaving their precious wing powder behind. I was always taught not to hold a butterfly as the powder comes off on your hands and that’s what helps them fly, I’ve no idea if this is true or not, but I like the idea of magic flying dust so I find myself leaping about with a pint glass in one hand and beer mat in the other trying desperately to channel Gerald Durrell and catch the frightened insect.
British butterflies have been in decline over the last 10 years with a 24% decrease in the common garden types like the Red Admiral and Cabbage White.
My childhood was full of butterflies and then they all seemed to disappear. British butterflies have been in decline over the last 10 years with a 24% decrease in the common garden types like the Red Admiral and Cabbage White so how come we are seeing this year’s butterfly boom?
Despite being around for at least 50 million years butterflies are fragile things that are hugely affected by environmental factors, their habitats are disappearing and more and more pesticides are being sprayed around the countryside which has resulted in our summers seeing fewer and fewer of these beautiful winged creatures fluttering about their business.
Peter Eeles, Chairman of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight branch of Butterfly Conservation attributes this year’s boom to three major contributors – the first is that we had a ‘proper’ winter (i.e. cold) which suppresses the ability for parasites and mould to kill off any stages that are overwintering. The second is that we’ve had a good summer and the fine weather has allowed the caterpillars to rapidly feed up – which gives less time for predators to find them (especially birds). And thirdly the sunny weather has allowed butterflies to maximise the time spent finding a mate, and for females to egg-lay – and for multi-brooded species we’ll see the second or third hatches and in good numbers.
So it’s excellent news for Britain’s butterflies this year and you can do your bit to encourage them into your garden by planting butterfly friendly flowers like buddleias and marigolds or visit the butterfly plants website for a list of their favourite plants to feast and lay on and let’s hope we continue to see them flourish and flutter by. Metro Newspaper.
Anushka and I also planted a succulent planter. Check out a blog post that I wrote on this subject. Create Your Own Wall Succulent Hanging Planter
My granddaughter was having fun playing with her fairy princes and princesses in the planter before it was finished as you can see from the photo.
I just recently read an article in First for Women Magazine that talks about how gardening alleviates stress in a person. Our lives are so stressful these days. Every time I go out and work in my garden my stress goes completely away. And I think, why didn’t I do this sooner!
The #1 Way to Nix The Stress of Daily Pressures:
When too many demands leave you feeling exhausted, take a time-out to tend your garden. Researchers in the Netherlands discovered that subjects who spend thirty minutes outdoors pulling weeds and planting flowers experience a significantly greater reduction in levels of acute stress—the kind created by rushing from one to-do to the next—than those who stayed indoors and read for a half hour. The authors of the study explain that soil contains a bacterium (called M. vaccae) that boosts the production of the happy hormone serotonin and relieves anxiety.
Sometimes I forget to get into the garden. Now is a great time to buy the winter vegetables to plant in California. We are so lucky here to be able to garden outdoors year round! I am so thankful for the blessing of working in the earth.
Have Fun Gardening!
Bye for Now
Francesca
