picnic {№14}

an impromptu supper in the organic garden at the end of a sultry day.

ingredients:  bed of clover, scent of honeysuckle, dragonflies, twilight, the hum of the cicadas.

other ingredients:  goat cheese, tomato, avocado and arugula on baguette, cold leftover spicy soba noodles, a bowl of cherries, blood orange soda.

last-minute magic.

finally, back in the garden

hello poppy

california wildflowers right here in virginia.

a good scottish dog

sweet roxy dog is courageously fighting a decline in her health.  she has lost her sight and struggles to make it up the stairs.  we made the difficult decision to treat her nutritionally and holistically at home.  she experiences extreme anxiety at the vet and we had a not-so-great outcome years ago when our beloved fox terrier milo was treated with traditional medical techniques (and by not-so-great, i mean a suffering dog who ultimately didn't make it in the end and huge debt fueled by guilt).

all of us (me and prof. parks, roxy, luca and simon) appreciate your prayers and mojo for a healthy happy dog and good judgement for her parents.

update:  sweet roxy dog crossed over on june7.  i know she is frolicking with her friends milo the terrier and bodhi the siamese.  i miss her so.

travel sketchbook

next month prof. parks and i are going to manhattan.  his days will be occupied with theatre work, so i will mainly be a solitary tourist (which is kind of my introverted preference).  i love having all the time in the world to explore and observe the (2nd) most beautiful city in the world (i am, at heart, a west coast girl, so san francisco takes first place with me).

i'm creating a travel journal and sketchbook to take along and capture memories and to keep me present within my surroundings.  i was inspired by:

(clockwise from top left)

1. painted pages by sketchbook queen sarah ahearn.  sarah was the first to introduce me to the concept of capturing ordinary and beautiful moments with sketches, color and words.  her book is like taking class with her, which i also highly recommend.
2. how to be an explorer of the world by keri smith.  i just love this book and its reminders to look at things differently.
3. side walks, a journal for exploring your city  and i was here, a travel journal for the curious minded by kate pocrass.  both of these books have amazing prompts and ideas for noticing and remembering the little quirks of your day in the city.

i started out planning to use a regular sketchbook but then i found a vintage book about new york city that was falling apart.  i couldn't wait to repurpose its amazing covers for my sketchbook.

i carefully cut free the interior pages (which will be saved for future art projects) and separated the front and back covers.  i repapered the insides of both covers, repaired the frayed edges and corners, and collaged over worn areas.  the book is bound with metal rings for easy access.  this is the inside of the front:

i especially love the vintage street scene on the back cover:

i added a pocket to the inside back cover for collecting little mementos of my days.  it's the receipt envelope from a recent anthropologie purchase decorated with some washi tape:

a variety of pages fill the sketchbook.  there are lined pages for journaling, printed pages for gluing in found ephemera and photos and watercolor paper for sketching and painting. i added a few printed prompts as well to capture overheard conversations and list all things teal (or yellow or green or rainbow...) spied on any given day.

a head start:

my hope for this project is that it helps me stay present in the everyday moments of each day in the city.  and i'll have a uniquely meaningful souvenir of my journey.

sunday grace

"you're the only one who knows when you're using things to protect yourself and keep your ego together and when you're opening and letting things fall apart, letting the world come as it is - working with it rather than struggling against it. 

you're the only one who knows."

-pema chödrön