Japanese Brush Painting

I was at the cottage all of last week taking an art course at the Haliburton School of the Arts.  It was the perfect combination of visiting my parents, enjoying cottage life, and doing some art. The weather was lovely so I got in swimming a few times and we enjoyed walking through my Mother's garden. 

I took a Japanese brush painting course, which was held in the Haliburton Highlands Secondary School. It was fun to see how different schools are in cottage country.  

Where else could you look out the classroom window and see a deer (and her two fawns hiding in the woods just past her) walking around the edge of the forest?

And where else would you find bear awareness posters all over the school?

And where else would you get a view like this from the school?  Gorgeous, right!

Japanese brush painting, also called sumi-e, is beautiful and rewarding when the strokes are done correctly, but very challenging as well.

Sumi-e (pronounced soo- mee-eh) is an ancient Asian art form that originated in China, but is now done mostly in Japan.  You use a little black ink stick (that you can see resting on the edge of the square stone in the photo below) to mix with a few drops of water in the stone.  You use one brush in different ways to make thin, thick, and rough lines. 

We completed many different exercises to learn the different strokes needed to form leaves, flowers, needles, pine cones, bark, bamboo, and even scenery.  Although they don't look too difficult, trust me they are very hard to do.  There is no room for error as you only make one stroke for every leaf or branch and you can't go back and correct it.  Practice makes perfect though - or better anyway - and by the end of each day we had always managed to make a few reasonable paintings.

Bamboo and pine boughs were my favourite - especially loved doing the trunks.  I have to confess, though, that I found plum blossoms excruciatingly difficult to do. I want to try using sumi-e to paint some Canadian scenes - I think it would be a nice art fusion.

Pad Thai

We've made it to Thailand in our round-the-world cooking adventure.  Since I had never cooked pad thai before, that is what we chose to make.  It tasted great and really wasn't very difficult.  I used this recipe here, but made some modifications since I was cooking for 7 people and I wasn't able to get all of the ingredients.

INGREDIENTS (serves 8):
1-454gm (16 oz.) package of rice noodles (linguine-width)
4 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
marinade for chicken: 3 teaspoons of corn starch mixed with 1/2 cup soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 fresh red chilies, minced (optional)

1/2 cup fresh coriander/cilantro (optional)
3 cups fresh bean sprouts

8 green onions, sliced

3/4 cup peanuts, roughly chopped

slices of lime

1/2 cup vegetable stock

oil for cooking

Pad Thai sauce: 

3 tablespoons lemon juice (the original recipe called for tamarind paste, but I couldn't find any so I used lemon juice)

6 tablespoons fish sauce (this is the magic ingredient that makes it taste like Thai food and is available in most grocery stores)

1/4 teaspoon dried crushed chili pepper flakes

5 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon pepper

METHOD:

1.  Marinate the chicken pieces for at least one hour.
2.  Soak the noodles in warm water for 30 minutes or until they are soft enough to be eaten, but still a little crunchy.
3.  Mix together the pad Thai sauce and set aside.
4.  Heat oil in a frying pan or wok and cook the garlic (and chilies if using) for about 30 seconds.  Add marinated chicken and cook for 5-7 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.  Add 1-2 tablespoons of chicken stock at a time as needed to keep the cooking chicken moist.
5.  Add the noodles to the cooked chicken and pour the pad Thai sauce over it.  Using two utensils stir the noodle mixture like you are tossing a salad for 1-2 minutes.  Add more oil or chicken stock as needed to keep it moist.
6.  Add the bean sprouts (and 1 more tablespoon of fish sauce if desired) and cook for 1 more minute.
7.  Serve the pad Thai with fresh coriander, chopped green onions, chopped nuts, and a slice of lime.

I felt like this meal was a little lacking in the vegetable department so I stir fried some bok choy and red peppers with onion and garlic and a little fish sauce.  It was my own version of faux Thai vegetables, but they tasted great with the pad Thai.  I didn't include a photo of them because they weren't authentic.

We've also cooked Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam so I'll be posting them soon.  Have you ever cooked pad Thai?  It is a popular dish and I think this version tasted pretty authentic if you want to give it a try.

Green and Navy

Our family room has been on the needy side for a long time.  I decorate the mantel and change it up seasonally, but the rest of it is pretty plain.  We were given a super comfortable, super cozy, super long sofa when our friends moved and couldn't fit it into their new condo.  We love watching TV lounged/sprawled all over it, but I hadn't ever got around to adding any cushions or art on the wall above it.  We also didn't have a rug in the family room (apart from the little mat that was needed to help Juno get some traction for jumping on and off the sofa).  

I debated long and hard about what colours to use in the family room given that everything is pretty neutral.  The sofa and walls are both a soft gray-green and the rest is white and wood.  

I was inspired by the photo that Kat from Low Tide High Style gave me, which you can see on our mantel in the picture below (you really should check out her website for this and other amazing photos that she has for sale).

I love the blue of the door and wanted to use something like that colour or even a bit darker - somewhere between cobalt and navy.  I wondered how it would look with green, but was reassured by the colour of the boat surrounded by gray-green grasses and trees in this watercolour in my friend's living room.

So I did what any sensible person would do - I went to Home Sense and bought every navy pillow they had.  I decided I would channel my inner Sarah Richardson and decorate the sofa with many different patterns as long as they were navy/cobalt and cream/beige.  I also remembered that we had a blue and cream striped rug from IKEA and it matched perfectly.

Now I need to work on the gallery wall that is going to go above the sofa and possibly a bench to go along in front of the sofa to put our feet on.

Here's one more before and after.

I think the deep blue is a little unconventional with the gray-green, but I happen to love blue so it works for me.  I can see a dark brick red working as well so who knows what things will look like down the road.  Are you a fan of pairing green with blue?  What colour would you have used with the gray-green sofa and walls?

Diary of a Kitchen

I'm away at my parent's cottage all week doing lots of visiting, swimming, reading, and taking an art course at the Haliburton School of the Arts.  I'm re-posting this guest post from last year in case you haven't read it.  I had fun revisiting my kitchen (not that I don't visit it daily to cook) and seeing how it has changed over the years since we moved into our house 12 years ago this month.  Enjoy!

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When we moved into our house the kitchen was far from my dream kitchen.  While it was functional, it certainly lacked in the beauty department.  However, I knew that mostly it needed some cosmetic changes that I could do with a little time, money, and energy (okay, a lot of energy).  I thought it might be interesting to show you how the kitchen has changed over the years and to give you an update as to whether I would change anything or not.

July 2001 

When we bought our house the kitchen (which you can see below in the previously-never-been-revealed photo of a photo) had bleached oak cabinets with a horrible white laminate countertop that always was dirty no matter how often you cleaned it.  The previous owners had put up flowered shelf liner as a backsplash (thankfully it wasn't real wallpaper so it was very easy to remove).  And there was no dishwasher! 

April 2004

We took down the fruity shelf liner backsplash (cheerful though it was) and put up beadboard.  At that time the beadboard was painted green because the colour of the cabinets would have clashed with white.

August 2008

We had the countertop replaced with a slate gray laminate.  You can often see the laminate counter in photos I put on my blog as it is a great neutral background (like for this salad).

At the same time that we had the countertops changed we had the contractor build a shelf at the end of the peninsula to store dishes.  We also had the counter on the peninsula widened so it is about six inches wider than a regular counter now. And we had a dishwasher installed (finally!!!). This was how our kitchen looked for another two years (you can see more photos here).

July 2010I painted the cabinets and backsplash over a grueling three week period.  It took forever (or seemed to at the time), but was so worth it.  You can see how our family room looked for those three weeks.  Yikes!  You can read more about the process here.

I love what a difference painting the cabinets made.  I chose to paint the upper cabinets and backsplash in BM Chantilly Lace (OC-65) and the lower cabinets a medium gray colour, BM Steel Wool (2121-20) (you can see my inspiration photos here).



October 2011You can see in the photo above that the open shelves were initially all white.  In October 2011 I painted a foam core board to place at the back of the shelves to add a little interest (which you can read more about here).  I used leftover gray paint from the lower cabinets and painted a design that was neutral enough that lots of different patterns and colours could be displayed on the shelves.


And I do use lots of colours to decorate the shelves.  Here they are decorated in yellow and white.

And here they are decorated for Christmas last year in red, orange, and white.

And later in the year in blue and white.

UPDATEHaving lived with the kitchen makeover for over two years, I thought it would be interesting to review the decisions we made to see if there is anything we regret or would change.
Painted cabinets - I love white kitchens so I knew that I would love the cabinets painted.  The biggest leap of faith I took was painting the lower cabinets gray instead of white.  It turned out to have been a good move as I love how the gray on the bottom helps hide the dirt that manages to be attracted to lower cabinets.  I also like how it looks a little different than an all-white kitchen. I painted the cabinets in oil-based paint and before I wrote this post I checked to see how the paint was holding up. There is only one little chip on them (that you can see in the photo below) - I think maybe the vacuum cleaner hose is to blame when it gets pulled around the corner. I'm impressed at how well the paint has stood up through two-and-a-half years of heavy use.

Laminate counter - I love the neutral colour we chose and I love that nothing (and I do mean nothing) stains it.  I'm careful about using a cutting board and hot mats as laminate is not durable that way, but so far we do not have any scratches or nicks.

Beadboard backsplash - I love how the beadboard makes the kitchen look cozy and relaxed.  It was very inexpensive (less than $50 including the glue we used) and was quick and easy to install.  People often think that it will be hard to keep clean, but we have had no difficulty with it.  The paint slightly filled in the cracks between the boards so it is easy to wipe any spots that get on it.

Painted design in the back of the open shelves - I love how it adds interest to the kitchen, but is still neutral enough that I can decorate the shelves lots of different ways.

I hope you enjoyed the diary of my kitchen renovations.  There are still things I would love to do to the kitchen - top of my list would be getting stainless appliances (our fridge is leaking water at the bottom so things are looking hopeful there). Despite my wish list, I enjoy using our kitchen and appreciate how much it has improved - it is now a great blend of functional and pretty.  

My dream is to do a complete gut renovation on a kitchen some day.  Have you ever completed a kitchen renovation - little or big?  Any regrets or did it all go according to plan?

Monet on my Mind

I attend an art class run by a friend of mine.  It's loads of fun and so good for me, but this past few weeks have been even better than usual.  We are studying Monet right now and have been learning about his life and works.  

Did you know that Monet used a very limited set of paints. Later in his life he had narrowed his palette down to only six colours of paint - and never black.  He used:

• titanium white
• cadmium yellow 
• vermilion red
• alizarin crimson
• cobalt blue (ultramarine)
• viridian green

To help us really experience Monet, my friend bought the exact six shades of paint that Monet used.  

Did you know Monet was a foodie? My friend made us the same treats Monet liked to eat. One of his favourites was banana ice cream laced with calvados (ours didn't have calvados, but sure was delicious).  We also had warm apple cider to sip as we were painting as that is what the impressionists liked to drink - a good Norman drink!

Did you know that Monet's favourite colour was yellow?  So my friend went to the thrift store and bought a yellow tablecloth to set the mood.  Her dining room chairs are the same as the ones Monet had in his dining room in his house at Giverny.  You can see my friend's dining chairs in the photo below and Monet's in the photo below that.

Giverny

Did you know that Monet and the other impressionist artists liked to paint outdoors as they wanted to capture an accurate "impression" of the lighting.  Since the light would change throughout the day, Monet would have many paintings on the go at any one time and he switched them out as the light changed.  Monet also painted the same scene over and over capturing different lighting and moods.

in the mid-19th century, the impressionists made it popular to paint "en plein air" (outdoors) as they wanted to capture the light.  I found it interesting, though, that painting outdoors was made possible by a few advances in technology that occurred around the same time.  First, the spread of the railways meant that artists could now easily get out to the countryside to paint.  Also, in the late 1800s ready-mixed oil paints became available in tubes so the artist no longer had to mix all their paints themselves. This made it easier to quickly mix colours and to conveniently paint in outdoor settings.  

The first week we studied Monet, we attempted to copy one of his paintings of the Cliffs of Aval at Étretat, France (in the picture above) so that we could get an idea of how he applied colour and used brushstrokes.  My husband and I went to Étretat a few summers ago and when I looked back at our photos I saw one that was almost the same view as the one we painted (scroll down to the end to see the photo I took in this post here).

The next week we used the Monet-prop bridge that is at the university near where we live (I love the term "Monet-prop" that was coined by a commenter in a previous post about this bridge - cracks me up every time I say it).

We each found a spot that appealed to us and then we painted using Monet's six colours. We also had tea and a treat to sustain us while painting.

I've posted a photo of my paintings down below - promise not to laugh (truly I'm no Monet and haven't painted in years, but it was such a fun experience that I thought I would share the results).  

Jackie Evancho Photos

Before I leave the topic of the Jackie Evancho concert I attended on Friday (which you can read about here), I wanted to tell you the sad tale of my camera battery and the kindness of a stranger.  I took my camera with me to the concert so I could get some photos of Lewiston and possibly even of Jackie between songs.  The battery seemed to be charged enough, but it died just before the concert - literally just moments before.  Oh, what is a blogger with a dead camera to do???  The most obvious choice is to approach a total stranger and ask if they will send a poor blogger copies of their photos ... and that is what I did.  So thanks to Jim, these are some of the photos he took of Jackie taken during the concert in Lewiston, NY. 

I love how well the bodice of her dress shows up in the photo below.

And an earnest Jackie singing her little heart out.

And the wave ... Oh I love the adorable enthusiastic wave!

And in case you have never heard Jackie sing, this was one of the songs we heard at the Lewiston concert.  This song is unusual because she was accompanied only by the piano, instead of an entire orchestra.  I love that you can really focus on her voice in this beautiful song.

P.S.  And coming soon - a look at what we bought in Lewiston that will save me hours and hours of work (just as soon as I take some photos of it).