The View From Here: More Spring Blooms!

Meandering about in the warm Spring weather, taking a few pictures of the blooms I see!

Cherry blossoms:

Pear blossoms!

I don't know what blossoms!

Then I made a delicious sweet potato bisque from a recipe I found online. It was so smooth and creamy! The decorative sprig is a celery leaf, with a dash of paprika for contrasting color. Yummy:

In case you've never had the pleasure of hearing spring peepers (tiny frogs) chirp in the early morning, I managed to capture it here. Don't bother to look for a picture; just listen:

Happy Passover! Happy Easter! Happy Earth Day!

May you and your family have a joyous celebration, remembering God's deliverance, and being mindful that we have been put here to take care of our planet.

Below are a few more reminders of what a wonderful Spring it is turning out to be here in New Jersey.

Every Spring I look forward to seeing the forsythia bloom! At this time of year, in a certain spot along route 22 in Hunterdon County, there's a long stretch of forsythia planted in the center median that is just a joy to behold! Rows and rows of forsythia, stretching for what seems like a mile. This is just a small portion of it:

It was a little overcast the day I took this photo, but when the sun is shining, it seems as though drops of golden sun are resting on the surface of the earth because the forsythia glows so brightly!

I captured this shot on a windswept day after a storm:

And finally, an artistic rendering of a couple of baby daffodils blooming:

Last Church Craft Until Fall

Here is the last church craft I made for this session of Kids Quest. It was pretty easy to do. It's a wheel that you can turn, reminding you that you can pray anytime:

I really enjoy preparing the crafts for the children's ministry each week; even more so now that my daughter is involved in the class. It makes me feel like I'm helping out, even if it seems like a small contribution, I know that any help that teachers can get to be more prepared is a big deal. In my small way I am helping impact the next generation.

I also spent some time this week reviewing some ideas for art projects I'd like to work on. I picked out a few and hope to start posting my progress soon.

The View From Here: Duke Island Park

Birds chirping in the early morn, robins flitting about pulling up worms from the ground, daffodils and crocus popping out to say their cheerful hello, spring peepers chanting their glorious chorus in the evening... yes the REAL Springtime has arrived! The fam and I took a stroll after church in Duke Island Park, a refreshing little getaway in Somerset County, NJ: http://www.somersetcountyparks.org/parksFacilities/dukeIsland/DukeIslandPk.html.

It is a nice park to just take a walk in along a paved path that winds alongside the Raritan River, and there was just enough wind to fly a kite! Last year we had a picnic and rollerskated our way along the path, which is also used for biking. Here are a few pictures of the enjoyable afternoon we spent there:

The kite was high up there:

Looking out on the Raritan River:

Plenty of twisted trees to fire the imagination:

Daffodils happy to see some warm weather at last:

Here are two more pictures that weren't taken at the park, but I felt that they should be included as well:

The View From Here: First Day of Spring 2011

Welcome Spring, at last! But... what's this? SNOW?!?!?!?!? Hmmm, there must be some mistake. Especially since we hit almost 70 degrees the week before. Sigh...

My artistic rendering of snow on a tree branch:

Well, at least something looks bright and cheerful today:

and the crocus didn't croak either:

Moon Date

Yesterday the moon was the closest that it has been to the Earth since 1993. I don't remember looking at the moon back then, but I took out the camera and tried to get some shots of it last night. Of course, the camera didn't cooperate; but I did get some artsy shots of it:

and here's an artful plate that I made for dinner: oven baked tilapia with a sun dried tomato sauce courtesy of Lawry's, and a helping of Aloo Gobi (caulifower and potatoes in Indian spices - courtesy the Aarti Party show on the Food Network):

I forgot to add the cilantro garnish, but it tasted great anyway.

A Look Back

This week I was going through my inspiration box. This is a large box that I keep that contains ideas, projects I started, thumbnail sketches, and various other stuff that I want to eventually turn into artwork. I found my sketchbook that I had used several years ago. It was during a time in my life when I was working at a non-creative job, and it was draining the life out of me. I was frustrated that I wasn't getting any creative work done. Then I read an article in an artist's magazine that described exactly what I was going through. The author of the article advised the reader to "create art right where you are, out of or in spite of the dull junk of daily life." It was then that I realized that I didn't have to be working at a creative job to use my creativity; I could draw the things I saw around me. Suddenly the mundane and ordinary objects around me became interesting. On my break times I began to draw the things I saw:

The reason I took out my sketchbook in the first place is because I thought there was room in it to draw the picture of tomatoes that I took a couple of weeks ago. But the sketchbook is full; I will have to find another one.

I'm going to work on getting some drawing time in again. I love knitting, but I also need to work on my drawing, scratchboard and painting. Just last week I was thinking about a watercolor piece that I'd like to create. It may take some time after I've completed the research I need to do, but I am going to put the steps in place to start the work.