Color Inspiration

Jan27

In my continuous quest to find and connect with other artists who drench their lives in color and beads, I have discovered a beady kindred spirit, Beverly Ash Gilbert.

Wandering around the web, I stumbled upon a blurb about the release of Beverly’s new book, Beaded Colorways: Freeform Beadweaving Projects and Palettes.

A rich title full of words I love: color, freeform, beads, palettes.

After excitedly purchasing her book, I went on an internet journey to find out all I could about this artist who loves color and freeform beadwork as much as I.

Inspired by the colors of nature in her northwest home, Beverly creates what she calls “bead soups”, mixes of seed beads, gemstones and pearls in variations of a hue. Mmmmmm, just the combination of those 2 words evokes yummy and juicy to me so I know that I’m on the right path, the path of rich becoming. Beverly goes on to create art jewelry pieces using these “bead soups”, transitioning from one “soup” to another in a beautiful flow of color. Take a look at the gorgeous pieces in her gallery.

In my own freeform approach, I choose a color palette inspired by nature.

a sunrise

an autumn walk in the woods

and then create patches of color (from that palette) that weave over and around each other.

Beverly has inspired me to expand how I look at my color choices and enhance my work with my own “bead soups”. Even though her clear writing and instruction speaks to all levels of beading experience, I find that it is ideal for someone like me who already has a fairly large bead stash for mixing and blending.

A New England winter palette threads its way through the fiber of my being these days, evidenced by my latest knitting creations.

and the beads I chose on my birthday bead store excursion.

Hmmmm, yes, winter….but look….peeks of spring here and there.

I think it’s time for another freeform bracelet.

What inspires you at this cold, muted color time of year?

The color of springtime is in the flowers, the color of winter is in the imagination. ~Ward Elliot Hour

The Process of Becoming

Jan20

First of all, my heart and prayers go out to the people of Haiti. If you haven’t yet, you can find out how to help here.

Ever since a couple of Saturdays ago when I wrote about choosing a word for the year to guide and inspire, my mind has been filled with thoughts about what my word could be for 2010. I find it challenging and a bit daunting to choose a word that will define my direction for a WHOLE year.

As I discovered last year, a life can change drastically in a year’s time. A year ago, I was struggling with a debilitating condition, in a great deal of pain, both physically and emotionally, and now here I sit, in a healthier body in a brand new home. My own home.

Inspired by the flavor and color of that second flush Darjeeling tea from that day (mmmm), I’ve meditated at length on the word rich. This word is commonly associated with financial gain, however, there are many other ways to experience richness in one’s life. It can also describe how I feel about my life right at this very moment, fostering a sense of gratitude and abundance for all that I have and experience. In that respect, it brings me directly into the moment instead of focusing on the future. It gets me out of my head and into my heart, a way of being encouraged strongly by a psychic I went to see on a brilliantly sunny day last February. She told me that I should figure out how to live a more yummy, juicy life. Well, rich is yummy and juicy, isn’t it?

So, I thought that I was pretty much decided……that is, until I read my Daily OM horoscope e-mail last Thursday, entitled “The Process of Becoming”. Becoming? Huh? Hmmmm….oh….yes…..becoming. You know when you have a moment when something – a person, an experience, a WORD – resonates so strongly that you feel like it is a key that is perfectly shaped to your heart and soul? Some folks might call that experience an epiphany.

“a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.”

I read my horoscope every morning. Sometimes it offers inspiration or an insight into a problem or challenge I’m experiencing but most times, to be honest, it’s a quick skimming read over morning cereal. Not this time, however.

Becoming

“any change involving realization of potentialities, as a movement from the lower level of potentiality to the higher level of actuality.”

Of course, I could put those 2 words together. Becoming Rich. Rich Becoming. I think I like the latter phrase better which seems to evoke a yummy, juicy unfolding as opposed to conjuring images of get rich quick schemes.

Have you ever heard someone say that at this very moment you are exactly where you are supposed to be? How every moment of your life up until now has led you exactly to this place? These words have become my constant companions in the past year as I’ve experienced the process of purchasing my new home. This process was incredibly long and drawn out, involving slow moving banks and such, and it also involved the end of a relationship as it was, which would then make 2 endings of that sort in less than 6 years. When something like this happens, you go through all of the “should haves” and “should not haves”, right? I admit, I had my share of “woe is me” days about this but what I kept coming back to was how everything seemed to click into place in the last year to bring me here. Right here. Here is where I need to be. Where I’m supposed to be.

Have you chosen a word for the year? The first year I did this, I followed the advice found on Christine Kane’s blog here.

I copied and pasted all of the words from the list in that post into a blank document, arranged them on the screen so I could cut them out individually once I printed it. The pile of words then went into a colorful bowl. As I swirled the bits of paper around, I closed my eyes and thought about the year ahead and put my intention out into the universe for guidance. Then I grabbed a slip of paper. That was in 2008 and my word for that year was Beauty. That was another year of moving for me. My new home at that time was closer to nature and a garden so I immersed myself into those things and took a lot of photographs. Focusing on the beauty in the world became a very healing year for me.

Becoming

Rich Becoming

It’s only a word or two but what’s truly important is where it brings you.

“As we focus on enjoying each step along our journey to success, we immerse ourselves fully in the process of becoming.” ~from the Daily OM, The Process of Becoming, 1/15/10

Saturday Morning Tea

Dec12

Hello dear tea friends. I hope you had a marvelous week. I had a glorious sleep in this morning. That is definitely at the top of my list of ways to get your balance back during a busy, frenetic holiday season. A lovely way to start the day, if a bit of a late start…

This morning’s tea is a wonderful aromatherapy experience. Conjuring up images of gardens and armfuls of just picked fragrant blooms, it is a green (pouchong) jasmine tea called Jasmine Mao Feng. The long tea leaves are twisted into wiry threads as they are processed as a green tea. Mao Feng means “Fur Peak” or “Hairy Mountain”, a reference to where the tea is grown and harvested. You can read more about another Mao Feng tea here.

The leaves look like a black tea when dry and then lighten up to a gorgeous olive green after steeping. I steeped the leaves for 3 minutes in 180 degree F water.

The tea liquor is the color of a golden sunset.

Once the jasmine flowers bloom, the flowers are plucked, in the case of this tea, all organic blooms. They are laid out with the dry tea leaves so the leaves will absorb the scent of the flowers. Mmmmm…

When I first opened the packet of tea, it smelled candy sweet with a strong aroma of jasmine. However, after steeping, the aroma changed in favor of the green tea’s fresh, vegetal fragrance with just a whisper of floral scent.

The flavor is sweet and lightly jasmine with an interesting pungency that causes the floral taste to linger in my mouth. A very pleasant sensation.

As I have been packing up more of my things this past week, I came across my gratitude journal. Picking up my pen every night before bed, I have returned to this practice of writing down 5 things that I am grateful for. I can’t begin to describe how this one simple act can so change your perspective and thus your day to day life. I’ve written about my gratitude journal before in this post.

See what happens when you change your focus. The above 2 photos are identical save for one thing. I changed the focus on my camera.

It changes everything.

Have a wonderful week and happy tea drinking!

“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.”

~Henry Ward Beecher

Tea and Cheese Pairing

Dec3

As a prelude to everyone’s Thanksgiving feast, we had a tea and cheese pairing at work last Wednesday. The cheeses were carefully chosen to represent a variety of offerings, from mild to strong flavor, representing different countries.

A variety of teas to compliment the cheeses were then chosen and prepared to offer each participant the opportunity to see which pairings appealed to them the most.

All of our cheeses were purchased at Wasik’s in Wellesley, MA.

Teas:
Wang Pu-Erh, Formosa Oolong Spring Dragon, Hao-Ya ‘A’ Superfine Keemun, Organic Australian Lemon Myrtle, Organic Lapsang Souchong Gao Ji, Japanese Premium Fukamushi Cha, Sree Sibbari Estate SGFTGFOP Cl., Namring Upper Estate FTGFOP1 First Flush (EX-1).

Cheeses:
Camembart Le Rustique (Normandy, France), Gorgonzola Dolce (Lombardy, Italy), Wasik’s Mountain Harvest Goat Cheese (Vermont, USA), Brie de Lyon (Lyon, France), Swiss Gruyere (Swiss Alps), Goudden Kaas (Holland), Vermont Cheddar (Vermont, USA), Wasik’s Equinox Goat Cheese (Vermont, USA).

Armed with my notebook, I fully intended on trying each cheese with each tea, all the while taking copious notes to share with you. Unfortunately, as it was during a workday, time didn’t allow for me to do this and the reality was that I tried all of the cheeses, 4 of the teas, in random order, and took no notes at all! That being said, here are my thoughts on my favorites.

The strong musky flavor of both the Wasik’s Equinox Goat Cheese and the Gorgonzola went very well with both the malty Assam and the smoky Lapsang Souchong. I especially enjoyed the mild, buttery flavor of the soft cheeses: the Brie, the Camembart and the Mountain Harvest Goat Cheese, with the crisp flavor of the Namring first flush Darjeeling. I also liked the combination of the salty, earthy Gruyere with the very earthy Pu-ehr.

For my very first time partaking in this wonderful experience, I found the prospect of 8 teas and 8 cheeses very daunting indeed. If you would like to try this, I would recommend starting out with only 3 or 4 choices. Perhaps a mild, a medium and a strong flavor, both in cheese and in tea. Try pairing the same flavors together at first and then mix and match to your own taste.

Here’s a great post from a tea lover who was much more organized in his approach than I.

I don’t think that there are any rules here, only room for a lot of fun and enjoyment!

Saturday Morning Tea on Sunday

Nov22

I am craving more comfort this morning, this time in the form of chocolate. Chocolate Earl Grey tea, that is. I know, not my usual choice in a cuppa but I am always intrigued to try new types of tea. To close your mind and your palate in saying that you wouldn’t enjoy something before you try it is not the way that I’d like to approach life.

Not only does this black tea Earl Grey contain chocolate pieces and cacao beans, it also has lemongrass, lemon peel, corn flowers, jasmine flowers and sunflower blossoms in the blend.

A very colorful mix indeed as you can see in my photo above!

I steeped the tea for 4 minutes in boiling point (212 degree F) water.

A chocolate aroma wafted from my teapot along with tangy notes of bergamot and lemon. Comforting and refreshing…

This tea was a delight to photograph with all of the little colorful bits mingling in with the tea leaves.

It’s a crystal clear day here on Ramble Road. My jewelry show yesterday was a wonderful success in that it gave me the opportunity to share my work with many visitors to my booth. It’s always gratifying to receive positive feedback and appreciation for one’s artwork.

While I find many Earl Greys to be too “perfumy” for my taste, the addition of chocolate and lemon gave it such an interesting combination of flavors – the light tang of the lemon along with the deep, rich flavor of the chocolate.

What a perfect gift for the chocolate lovers on your list!

Today will be spent moving art supplies over to my new place and setting up my studio space. Have a lovely Sunday, my dear tea friends.