May's Flowers: A giveaway

My heart is completely shattered this morning as I watch scene after scene of catastrophe unfold in Oklahoma. I'm in Muscle Shoals, Alabama for a few days with a friend and I'm supposed to be working on a book illustration project right now, but I can't tear myself away from the television in my hotel room. It's too hard to see, and too hard not to watch. This world can be such a treacherous place. 

I was planning to list this painting for sale in my Etsy shop today, but I'd rather give it away instead. I started painting these flower paintings this past winter during a bitterly sorrowful spell, and the only way I could think to combat the sadness was to paint the most joyful things I could conjure. Sometimes, clinging to beauty in the face of despair is all I can reckon to do, even though it doesn't do much. My prayers are for restoration this morning, for warmth and hope and light and redemption, for fears to be stilled and for hearts to be strengthened.  

The painting is 16" x 20", watercolor and gouache on sturdy, 300lb Arches watercolor paper. The giveaway will be open until this Friday night, the 21st, at midnight. Just leave a comment and I will choose a winner on Friday via the Random Number Generator. I also listed a print version here in my Etsy shop. April's Flowers and March's Flowers are now available as prints too. 

20/52: Larissia

And here she is! Elegant, stunning, charming and talented Larissia Dumas (with her mountain dulcimer). It was hard to imagine Cole finding someone as extraordinary as he is, but he certainly met his match in Larissia! They are as perfect a couple as I've ever seen: like two chambers of the very same heart. 

Larissia is an inspiration. Her strength, sincerity, and dedication to that which she loves is really quite impressive. She's the sort of person who seems to know exactly who she is, and exactly who she's not, and actually be okay with that, which I admire so much. Her heart is big and beautiful, and she's a truly loyal friend. She's also a talented singer and songwriter, drawing from her eastern Kentucky upbringing to craft songs that are so beautiful...folksy and sort of country-haunted, and brought alive by her shimmering crystal-bell voice. I have a tremendous amount of admiration for this lady, and I feel most fortunate to have her in my life. 

*This post is part of the 52 portrait series: a portrait, once a week, every week, in 2013.*

19/52: Cole

Folks, this is Cole Dumas: gentleman, composer, performer, magician, connoisseur of all things fine on this earth. Well, perhaps he isn’t actually a magician, but it’s easy to confuse him with one, what with the way he makes ordinary things seem suddenly enchanted. Cole is…well, Cole is just something else. I do believe it’s impossible to know him and not adore him. I don’t know anyone who’s managed to, anyway.

He grew up in Macon, Georgia, and we met about 13 years ago here in Nashville, Tennessee. Actually, Cole was the first friend I met when I moved up here for college. He's the sort of person you just love instantly. I have had so much fun with him over the years...our friendship feels like one long string of costume parties, road trips, epic dinners, crisp October evenings and general shenanigans. When I met Manley seven years ago, I was so excited to introduce him to Cole, and of course the two of them became instant friends as well. For our wedding, Cole surprised us by writing a string quartet arrangement of My Funny Valentine and performing it directly before the ceremony. It's one of my favorite memories of all time. Shortly after that, I got to bake a three-tier, robin's egg-blue wedding cake for Cole's wedding to a lady I can not wait to introduce you to next week.  Together, they are a force of nature. 

When I picture our future with the two of them, I imagine us all being very old and very merry, sitting on a porch somewhere, playing dominoes and laughing through tears. And that just fills me with an ocean of gratitude. 

*This post is part of the 52 portrait series: a portrait, once a week, every week, in 2013.*

Yesterday

I can't even tell you how much fun we're having so far. Just so much FUN!!! Yesterday morning was quite rainy, but we barreled through with fortitude and umbrellas, not wanting to let anything ruin our explorations. The afternoon brought mild and lovelier skies, and by evening everything felt like a dream. Yesterday was our Manhattan day...we plan to spend the rest of our trip in Brooklyn with friends. The best part of all has been watching Manley fall in love with this city as much as I was hoping he would. I just love seeing him so wild-eyed and happy. It splits my heart right down the middle. 

Deer friends

I think this is my favorite one so far, a wedding gift for Colleen and Danny. It's so rare that I get to do a house portrait for someone I actually know, and it feels so sweet to be able to incorporate little bits of their personalities. They love deer! And I love them. 

I have gotten several emails lately about my house portrait waiting list, and I think there might be a bit of confusion that I should probably clear up! I am booked through the rest of the year (at least!) on these, but if you are on my current wait list, you are already included in that :) The way I've been doing it is this: I have a long list of emails (several hundred?...I have never actually counted them!), and at the beginning of each month, I email a group of folks on the list and ask if they would like to place an order for the month. Some people decide they don't want to place an order after all, or are not ready, and that's perfectly fine! But for those who do, I set up custom listings for them on Etsy, and paint their portraits over the next several weeks. And then I do the same thing the following month, moving on to the next batch of folks. This is the best way I have found to organize this for myself...the only problem is, it's really difficult to pinpoint when I will get to any given point on the list! Some months I'm able to take more orders, some months I can't take as many. But I am truly hoping to get through everyone on the current wait list by the end of the year...fingers double crossed! 

I've also had some requests to be placed on the list for 2014, and I'm so sorry, but I just can't think that far ahead right now! If I am still doing portraits next year (which I hope to be!), I will most likely open up a list for 2014 sometime in December. So please feel free to email me then and inquire about it!!  These portraits have brought me so much joy, I can't even describe it to you. They have breathed life into my little business in a way that I didn't think was possible. I wish I had time to do them, and other illustrations, and personal paintings, and everything else I love to do, but it's getting difficult to make time for everything! So we will just see how it goes. But I want to make sure you know how grateful I am to all of you who have purchased one or are currently on my list. I owe you a million thank-yous and all the gratitude in the world.

Now, goodness, enough about that! Manley and I are leaving for NYC tomorrow morning to celebrate the passing of his final architecture exam (YAY!!!) and are just thrilled, to say the least. Best part: Manley has never been. Ahhh! We're staying in Brooklyn and visiting with friends for most of the week, but there will certainly be a substantial part of the trip dedicated to architectural tours of the city, which he is very much in a frenzy about right now. He will be like the tiniest kid in the largest candy store in all the universe. And I'm so looking forward to sharing that with him.  Have a great week, friends! 

18/52: Ruthie

Ruthie and I became friends rather recently, but I feel like I've known her for a  long time. Every time I see her, I am thoroughly puzzled by how one lady can be so generous, so gracious, so joyful, so kind, and so much FUN! And so, so talented. The first time I walked into her home, I was stunned: first, by how beautiful it was, and then because it felt suspiciously....familiar. Sometime later, I realized that her previous home's sneak peek on Design Sponge had been bookmarked on my computer for years...to this day, it remains my favorite sneak peek ever.  Her aesthetic is truly unique, arising from her south Louisiana upbringing and punctuated by her effervescent personality. She's especially good at combining antique pieces with quirky, modern elements, which I am so inspired by. Right now she's working on a new blog and website for her design business and I can't WAIT until it's live and I can share it with you! Yay, Ruthie!!! 

Also, some of the 52 project participants have been linking to their favorite posts from each week. Here's mine from last week: pretty Lily from Sass and Spice. Ahh! That dress! That hair! So gorgeous and so sweet. 

*This post is part of the 52 portrait series: a portrait, once a week, every week, in 2013.*

May

May always feels so evocative and nostalgic to me. Even though it's been years since I've been in any sort of school, I still feel thrilled by the prospect of it letting out! It's beautiful here right now. All of a sudden, everything is every shade of green: emerald, moss, fern, and almost neon where new growth is coming up. I planted a pot-full of moonflower seeds last week and one of them has actually started to sprout, which feels like a miracle, and I suppose that's exactly what it is. There's a choir of crickets, frogs, and lawnmowers that has started a schedule of evening performances, and daylight is lingering long past dinner. The air is thick with the promise of summer. 

To download the calendar, click on the image and it will take you to the large, desktop-sized file. Click on it again, and then from there, you can right-click on the calendar and save it to your desktop. One of these days, I plan to find an easier way to do this!!!

17/52: Karissa

Have a gander at this pretty lady! Beautiful, darling Karissa and her son Jeremiah, who is crowned with the sweetest halo of ringlets I ever did see. I met Karissa several years ago when she was a sweet, wide-eyed seventeen year-old. We worked together at a bakery, deliriously frosting cupcakes in the long, drowsy hours before sunrise. Most of those mornings were spent laughing so hard we couldn't see straight! She was kind of gullible back then, so I liked to trick her into believing all sorts of wild stories. Those days! They were filled with so much sweetness. Anyway. She is quite grown up now---a lovely, talented, and gracefully poised young lady. She is hardworking, compassionate, and a wonderful mama to little J. I am truly looking forward to whatever it is she does with her big, bright future. 

*This post is part of the 52 portrait series: a portrait, once a week, every week, in 2013.*

Polenta Pie

So I hear we are going to have some weather this weekend!!! I know a couple of newly established plants around here that will really appreciate a good, long drink. Oh, how I love those furious spring thunderstorms...they steam up my kitchen windows and blow who-knows-what all over my yard but they're so cozy to read or cook during. Or sleep, or knit, or paint, or anything, or nothing, of course! 

I made this quite by accident the other day, on one particularly luscious and thunderstormy afternoon. My intentions were to cook this, or something like it, but I started way too early and realized that the polenta would no longer be creamy and stir-able by the time Manley got home. So into a pie plate it went. And it was absolutely perfect, and I'm thinking would be lovely at a picnic, since it slices so neatly and seems most flavorful at room temperature. Oh...picnics! I almost forgot about them all winter long!!!

 Polenta Pie with Kale and Wild Mushrooms (adapted from here)

• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 1/2 cups polenta
• 2 bunches black kale, tough stems removed
• 1 lb. assorted wild mushrooms, cleaned and coarsely cut (I used a combination of shiitakes and morels) 
• 1 fresh rosemary sprig, about 6 inches (15 cm.) long
• 1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 Tbs.  butter
• 1 Tbs. minced shallots
• 1 cup  Parmesan cheese, shredded or grated

In a large saucepan over high heat, bring 8 cups water and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt to a boil. Add the polenta in a slow, steady stream, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring often, until the polenta pulls away from the sides of the pan, 40-45 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the kale and mushrooms. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the kale leaves and the rosemary sprig. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the kale is easily pierced with a fork, about 5 minutes. Drain well. Chop coarsely and squeeze dry. Set aside.

In a frying pan over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the shallots and mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms are tender, 5-8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a bowl. Reserve the juices.

When the polenta is ready, stir in the remaining 3 tablespoons butter, all but 1/4 cup of the cheese, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and cook until the butter and cheese have melted, 3-4 minutes longer. Return the frying pan you cooked the mushrooms in to medium-high heat. Warm the juices, then add the chard and mushrooms and cook, stirring, until hot and well coated with the juices. Season with 1/2 teaspoons each of salt and pepper.

Spoon the polenta into a a pie plate,  top with the chard and mushrooms, and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Let cool. Cut into slices and serve! Alternatively, you can sprinkle the pie with more cheese and pop it under the broiler for a few minutes before serving. 

16/52: Grace

Grace. I have been friends with Grace for about four years now, and she has become so important to me in those four years that I sometimes wonder how I managed previously! She hails from Texas ("like all good people", she says), and I suppose she's quintessentially Texan in her no-nonsense approach to...well, everything! This woman knows how to get things done! She is stalwart and brave, veracious and wise. She is profoundly gifted in the art of speaking truth with love, which makes her friendship more precious to me than I can rightly describe. Oh, and she is sassy! And clearly knows to have a good time (i.e.  New Orleans, summer 2012). Which is, like, the strawberries on top of the cream-cheese icing on the three-layer lemon cake :)

*This post is part of the 52 portrait series: a portrait, once a week, every week, in 2013.*