ENRICHED AND BLESSED

Imagine being a pilgrim or Indian about 300 years ago and how you might have communicated with others. Fast forward to today. Now we can go to many, many places all over the world to communicate, 'visit,' and explore, without ever leaving our computer chair. The pilgrims and Indians could never have imagined any of this.

Here in this country, we set aside one special day to be thankful for our abundance and blessings. This year one of the things that stands out is knowing an extended community here on the Internet via blogs.

I'm very grateful for all the places to discover, to be able to find such beautiful art in a variety of forms, and to 'meet' the diverse artists from so many artistic fields. I'm grateful that you are here today visiting this blog. Thanks for enriching my life by sharing it via art.

I appreciate the encouraging comments and helpful suggestions that many of you post here, and wish for all of you God's bounteous blessings on your life and your creativity. Happy Thanksgiving. (And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Carl, on Thanksgiving day.)

"HARVESTED" Transparent Watercolor on Crescent Board 22 x 12"

WALDORF SALAD

My childhood memories of Thanksgiving include Grandma' s Waldorf Salad, which she sometimes called it Waldorf Apple Salad. This year I'm making it (for the first time) for our Thanksgiving at our son and daughter-in-law's house. Just in case you are interested in the very best Waldorf Salad recipe ever, here it is.

2/3 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
2 eggs beaten
Pinch of salt
2 Tablespoons Salad oil
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
4 Tablespoons orange juice
1 cup pineapple juice

Combine sugar, & flour, then add rest of ingredients above. Cook until thick. Cool till COLD. Add ½ cup thick whipping cream. Mix in diced apples (NOT Red Delicious - Granny Smiths are good), 2/3 can grated pineapple, 2/3 cup chopped pecans, marshmallow miniatures. Add chopped celery and halved red seedless grapes. Sometimes add mandarin oranges. (I don't remember these in the salad, but she had them written down in her special cookbook.) She may have made this the night before to let the flavors blend.

I can vividly remember Grandma cutting each grape in half to remove the seeds, because back in the 50's, there were no seedless grapes. It was my favorite holiday dish ever. She did make a great oyster dressing, too.....and homemade pies, and cookies, and cakes...great memories.

"OUT ON A LIMB" Fluid Acrylics on 140#CP Arches 24 x 18"

TRADING CARDS

The six of us who went to Italy are part of Wednesday morning's class. Before we left, I gave each person in class a package of watercolor trading cards to paint. Everyone was to exchange cards when we had our Italian celebration upon our return. The actual size of each card is only about 2 1/4 inches by 3 1/2 inches.

The posts here show off the creativity and diversity in the class, as each person selected their own theme or subjects for their cards. Almost everyone in class completed 14 cards to exchange, which was a considerable accomplishment. There are a couple of artists who are presently finishing their 14 cards to hand out next month at our Christmas party. Some of the other classes would like to have a shot at making trading cards to share, too, so we may attempt that after the holidays.

It was fun to guess which cards each class member painted. Can anyone guess which row of cards I painted? Can you tell which rows of cards have been painted by the people who went to Italy? (Two of the Italian travelers are in the process of creating their cards, so they're only 4 rows of Italy travelers' cards shown.)

Mary Jane Noe also has a row of beautifully painted cards that you may be able to recognize after looking at her work on her blog - see side bar. I keep hounding the others to start an art blog. Maybe they will soon. Click on each set of images to enlarge. (Thanks, Rhonda and Dawn, for a heads up about how to be sure they enlarge.)

ON SITE

Painting right on the spot outdoors can be fun, especially in a beautiful area. Carol and I found a cold stone bench near the shores of Lake Como and set up our art studio. We painted for several hours there, enjoying the swans on the lake and the people meandering through the 'shopping district' of Varenna.

This small, postcard sized painting included some pen and ink work to define it a bit more. I can still hear the tourists dragging their suitcases on the cobblestone walkways... clickity clack, clickity clack..... Inspiration was everywhere.

Hopefully someone can explain why my posts don't have the same color intensity as what I see in front of me before I download into the blogger network. Thanks for your help.

"LAKESIDE" Transparent Watercolor on 140#CP Fabriano Artistico, 5 x 7" COLLECTED