Not really but that’s how it feels toting around my hand-crafted Julian easel filled to the brim with my hand-painted hand-made paper holiday goodies! It reminds me of the much-anticipated gypsy peddler in period films and novels- a wooden thingamajig on wheels that sells everything from ribbons and laces to the latest quirky mechanical device!

I spent Sunday with my pop-up Holiday easel at a local shoe store in town, Bare Sole in Studio City with Janine from Green Wave check them out for gorgeous hand-crafted shoes and accessories.

Does your local store or holiday party need a vintage-style peddler? Let us know! Sign up for our mailing list if you’d like to be kept informed on fun joint events like these!

I had a fantastic weekend! Renegade Craft Fair and Unique LA took place downtown this past weekend and it was an inspiring 2 day adventure. In this post I will compare the two holiday fairs and include pictures of the booths I liked the most and of course, what I bought!

Unique LA (Sat Dec 12th 2010)

Summary: Bi-Annual Fair for independent artists, designers and crafters of LA
Location:California Market Place Penthouse (in the middle of downtown near Fashion District among Historic Deco buildings)
My Conclusion: More hipster fashion-centric, some beautifully created booths and really yummy food!

Interesting Booths : 50′s inspired artwork by Brittney Lee, felt and fabric jewelry by Homako, gorgeous thread jewelry by Alexandra Dewey and designer mints in collector art boxes by Hint Mint.
Favorites parts of the day: Seeing some interesting and creative booth setups, talking to artisans and trying Flying Pigs-smoked tender pulled pork in curry sauce topped with pickle cradled in a fluffy cloud-like steam pao bun.

Renegade Craft Fair (Sun Dec 12th 2010)

Summary: The foremost handmade craft fair in the country with local and visiting vendors, also Bi-Annual.
Location: Park Downtown next to Chinatown
My Conclusion: Some AMAZINGLY creative folks from all over, very inspiring for the special blend of craftiness, great design and refined handicraft. My favorite of the two events.

Interesting Booths: Vintage postal stamps on envelope kits by The Postage Service, awesome vintage repurposed book-journals by Ex Libris Anonymous, witty toddler-inspired artwork by Pickle Juice Prints, jewelry from wood and bark and clock hands by I am Dorkas.
Favorite parts of the day: Being outside at a downtown park in beautiful 75 degree weather, seeing a sewing machine powered by a bicycle, browsing through buckets of vintage bookjournals and finding some new favorite artists!

Now for my purchases-middle row far right and bottom row: my 5 vintage bookjournals with beautiful vintage illustrations with my favorite being The Cat Club, a journal made from an old book with illustrations featuring a cute little cat club; a curved box of pomegranate hintmints, several Catia Chien’s dreamy postcards (she is my new favorite artist, INCREDIBLE work!), a magic wallet made from vintage book covers (I know, there is a book theme going on!) and a screenprinted business card book by bookbinder artist Erin Zamrzla.

For my birthday this year, my wonderful husband surprised me with a lovely trip to Morro Bay in Central California, a little seaside town with a tiny harbor and a giant rock in the middle of the bay.

We went kayaking among seals and birds and had fresh seafood!

The bay was, as most of California is, a treasure trove of nature’s gems and I couldn’t help picking out some of the most inspiring ones to share! And as usual, I delighted in the abundance of raw material for future paintings.

(Click on image to see it bigger) Memorable moments: Dried seed pods fluttering in the Elfin Forest; little ecosystems carved into the boulders by the beach; otherworldly hanging moss from miniature oaks in the Elfin Forest; bright pink seaweed; multi-colored beach pebbles worn smooth; wine and cheese pairing at sunset; a twilight magical mini maze; slippery rock threading; and gorgeous gorgeous sunsets.

This past weekend, we had the most amazing camping/hiking trip ever. Specifically 6 hours north to the jaw-droppingly beautiful region of California’s Sierra Nevada, a stone’s throw away from the legendary Yosemite.

The Ancient Bristle-cone Pine

In spite of being rained and hailed on during our hike, what we encountered there was to me the epitome of tree heaven. And heaven perhaps it was, a living cemetery of strange and ancient pines- simultaneously dead and alive, its departed limbs twisted into grotesque and other-wordly forms seen nowhere else.

The trip was so extensive I couldn’t possibly show all of the breath-taking wonders we saw, so this will only be Part 1. Sit back, grab a hot cup of tea and be prepared to enter an enchanted land.

many shapes, click to zoom in

playground

These are the world’s oldest known living beings, almost 5000 years old. Just pause and ponder on that.

And can you see a painted triptych? I have so many painting ideas just from this one weekend trip!

textures

Can you see the owl?

The severely twisted tree trunks and limbs were worn and smooth and textured, like a beautifully carved table or wooden sculpture. They are no longer alive.  Only a few inches of bark and leaves reveal the tree’s seemingly fragile thread to the living.

otherwordly

unimaginable tree spaces. click to zoom in.

Trees always fascinated me, as a child they were places where fairies and magical creatures hid and where you could climb up to strange worlds upon their treetops. To walk amongst these ancients recall those youthful imaginings and made me realize that literary fantasies do not hold  a candle to what the natural world can reveal!

a closer look- an ancient bristlecone tree, the miniature moss world, reeds

sunset over the campsite

Can you imagine what it was like being there?? Next up in Part 2, strange rocks, glorious lakes and the seeping in of a vivid fall…

A spontaneous midweek inspiring post. Our new garden has been very bountiful this year and we have been practically buried under giant zucchinis and the heavy tomato plants have long since abandoned their fragile cages for the ground.

Those shy things

In the twilight of the evening yesterday I harvested a few tomatoes, some with skin wrinkled from the unrelenting sun the past week or so, and thought to myself, there should not be too many more.

Lo and behold I head out today in the blazing afternoon sun and look what I found!

A Tomato Triptych. Click for more for juicy details.

The garden angels have been smiling and these are the most beautiful of our harvest so far this summer. Gorgeous unblemished perfectly round blushing beauties, with plump skins and bright green starry tops. I was so overjoyed I had to write/draw/photograph it! I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did gazing at them.

Umami slow-roasted tomatoes it will be tonight!

I fell in culinary love this past Saturday.

My new love: Donabe-cooked (Japanese clay pots) Shojin Buddhist vegan food, a traditional Japanese cuisine eaten by Buddhist monks. Naoko of Toiro Kitchen and her fabulous foodie blog hosted a donabe cooking class at her awesome hilltop home in Echo Park.  One of my most treasured kitchen items of all time (next to my wok)-my hand crafted Miso Shiru Nabe all the way from Japan, came from Naoko.

Food, almost spiritual.

I have made countless delicious curries and earthy soups in it and thought that it was time to venture into Naoko’s cooking class, specifically since we are weaning off a majority of our meat consumption (though not completely) and looking for deliciously interesting and somewhat familiar forays into vegetarian and vegan cooking.

I feel that this is such a fitting Inspired Monday post to the blog because it parallels so much of what I aim for daily with the studio-rustic but elegant simplicity,  a deep appreciation for nature, nostalgia, and traditional craft, and an enthusiasm for slowed down and joyful sustainable living.

Naoko and her donabes, Shojin dashi, and the delicious sesame paste

Abura age simmering, Kombucha pumpkin and stuffing the tofu pockets

There is indeed a magical quality about these donabe claypots, the nature of their material and craft allows the food to cook slowly, evenly and most efficiently! I am continually, unabashedly amazed by them.

Sous-chef Jason, ice cold Barley tea and the beautiful Bento boxes

After the cooking demonstration, we proceeded outside in true Southern Californian style, to enjoy the fruits of Naoko’s labor, sitting in the patio that Jason built. Leafy shadows and mini japanese paper lanterns hovering above.

Such simple and delicious festivity! Fine sake pairing topped it off..

Coming from a South East Asian country with rich and complex culinary traditions, I can honestly say I have never been easily moved by new cuisines. Naoko’s donabe shojin delights definitely opened up a wonderful new world. I will never forget the first taste of the vivid yellow Kombucha pumpkin soup, nor the first bite of those beans and tofu pockets.  Food so deceivingly simple bursting with freshness and delicate flavors.I am gushing yes, in true M.F.K Fisher fashion.

The incredible surprise dessert-a cold yam soy-based blancmange with black sugar and goji berries

Thank you Naoko and Jason, for such a wonderful introduction to Shojin cooking in those amazing donabes.

Re-fresh

Hello my dear readers!

Some changes and goings-on have been brewing under the hood of the studio for awhile and now it is time to bring it to light! I will be away on a one-month travel + re-inspiring session.  There is a long list of juicy changes, inventory update and revamp to be expected during this hiatus which I am excited about and can’t reveal too much right now.

For the time being, please be aware that I am only accepting print-your-own or digitized artwork commissions between now and August 25th. Advanced bookings for future events beyond September are welcomed, of course.

Mount Baldy

No it’s not an oxymoron! It’s surfboards in Malibu, skateboards in the Valley and snowboards in the mountains!  And real snow, 3 feet deep from the recent rainfall and gorgeous to boot. An hour and a half north of LA, it’s a haven for snow sport enthusiasts in Southern California where everybody brings their own board, binders and boots and pepper their sentences with dude.

Order a beer and a messy chili dog at the old school Top of the Notch, strap on your board and sunglasses (without which you will be blinded) and slide in! Prepare for some intense vertigo on rickety 50 year old ski lifts and a lot of tumbling fun. End the day descending into a bleeding heart sunset and slushy parking lots.  What a weekend.

My very first white Canadian Christmas, ever.  Every day was dusted clean, a fresh snowy start. The most fascinating thing was how the colors of each day differed from the day before. Some days it would be all gray and olive greens, and others high-key pinks and blues.  Here’s series of watercolor sketches to remember them by:

Edmonton

Jasper

Emerald Lake

Lake Louise