Owls

My sister Didi likes owls. I made these cards for her. After I did the sketches and penned the outline, I printed out copies before painting so that I could make a bunch.







She likes the Cubs too. 

Tombow Fudenosuke Pen

I bought these Tombow calligraphy pens from Amazon. It was recommended on several hand lettering tutorials. You can check it out on Amazon here. 

The two-pack came with a hard-tip and a soft-tip pen. I like them . . . maybe the best of all the calligraphy-type pens that I own.


There was just a slight difference in feel between the two. I think I preferred the hard tip one just a skosh more.
 

Honolulu Aunty has the quote below on her current blog post. I like it a lot. 


LOL, I just noticed . . . supposed to be "under" whose shade. Good thing I still only practicing. 

Vegan Soy Meat

I bought this from Marukai a couple weeks ago.  It was on sale for $5.99.



Landon made this Beef Broccoli with it.  Sorry, no more recipe, but it was goooood.

Bento from Foodland

Wendell and I went to Ala Moana Foodland for the first time yesterday. 

I got this bento. It was perfect for me. I think it was $7.49. It's not on my receipt. Instead there's a Teriyaki Fish for $7.49 that I didn't get so I'm guessing that's it.

Everything was good!


Well, almost everything.

Hand Lettering

Maybe it was just a matter of time . . . it's kinda related . . .  although it's a whole 'nother can of worms.  



Like watercoloring, hand lettering requires practice, practice, practice . . . but maybe not being perfect makes it kinda quaint . . . no?

Simple Pleasure

Geri actually discovered this blue bird at the swap meet and showed it to me. It was $1. She said I could have it if I wanted. 

This is now my window view while I sit at my computer desk. It's pretty amazing to me how such a simple thing can bring me such joy.

Prang Watercolor Set

Does anybody wanna try watercolor painting?

You can have this Prang set. 


This guy gave a good review on it so I got it when I first started my new hobby, but I have a bunch of different sets now so I probably won't be using it.


Let me know . . . JalnaA@aol.com.

Addendum:  I got a taker!!!

Maremi's Small Art

For you, Kevin

Hi peoples!!! I give you one guess what this blog post is about. 

Yup. Painting. You just know how one-track minded I get. All I think about now is painting, painting, painting. Fixing watches? What was that all about?

New paint set!! So exciting! No? This set is by Prima Marketing.


It's actually a birthday present that I got from Leslie. And my birthday is not for another couple weeks! We're so bad yah. That's how we are with each other. We don't even wrap our presents. Hahahaha!


I've made a bunch of these cards. I loooooove doing this design. It's such good practice. And it's so gratifying.


Here's the green first wash layer. It's the easiest part. 


And here's the hardest and most challenging part . . . blending. I do a lot of screaming when things don't work out. But I also do a lot of "oooh"ing and "aaaah"ing when things do.


I had planned to take step-by-step pictures for you but it didn't happen. Along the way, I kinda forgot. Shucks.

Anyway, the title of this post is Maremi's Small Art. "Maremi" is a combined name . . . "Marta" (my new favorite instructor) and her daughter "Emi".  I just love love love Marta and her carefree attitude regarding her art process.  

Marta admits that she is not a painter but a crafter (just like me), and I admire her for her willingness to put herself out there. And I just love how she gets all excited when she makes a new discovery. Her delight is infectious to me. 

Below are three of Marta's videos. I've watched most of her videos several times, not just for the tutorials but also to enjoy her words . . .

"Sit down. Do it. Enjoy it.
Relax about that.
Don't be afraid.
We are who we are." 




"Only by trying you will learn.
Stop it, Marta.
Why nooottt?
You will have a next time."




"Allow yourself to play and enjoy and make a mistake.
You gain so much more when trying to play."




Here is my Marta-inspired card . . . my latest. 


I'll be back to posting again but probably only once in awhile and not on a daily basis. I think it's time I "relax about that". 

Break Time

Sorry peoples, I decided it's time for me to take a break from blogging again. I'm really getting into this watercolor painting thing and I just wanna cruise and enjoy doing that for awhile. 

This will be my view instead of my computer monitor for the time being. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 will pretty much be playing all the time. I love that movie. The part that's on now is where I cry and cry and cry . . . so touching.

The paint set in the lower right corner is da bomb! I used it for the first time after taking this picture. OMG it's so vibrant that I wasn't prepared and struggled with it for a bit. It's hard to describe, but I love the look of it.  One of the YouTube watercolor painting instructors said that it's the brand that he uses. It wasn't too expensive on Amazon so I ordered it.  You can check it out here. 



K den . . . laytahs!

Dream (Spiral Corridor) - ? date

I'm in a narrow corridor that is only a shoulder width wide. There's a line of people in front of me and a line of people behind me. We are all walking forward. I'm worried because I can't stop if I wanted to. 

The corridor starts going into a spiral and gets narrower and narrower. It gets so tight that it's hard to breathe. After awhile, I can see that there's a tiny opening at the very end of the corridor up ahead. The people are squeezing through the opening.

It's my turn. I don't think that I can fit, but I have no choice. With some effort I manage to squeeze through, and I exit on the other side.

It is very, very bright. I can hardly see.

Portabella Mushroom Wrap

This is from Kahai Street Kitchen. I liked it a lot! Landon ate it without the cheese and thought it tasted like a veggie wrap and wasn't special.

Fire Roasted Portabella Mushroom Wrap (Veggie Meal of the Day).. $10.25 

Marinated charbroiled portabella mushrooms, fire roasted red bell peppers, green leaf lettuce, tomatoes, caramelized onions, carrots, cucumbers, clover sprouts, provolone cheese, with a chipotle aioli drizzle, wrapped in a flour tortilla, served with choice of fries, tossed or potato macaroni salad 

Dream (In the Woods) - 08/09/1988

I live in a shack in the woods. I am deaf and live alone. Once in awhile a married man comes to visit me. His visits are the highlight of my life. 




I got the idea for this from a painting by Annya Kai found here. 

Dream (Vietnam) - 02/02/1991

I am a woman living in a remote village in Vietnam. My sister comes and leaves her baby with me. She says that she has to go and find her husband who is off fighting somewhere. She is gone a long time, and I feel really sad because I don't know what happened to her.

Dream (Fairy) - 11/17/1987

I'm Up-Puunui (grandparent's house). I'm a fairy and someone's trying to catch me.

Grandma and Grandson

I love love love this.

The Beyond Burger

Landon had heard about Beyond Burgers before, but we weren't able to find any . . . until recently. Lan's friend texted him last week and told him that Whole Foods had some, so one day after work I picked up a few. 

Lan added vegan cheese and teriyaki sauce and turned it into a thing of beauty.


And it was delicious. 




It's not cheap . . . on sale for $6.29 for two frozen patties. But it's very worth it. 

Dream (Outside World) - 01/24/1995

I've always had vivid dreams. Long ago, I would sometimes jot down what I could remember right after waking up.

Here's one. 




I live underground in an area much like an underground subway station. I've lived there all of my life. It seems that my people (who I think are mostly women) were originally trapped there long ago by what might have been an earthquake or some similar disaster. 

A friend and I spend our days looking for a way out. We have to sneak to do this. Although we're not in any danger, it seems that we're not supposed to be looking. 

We climb up fallen rocks and boulders trying to get high and close to the ceiling to look for an opening. We don't know what it's like outside, but for some reason we feel an urge to get away from our underground situation.

Two older oriental ladies lead us to a rusty, orange-colored tub that's filled with water. They seem to be in charge of it. In the middle of the tub is a pipe that's about a foot in diameter. They tell us that this pipe goes to the outside world. You may enter it only when it is your chosen time and not sooner.

The pipe seems too narrow. I doubt that anyone can fit into it. 

I watch as a woman approaches the tub. She enters the pipe, and head first, goes down and disappears into it. Another woman follows. As she goes downward, water sloshes into the pipe, and I worry that she'll suffocate and drown. I point this out to one of the ladies in charge. She peers down into the pipe and says that it should be okay. I don't trust that she really knows.

I know that later when no one is watching I could easily sneak to the tub and jump into the pipe. But I'm afraid.

_________________________________________________

Today is this blog's 10th Anniversary. I can't believe it!

Mitch's Sushi

I mentioned earlier that we went to Mitch's Sushi. Here are the pictures. We went there to celebrate Wendell's birthday. Even though I don't really eat raw fish, still had some good stuff for me.

 New Zealand Pacific Oysters


California Roll, Negihama - Yellowtail with Green Onions, Unagi


Lobster Van Van


Amaebi Miso Soup


Scallop/Mayo, Chu-toro, Abalone, Salmon, Hamachi


Salmon, Hamachi, Chu-toro, Scallop/Mayo, Uni, Ikura, Anago, Toro


Salmon Skin Roll


Negi-toro with Green Onion, Saba, Amaebi


Cucumber (yup . . . mine)