A new abstract oil on canvas

This is my latest creation. I wanted to paint a cheerful looking piece for a long time and this one caught my eye. I loved the way the colors, shades and shadows come into play and most of all love the music instrument theme.  I used an unframed canvas sheet so it could be some time before it goes on the wall. I'd love to get some feedback on this - actually thought of asking my husband but what does he know about music :P

An abstract (Oil on canvas)

The unforgiving medium: My first watercolour

I finally tried the Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils  on this painting of an Italian cafe. Not too bad for a first attempt, right? I loved the cafe, and the interiors, and the flowers, and the orange bike (I got restless to finish the painting towards the end, and you can see the impact on the background wall. Oh well, that will teach me to be more patient in the future.)

The cafe (Watercolour)

Watercolor can be a difficult medium. It doesn't forgive mistakes very easily, unlike graphite/charcoal where you can erase or like acrylics where you can paint over. These pencils were easier than the watercolour tubes I tried before, since they give a better control over the painting. On the negative side, Inktense pencils are permanent. Once you mix them with water and let it dry, it is permanent and can't be undone with water. Another thing about the Inktense pencils is that they are really intense and brighten up any painting. Might not have been the best choice of medium for this particular painting given the light shades it required. I am sure it is possible to use the Inktense pencils for a more subtle color palette too, but I will need to work on that. 

The green eyed monster

I knew he had loved her before I became a part of his life. I knew she took up a large portion of his past. But like most brides, I hoped that getting married to me would change everything. That he would gradually forget her. Alas, it didn't happen. Whenever he is with me, I see it in his eyes that he misses her. He wants her. Don't get me wrong, he loves me. But he loves her too. He feels such a connection with her, that he cant let go of her even for a single day. They understand each other without a single word being spoken. Maybe he likes the fact that he has total control over her. Maybe it is their shared interest in soccer. Maybe something else, I don't know. But I have come to accept the fact that she will be a part of our lives and he will continue to love her.

Damn you, Xbox One!

My new toy and a trip down the memory lane

I recently saw a Spirograph at a store, and was immediately transported back to my childhood days. 

My new Spirograph kit

This was one of the many fun geeky things my brothers taught me (among other things such as an introduction to the big bang theory and the fact that you can locate the centre of a circle using just a compass.) Those were the days when I didn't even know what the Spirograph was called, and could barely coordinate my hands to get a decent design. But I do remember requesting my brothers to draw a bunch of spirographs for some greeting card or bookmark that I might have been working on at that time.

So when I saw this Spirograph at the store, I was hit by a wave of nostalgia. Of course, I had to buy it again - no matter that it said in bold letters on the cover "Ages: 8+". I am 8+, aint I?!

Check out those curves!

A brush with acrylics

My husband recently signed me up for a 2 hour painting class, to help me kickstart my painting projects again (and also to give himself 2 uninterrupted hours playing video games). When it comes to art, I have always been a Jill of all media, and this class was the perfect opportunity for me to dabble in a new media - acrylics!

Berger daisies - Acrylic on canvas

I had heard of all the pros of acrylics before and always wanted to try. But I had also heard of how quickly it dries up, and wondered if this was a media for me. I am pleased to report that I did indeed enjoy working with acrylics. It dries up faster than oils, but not so fast that you cant work with it. While an oil painting would take weeks to completely dry and progress layer by layer, acrylics reduce that process to a matter of days. And the fact that you don't have to put up with smelly paint thinners (acrylics are water based) is a huge plus!

I will definitely try acrylics again. That is, once I am through all the watercolour and oil painting projects I promised my husband ;)

Thanksgiving weekend

For the Thanksgiving weekend, we made a lot of plans - Santa Cruz, Monterey and Point Reyes. But of course its the holiday season, its cold outside and we got lazy. So we ended up doing only one of those - Santa Cruz! We got lots of rest and an appropriate dose of fun ;)

We picked a pleasant sunny day for our trip and took the longer, but more scenic, California State Route 1. And WOW, what an awesome drive! Running along the beautiful Pacific coastline, it is THE most scenic route I have ever been on.

En route pics of the coastline

Picnic benches en route

On the way we spotted the Pigeon Point lighthouse and stopped to soak in the view. Visitors aren't allowed inside the lighthouse, so we had to content ourselves with the beautiful views outside. Right beside the lighthouse are the ex-housing quarters, which have now been converted to a Hostelling International hostel. Apparently, the highlight of the hostel is this nice hot tub right on the cliff edge overlooking the lighthouse. Tempting, isn't it? The husband and I immediately decided to come back and stay here a weekend.

Pigeon Point lighthouse

View at Pigeon Point

Pier at Pigeon Point

From here we went on to the Santa Cruz wharf. We had our lunch at a seafood restaurant on the wharf with pretty views of the ocean through porthole shaped windows. With happy bellies, we went exploring the wharf. And this is when I fell in love with sea lions.

My first sighting of the Sea Lion

Sea Lions lazing around

It was a nice calm afternoon we spent on that wharf, filled only with sounds of the sea, barking sea lions, squeaking sea gulls and squealing kids. I know I mentioned in my last post that the bark of the seals was annoying. No longer do I find it annoying. On this trip I fell in love with that bark, so much that I recorded some of it!


  

Barking sea lions at Santa Cruz

We saw some solo, we saw a herd. Some were floating around lazily in the water. Some were napping on the platforms below the wharf. Plonking themselves on one another to find a comfortable sleeping place. Yawning. Scratching themselves behind the ears. Sniffing and sneezing. Even peeing! 

Some of them were squabbling amongst themselves - we saw a rogue sea lion push away others off the platform. Cute, aren't they? All in all, I found them so charming that I spent most part of the day looking for them, watching them, listening to them. 

After I had my fill of sea lions for the day, we went on to see what else the city had to offer. We spent what was left of our day at the amusement park right on the coast. We got into some scary mazes, some rides and then settled down to play some arcade games (we won some bouncy balls! :P) After a nice fun day, we bade goodbye to this lovely city and the adorable sea lions to head back home. 

Newfound love

I love the Redwood City public library. One of the first things I did after moving here was to sign up for a library card. Over the last couple of months, it has become my second favorite place in the city (the first, of course, is home). It has kept me company during all those lonely hours when the husband was at work. It has introduced me to new pleasures and new things to learn. The vast collection of books on every imaginable topic is, of course, a given. Whether it is my regular dose of fiction, or learning resources to improve my painting skills or a learn-woodworking book that piqued the hubby's interest. When I wanted to learn Spanish, where did I go look for resources? Or that one time when we maxed out our broadband limit and couldn't use Netflix anymore, so I went and discovered the movie collection at the library. As a newbie in this city, when I wanted to meet new people and make friends, I went volunteering for Project Read at the library. The library has been there for me for everything I needed, and I am glad we live only a block away. Three cheers for the library!