John Moyers, Dakota Badlands Study, oil, 12 x 12.

Photo Credit: Jessie Oleson/ Cakespy Albert Einstein was kind of a genius. So was Thomas Edison. But I am handing out my "2011 Best Genius Award" to a woman who goes by the name of "Audrey M." She has apparently invented.... a whoopie pie cupcake! Doesn't she definitely deserve some type of award? Well, I think so. I thought that Cupcake Jones deserved the award for best cupcake with their ganache stuffed cupcakes-( ganache inside and frosting on the outside)- but a whoopie pie cupcake, I really can't begin to imagine how excrutiatingly tasty this must be. And how did I find out about this in the first place? Important book research. As I was writing this morning, it became very clear to me that I needed whoopie pies in my novel. Somehow, someway, they needed to be included. That led me to google, which led me to an wonderful website called Cakespy. It is the brainchild of Jessie Oleson who it turns out is a real life cakespy. She even has her own detective agency called the Dessert Detective Agency, which according to her website, is "dedicated to seeking sweetness (literally) in everyday life. We do this by writing about bakeries, conducting baking experiments, and picking the brains of bakers and food artists, and finding awesome products for lovers of baked goods." (She even has a store in Seattle...which is just a beautiful train ride away from Portland. I may have to go up there soon and do some "book research." If you have to eat different whoopie pies for book research, shouldn't those calories/points not count on Weight Watchers? That seems only fair to me. (By the way, if you ever happen to be in Portland, the very best, the ultimate in whoopie pies can be found at Back to Eden Bakery on NE Alberta. Anyway, in sadder news, no cake was had yesterday. There should be a big huge "X" marked across this cake! I did lose, but barely. Just a teeny miniscule bit, not enough to warrant cake. It was terribly sad. Laini wailed after her weigh-in. This is a photo of her I took right after....( I know, her hair went from pink to pitch black!) It was so sad. So sad. She had a very difficult time accepting the scale's findings. She dropped to her knees, her hands to her heart, and kept shouting, "Why? Why?? Whhhhhyyyy?" The Weight Watchers leader was so kind as she delicately led Laini away -on her kneetops -from the meeting she was disrupting. (Was it tasteless of me to take that photo of her in such a time of torment?) Well, we could have still had cake, if we'd wanted to. Afterall, you do get 49 extra points per week to spend as you wish but we weren't exactly inspired, so instead we went across the street and got egg white veggie omelettes- good, but certainly not cake. In other news, this is where I sit in the living room to write these days, laptop or notebook on my lap: The print above is by wonderful local artist, Lisa Kaser, who happens to have a website too. at http://www.lisakaser.com I'm going to interview her soon for a post.) Like many writers, my mind frequently drifts away to other things, other places. Especially to here, one of my favorite places of all I wish terribly to visit someday... If this doesn't look like one of the most dreamy places to live on all the Earth, then I don't know what would be. This little slice of blue heaven can be found at Moominworld, which is located on a little island off of the southwest coast of Finland. It is the recreated world based on one of my favorite children's book series of all time about a species of wonderful creatures called "Moomins" and their many various friends like Little My, the Snork Maiden, Snufkin, and the Hattifatteners. Written by Finnish author, Tove Jansson, in the 1940s and 1950s, for some reason I don't really understand, they have never been well known in the States even while across Europe, Israel, and Japan, they are very well known and popular. Whether you have children or don't, you really should consider checking them out. There are seven books in the middle grade series, two picture books, and five volumes of the comic strips translated into English. Jansson did all of the accompanying illustrations herself. Here are some samples from the books: Here below is Little My, tiny as a thimble but very, very mightly nonetheless.... And my favorite character, Moominmamma: So sweet and heartfelt. Whether they are finding magic tophats that turn into clouds they can float on or eating Moominmama's pastries or making plays in the middle of the lake, Jansson created this sweet, very moving world that is utterly its own. Do check them out for yourself. You won't be sorry. Then you, too, will want to go to Finland and visit Moominworld for yourself, plus there is an entire museum dedicated to the books filled with her original art and entire miniatures of all the characters and Moominvalley where they reside. Heres a peek..... sorry its so blurry! Ok, thank you for reading- have a wonderful day! or night! Photo Credit: Whoopie Pie - http://www.cakespy.com

And why most of us grew up believing classical sculpture is white.

E. Martin Hennings, Passing By, oil, 44 x 49.

Ron Hicks, The Lady of the House, oil, 24 x 18.

Seth Haverkamp, Unfolding, oil, 24 x 18.

Ron Hicks

"There are stories of souls leaving an imprint on a place, like an echo in time. I think the reverse is also true. A place can be imprinted on a soul, absorbed into the spirit, and forever mixed into who we are..." This fine art print depicts a spirit connected to the desert landscape. The sky, plants, and animals of the Southwest surround glowing skeletal feet. This place is forever a part of her. The print captures the colors of the original painting in vibrant detail using archival, pigment-based inks. Textured fine art paper gives the print the feel of an original piece of artwork for a fraction of the price! -Fine art print -Measures 8in. by 8in. (Unframed) -White border for easy framing

Kim English, Morning Paper, oil, 18 x 14.

The Dancer, oil, 26 x 24.

Tennessee

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The Note, oil, 24 x 48. …

Celebrating artists and artistic inspiration from around the world, see the winners of the 2019 Artistic Excellence competition, sponsored by Southwest Art.

Summer Read II, oil, 36 x 36.

Doug Dawson, Winter Flurries II, pastel, 11 x 14.

Ron Hicks, Love on the Road, oil, 30 x 40.

Quang Ho, 27-Year Feast, 1995, oil, 30 x 24, collection of the artist.

Conoclinium coelestinum A.K.A. Wild ageratum, Blue mistflower I often notice this fluffy-headed wildflower growing along the edges of moist woods or grassy areas. A member of the composite family (Asteraceae), the blooms lack the disk flowers commonly associated with composites. The long stamens of the ray flowers give it that fluffy look. The color of these little flowers is hard to describe. In my sketch you’ll see shades of lavender, pink, and blue – all colors I picked out on close observation. From a distance they look bluish, but on film they tend to look more pink. A bit of a challenge for an artist… Blue, lavender, or pink? Besides being attractive in form and color, the flowers attract bees and butterflies, and the plants are easy to propagate from seed. You’ll notice that the dates on my sketch above are from January, one of the Sketchbook Project spread of pages I hadn’t posted yet. I gathered seeds from this subject then and am happy to report that my plants are now blooming vigorously! The tiny seeds are designed for dispersal by wind; each seed has a small wisp of silky fluff attached to catch the faintest breeze. You can see the seeds (barely!) illustrated in my earlier drawing below. Mistflower is a perennial that grows up to 2 feet high, with hairy stems, and crinkly, velvety, triangular leaves. The coarsely toothed leaves are oppositely arranged on the stems in variable sizes. This pretty wild- and cultivated flower has quite a range in the eastern U.S. – from Florida and up into New Jersey. It prefers moist soil, which is a bit of a challenge in my yard. Right now, my plants are growing in a large pot so wetness is easy to control. An earlier sketch of mistflower. In my reading about mistflower, I learned that our native Conoclinium coelestinum is often confused with the almost identical non-native Ageratum houstonianum. If given a choice, I feel that native is the better choice. The other living things in our area that interact with plants have evolved similarly, and are adapted to native species. Non-natives often carry the baggage of unintended consequences. According to this article I read in on the Mangrove Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society website, the best way to tell the difference between the two is to look at the roots. The native version develops and spreads by rhizomes. I just can’t bring myself to dig these up to check! Another source describes the non-native plants developing a clumping habit. Mine are definitely not clumping, but have a somewhat “untamed” tendency, which I actually like. As you can see from my notes on both sketches, mistflower blooms in September and January, as well as May. Beyond that, I’ve heard that it blooms in fall and winter. I’ve read that it can be invasive and get a bit weedy-looking. Right now though, I love the colors, the shapes, and the form of this delightful plant, and am sure it will be sketched a few times to come. Click on images to view larger. Media: The Sketchbook Project sketchbook, Pitt Artist pen in black, size XS for the sketch, and S for the text Kimberly watercolor pencils, Niji Aquabrush, small size. The 2013 Sketchbook Project is now online, and you can see the little booklet I created here. For further reading: Natives for your Neighborhood Floridata USDA Plant database (scroll down for range map) University of South Florida Herbarium specimen, showing root structure of the native mistflower.

Albert Bierstadt, Sunset Over the Plains, Coeur d’Alene Art Auction.

In these pages, a 15th-century monk living in southwest Germany tested ideas for the creation of illuminated manuscripts. The website Public Domain...

A Nature Art Journal - our natural world in art and words: art process, drawing and painting tips, connections to place and to nature.

Jeremy Lipking, who was born in1975, in Santa Monica, California, is the son of a professional illustrator. While he emphasizes that he did not begin his formal studies until his late teens, the young artist’s early exposure to art gave him a sense of taste, perhaps the most important component of an artistic education. Lipking found himself most inspired by historic painters who combined the figurative tradition of the nineteenth century European art academies with an emphasis on the naturalistic landscape. Lipking enrolled in the California Art Institute, where he dedicated himself to long hours of drawing and painting, and now teaches his skills in art workshops throughout the country. A versatile painter, Lipking’s artistic output includes landscapes and still lifes, however he feels especially compelled to paint the most classical of artistic subjects, the human figure. By painting his subjects in outdoor settings, Lipking’s paintings are reminiscent of the artists of the nineteenth century naturalist movement, and like those painters, Lipking prefers to work in a cool, limited palette to create his unique sense of mood. Lipking is a Signature Member of the California Art Club. Lipking’s painting Shady Grove received both the Gold Medal and the Museum Director’s Award in 2001 at the California Art Club’s 91st Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition. His painting Antique Chair received the Museum Purchase Award at the 92nd Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition. His work has been published in Art-Talk, The Artist’s Magazine, Art and Antiques, American Artist, U.S. Art, and Southwest Art magazines.

Brent Cotton, Walk in the Light, oil, 20 x 16.

Thomas Schaller’s watercolor technique is highly influenced by his architectural background. You can see this in not only the many classical architectural elements he paints, but also by the technical control he has over the medium itself.

Kim English, Study of Anatomy, oil, 20 x 16.

Check out this feature on Bryce Cameron Liston--who discusses the importance of light--if you want to know more about figurative painting and figurative art.

Explore Albuquerque Museum's 48 photos on Flickr!

Merely 26 years old, Igor Krapar Shcherbakov’s work has a graceful lyricism matched only by his mastery of classical form. Trained at the Voronezh Art College, Igor grew up in the agricultur…