North

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Salt Of The Earth

12,5 x 12,5 cm

This morning my husband said we need to do something with these tomatoes. Then I thought, hmm. I can use them in this story.

A few years ago we made a trip to Lüneburger Heide, and spent the day painting and drawing. Later I painted two more paintings from there, and have more in mind. It's beautiful with the heather in bloom, the trees, beehives.

Last weekend we went to the city of Lüneburg and visited the old salt factory which is now a museum. The people there in the middle ages became rich from mining and processing the salt from the earth. They protected it with two moats and some guard towers. The salt was used as money, and was as valuable as gold.

Part of the processing required very hot ovens. We learned that they used wood from the surrounding trees until the land became quite bare. Then came the heather.

Ladybug, Ladybug

11 x 11 cm

My husband likes to spoil me with chocolates and tins, and that's fine with me. I like this brand of chocolates. I like this tin. I like ladybugs. And I really like my husband.

Blossoms

17,5 x 17,5 cm This is technically not plein air because I'm on the wrong side of the door. For me, it's still a bit cold outside for painting. I'll attempt that kind of thing later. I do like looking outside to this beautiful spring view, though, and painting in the comfort of my studio.

Show Time

12,5 x 12,5 cm The mind of an artist. At least this one. I kept the M&M carton from the movie so that I could paint it with M&M's at home. Then I didn't want to. Later, I started to toss the carton, and memories flooded forward. The three of us sitting there, wearing 3-D glasses (Avatar), eating M&M's, and enjoying each other's company. I decided to keep the carton, bought more M&M's, and painted it.

Where's the light?

3 x 3 1/2 inches I have edited this a few times since posting, and it didn't sound right. I will now simply say that this is one of my antique candle holders from the Hannover Flea Market, which I love to visit.

Bee Tee

12,5 x 12,5 cm This is one of those paradoxes. One of the most prolific "weeds" is great for bees. They are actually pretty flowers, and fun. Almost every child has blown the seeds to the wind. Moreover, they are healthy and tasty. John, my dog, was in on this one, and helped collect the dandelions for painting. And now I'm going to make dandelion tea for John and I. There's always a bag of tea leaves on hand. We both like it, and we both think it does a body good.

Inside Job

10 x 23 cm When we bought the geranium, the plan was to plant it in one of the outside flower pots. Slugs and snails are public enemy number one in our garden, but they don't usually bother the geraniums. I put it in my studio for an aceo (Pinky), before planting it outside, and liked it so much I decided to keep it there. So this isn't en plein air. It's an inside job.

Ye Olde Bread Basket

17,5 x 17,5 cm

We keep a standard loaf of bread in the freezer. The first and last pieces are always soggy, even when we toast them. The alternatives are to toss them or let them dry out to be used in creative ways. My husband makes a delicious bread pudding that calls for dry bread, and meat loaf with bread crumbs. I decided to make noodles and cheese (aka macaroni and cheese) for lunch one day, using the dry bread.

I smashed a few pieces with the rolling pin, and toasted them in butter. We have Paniermehl that we use a lot like this, but we also have dry bread. I sprinkled the crumbs on top of the macaroni, cream cheese, white sauce mixture, and added a couple of rosemary sprigs from my very small herb garden (two or three pots). I like the crispy rosemary on top of casseroles, being careful with tough stems that can be pokey. Since this turned out to be more noble than mac and cheese from a box, thereby bringing the bread crumbs to a more noble position, I think it appropriate to have a more noble title with "ye", don't you?

Italienisch

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Orange Plant

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A Tulip

23 x 13 cm

Pinky

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Important Little Guys

23 x 10 cm

Creamy

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Copper On The Green

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Heather Bouquet

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Mushrooms

12.5 x 12.5 cm

Grape Hyacinth

8 1/2 x 12 1/2 cm

Monster Study

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