Tag: art (page 3 of 18)

HELLO, February

Hello, February. We’re ready for the birthdays you bring this month and a day solely dedicated to the celebration of L-O-V-E in all its many shapes and forms. 

We’re ready to keep moving into this new year at a slow and steady rhythm; cherishing the peaceful calm of winter. No, we’re not done with Lady Winter yet and we hope that the she will blow us a snowy kiss from her frosted lips before spring dawns to pull us out of our cozy winter-hibernation.

We’re ready to feast on breakfast for dinner on wintry nights, with maple syrup running over tall stacks of pancakes, accompanied by crispy bacon and coffee. We’re ready to nestle, in the comfort of hot chocolate and popcorn, while watching much-loved old movies. And, we’re happy to continue warming ourselves with homemade soups and hearty stews.

We’re ready to spend the evening wrapped up in a good book. We’re ready to drink wine and indulge in deep conversations that somehow manifest on winter evenings and last until the wee small hours of the morning when you suddenly realise the time, and have to scurry to bed before the alarm goes off. We’re ready to listen to music by candlelight and dance in the kitchen while we’re cooking dinner together.

And we will be ready for the changes in light, both morning and night, as the days lengthen and spring signals its inevitable arrival. Albeit, far too soon for our liking.

{1950s Ski Girl Pin-Up by E.B. Segner | Found HERE | Pinned HERE}

{Ellen Barbara Segner (1901 – 2001) was an American Postwar and Contemporary artist and illustrator who is most well known for creating the artwork for the Little Miss Sunbeam ad campaign, as well as the Dick & Jane children’s book series. She was one of the few female pin-up and glamour artists working for numerous publications.}

Happy St. Nicholas Day

I hope you awoke to a small surprise in your shoe this morning left by St. Nicholas. ✨

{Image | St. Nikolaus (Print) | Elsa Schnell-Dittmann | F. A. Ackermanns Kunstverlag | Munich, Germany | 4 5/8 × 5 7/8 inches | Found HERE}

HELLO, November

Hello, November. We’re ready for our Indian Summer to finally give way to chillier days and nights. We’re ready for hot apple cider packed in a flask to take with us on walks in the nature reserve. We’re ready to smell woodsmoke in the air and the taste of a freshly toasted marshmallow on our lips.

We’re ready for the day to draw to a close sooner and the evenings to be filled with games of Scrabble or cards while records spin and conversation keeps us lingering at the table longer than usual. 

We’re ready for bonfire night with crispy sausages and gingerbread cake with homemade toffee sauce and lashings of whipped cream. We’re ready for Thanksgiving because the next day you will be bringing us a heavenly leftover turkey sandwich and cold slice of pumpkin pie, which brings me endless amounts of joy.

We’re ready to continue to soak up this season and this year, for it is going far too quickly. Welcome, November, we’re ready for you. 

{Autumn Palette by Mary Charles, 2015}

HELLO, September

Hello, September. You seem to have carried forward the cooler mornings that were August’s “goodbye”. The light is ever so subtly changing and evening is drawing in just a touch sooner than a few weeks ago. But the sweet potato vines are still spilling over our planters with their vibrant green and deep purple leaves and the ocean is still warm and there are still signs that summer is present. 

You bring with you today the return to a fresh school year, one I don’t think we are altogether ready for, but onwards and upwards we shall go. This summer has not quite been the summer we planned as life continued to happen, but we rolled with it all and still managed a few hikes, breakfasts on the beach, early morning swims, sitting with friends chatting while the wind whipped at our hair and lots of ice cream. 

We’re ready for that seasonal shift that you will most certainly bring, even though we will be teased with cooler than warmer days before you make the final push into a more autumnal feeling. We’re ready to still reap the last of the farmer’s market harvest of fresh corn and heirloom tomatoes before we move fully into embracing squashes.

We’re ready for those early days of school where we still might be able to slip away not too long after the bell rings to go for a quick afternoon dip and a lazy stroll home. We’re ready for our first taste of warm apple cider while a cooler evening breeze blows in. We’re not ready to wish away the summer as we like each season to have it’s due, but we are ready to see what you hold for us as we stand on the cusp of Autumn.

{Waterfall Valley by Charles Wysocki}

HELLO, August

Hello, August. We’re ready for those lazy, hazy days of summer to come into full effect. Now that school has wound down for the year and almost all the school related jobs have been ticked off the list, we’re ready to just be, to take the days as they come. 

We’re ready for early morning swims, when the world is still quiet and hopefully we’ll spot a seal or two paddling by. We’re ready to watch old episodes of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, while feasting on PB&J sandwiches and salty potato chips for lunch. 

We’re ready for long walks that end with an ice cream cone and we’re ready for quiet nights on the beach stargazing and listening to music while the waves roll in. 

We’re ready to be and live within the moment, to cherish the time together and to relish in this month, before our pace has to pick back up again in September. 

{Poolside, Janet Hill Studio | Found HERE}

HELLO, May

Hello, May! If you’re anything like your sister April, you will still usher forth chilly mornings that swiftly begin to warm up when the sun comes out. Offering us a minuscule taste of what summer shall bring, when the glow of the sun is on our backs. 

Today, you herald in May Day and the appearance of the Green Man who will parade through our village with his beribboned and festive court in attendance. We’re ready for the days to continue to gradually lengthen as we eat dinner with the windows open and a breeze blows in. We’re ready for the bounty that will begin to arrive in earnest at the green grocers and the taste of the first heirloom tomatoes and yellow squash of the season. 

We’re ready for longer beach walks and the hopes of catching a seal or two sunbathing. We’re ready for early mornings where we quietly read and sip coffee as the sky turns from purple velvet to a soft awakening pink. We’re ready to continue to appreciate the little things and we’re ready for the adventures that await us.

{An image from, Summer’s Coming In by Natalia Belting, illustrated by Adrienne Adams, 1970}

I Give My Little Stars to Children

Via This is Colossal : Maria Prymachenko (1908 – 1997) was a self-taught folk artist known for her renderings of life in the Ukrainian countryside. Her gouache and watercolor works are vibrant and imaginative, depicting symmetrical red poppies tucked in a small vase or fantastical bull-like animals sprouting two-headed snakes. Expressive and consistently advocating for peace, Prymachenko’s paintings are widely known throughout Ukraine and internationally: she received a gold medal at the Paris World Fair in 1937, when Pablo Picasso is said to have dubbed her “an artistic miracle.”

{I Give My Little Stars to Children | gouache and fluorescent paint on paper | 1983}