New York City

My husband and I took an amazing trip to New York City this winter, and I must say there really is so much to love about the place. (Fortunately we squeezed this trip in before all the snow storms began!)

The hustle and bustle may be overwhelming to some, but I really loved it. The energy is great and so inspiring.  Despite the common opinion that the people are not friendly, we met many very friendly and welcoming individuals. The diversity of the people in the streets is really amazing.  Everyone passes through the streets of New York, from wealthy tycoons to the poorest souls.

  

We tried to walk as much as possible even though it was very cold just to see everything and learn our way around.  Thank goodness for maps apps to help us.  NYC Mate was great for those times we needed to hop on the subway. We didn't get lost once!

Had to stop for a hot coffee to warm up in Times Square.

There was so much food to try, we really stuffed ourselves! We definitely found out why NYC pizza is so famous, it really was some delish pizza. All the ingredients tasted fresh and the crusts were lovely and light. We tested out several variations of it and can't say that any of it was disappointing! 

As a typical tourist must do while in New York, we attended the Broadway show Wicked, which was a really amazing performance.   We saw a concert at Carnegie Hall featuring some extremely talented musicians and a surprisingly enjoyable soprano singer.  The passion and talent these artists displayed was truly astounding and quite wonderful to see in person.

We also went to the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center) for some amazing views of the city.  Very windy and cold but well worth the view. 

We opted out of going up the Empire State Building since we heard Top of the Rock was a better view, but still checked it out from the ground.  

The New York Public Library was undergoing renovations but was still full of beautiful architecture regardless.

  

Betta Blues

My little betta fish, Lani, was kind enough to model for me, in exchange for a few of his favorite dried worms!  He's a spunky little guy and his fins are a very beautiful iridescent blue, varying from light turquoise to dark blue depending how the light hits them.

The drawing is up at nineteencolors.etsy.com and I'm also having a sale on all my art work! Take a look at all  my works for sale here.

Majestic Elephants

Elephants are pretty cool and rather majestic animals, I think.  For the most part, they seem like pretty laid back animals, but startle one and you'd better watch out!  So anyway, I've drawn an elephant in profile with a sunset for background.  It takes me back to a safari I went on in India where we saw a few elephants in the wild. There were also a few elephants around that were kept as "pets" that people rode on.  They would saunter slowly past our jeep, with a whole family perched on its back.  The sheer size was amazing and the elephant completely dwarfed our group's jeep. Although it did look like an interesting way to travel through a safari, the jeep felt much safer!

This one I've drawn does happen to be an African elephant, tho.  The main difference between African and Indian elephants is the size and shape of the ears.  Indian elephants have smaller ears than the African ones, and they say, the Indian elephants ears are shaped like the country of India.

The quite amazing Lotus flower

I've always known that the Lotus flower was a beautiful blossom, and many religions, such as Buddhism, count it among their symbols for worship. But it has many other wonderful, and quite amazing qualities too. First, the plant's flower, tubers (roots), seeds and young leaves are all edible, which is great.

Now for the amazing part. These plants grow out of muddy, dirty waters, but they always remain clean and pristine. They are insanely water repellent. Water simply rolls right off, taking any dirt with it. This attribute, dubbed the Lotus Effect, intrigued scientists enough to study the plants leaves so that they could replicate it. What they found was that on the surface of the leaf there are very, very tiny spikes. These micro-nodules prevent water from touching the surface of the leaf, so the leaf never gets wet. There could be tons of applications, and surely will be, for manufacturers to create water repellent fabrics, surfaces and who knows what else. Even NASA is looking to use this type of technology to keep space shuttles free of dust when flying out in space. Nature really is brilliant!

Meditation and Om

Yoga and meditation have long been lauded to have excellent benefits for the mind and body. Many discover meditation and it's calming benefits from yoga. I'm am a big fan of yoga, it helps keep your body fit and limber. After a class, I always feel infinitely more relaxed. Adding a few minutes of quiet meditation to your daily routine can help to reduce stress levels.

For five minutes at the beginning and end of a yoga class, we spend those few minutes in a meditation pose, where we simply focus on breathing and mindfulness. Mindfulness is simply focusing on the present and being aware of life and experiences around you now, in the present. One technique used for deeper meditation is the chanting of "Om." It helps give your mind something to focus on while relaxing your mind and body. The Om symbol is common throughout many Eastern religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism, all of which encourage meditation. It is sometimes spelled as 'Aum', which is a little more like the pronunciation used when chanting for meditation. It is most important to inhale deeply and exhale fully when you meditate. My yoga instructor likes to tell the class that even if you only sit and breathe deeply, you're doing yoga!

Red, Red Rose

A new floral rose painting is up at nineteencolors.etsy.com Photos of paintings never truly do them justice, but I'm really happy with the depth and lush feel of this work.

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Follow Me into the Deep Blue Sea

I painted some more tropical seascapes, it seems to be my favorite subject lately! Summertime always makes me long to see the oceans again. I love standing on the shore, my toes in the sand and the seemingly endless ocean stretching out to the horizon.

"Tropical Relaxation"



"Follow Me into the Deep Blue Sea"

New Contemporary Artwork

I've added some contemporary / abstract seascapes to my etsy listings today. One is called Tropical Beach, and depicts Kailua beach from Hawaii. I used to live in Kailua, so we visited this beach frequently and had great times relaxing and snorkeling here. It's also a great area for kayaking out to the nearby little islands, very fun day trip. Anyway, it is well known that I freakin love Hawaii!


Addition numero dos is called Deep Blue Sea. When you're out on the ocean far enough, the water turns this gorgeous deep blue color. This is the view from a boat out on that amazing ocean on a wonderfully calm day. I wish I could just dive right into this ocean!

Custom Ganesha Oil Painting

I've just completed a custom painting for a client, still drying on the easel. I think it turned out great so I wanted to share it here. :) It's for a yoga studio so, Namaste.

Oil Paintings for sale on Etsy.com

I've recently started selling paintings on etsy.com at nineteencolors.etsy.com

Check them out, tell me what you think! I love painting and find it to be an amazingly soothing enjoyable thing to do.

Here is one slightly abstract painting of Lanikai beach, showing the calm waters lapping at the shore. The outer reefs and islands create this wonderful, protected beach that we lived near in Hawaii. Fluffy white sand, coral reefs, cool, clear, blue water... I could just go on and on. Best. Beach. Ever.

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Cape Hatteras, OuterBanks NC

This weekend we visited the Outerbanks of North Carolina for the first time. It is wonderfully relaxing and calm out there. We drove down to the Cape Hatteras lighthouse and stayed at a very cozy B&B called the Cape Hatteras Bed and Breakfast. We had an early dinner at Rusty's Surf & Turf where they worked miracles to create some absolutely delicious food, not to mention the staff was very friendly and welcoming. Simply the best calamari I've ever had, surprisingly tender and flavorful. I highly recommend anyone in the area stop by there for some good eats. After dinner, we headed out for some sunset pictures of the Hatteras Lighthouse.