End of Summer SALE!

   Just wanted to let you all know that my Etsy shop is having a sale on all merchandise... I'm getting ready to add all of my new items. All cards are now $3.50 (usually $5). Including one of my favourites:

"Leaves of a Book"

     Hope you will stop by my shop and take a look :)

         -J.L.

"Summer Child"

"Summer Child"

    Here is the card I mentioned before that I custom made for my friend to give her midwife. Sorry the image is not very good... Our scanner still needs to be hooked up to the new computer. Once the scanner is up and running, I have several new cards and designs I'll be posting, so stay tuned! A couple of them were inspired by this design, and are also on the theme of motherhood.

-J.L.

Tea Time

Dishes all set, waiting on the food. I LOVE Sophie Conran's tea things!

     As I mentioned in my previous post, this past Sunday I had a Jane Eyre Tea Party. Everybody brought tea-time treats, and I got to see the film I missed in theaters since my babe was newborn. My husband watched our little guy while I made scones and chocolate(and white chocolate!)-dipped strawberries. He also watched him for the whole film. Yay! A girly movie time without any boys, baby or otherwise :)It was wonderful.

   The food was great, too... my friends brought muffins, fruit, tea cookies, etc... and we drank cucumber water and two kinds of tea: "Tuscany Pear Rooibas"and "Early Grey de la Creme" (both from Distinctly Tea, my favourite tea shop). My husband even came down to sneak a few snacks... and he took the extra scones to work for lunch the next day. 

Pretty in pink, Cherry-Almond Scones

     These scones are usually a hit. I love this recipe because it is so simple, tasty, and easy to adjust to your own tastes. I got the basic recipe at All Recipes.Com here.

   I use the cherry-almond variety, but I use maraschino cherries instead of dried ones, and I add some of the extra cherry-juice, which gives the scones the pretty pink colour. I also use a food processor for the mixing, which makes it so much easier!

Here is my version of the recipe:

• 2 and a half cups all-purpose flour (the extra half cup is needed if you add the cherry juice)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons butter (= 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup maraschino cherries 
• ~2 tablespoons cherry juice (optional)
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 large egg

Directions:

1- Grease pan & pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F

2- Combine all dry ingredients in food processor. Blend well.

3- Add wet ingredients, blend well... mixture should ball up together and start to leave the sides.

4- Need dough into a ball and press down (not as flat as a pizza, though)--- on a floured surface if dough is still sticky, otherwise you can do it right on the greased tray.

5- Cut into 12, tip: use a pizza-cutter

6- Bake 15-20 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown.

Serve with tea! :)

Healthier version: substitute whole wheat for wheat and vanilla/ plain/ or cherry yogurt for sour cream. You can use dried cherries or even pitted fresh cherries (with real cherry juice) instead of the maraschino...but make sure to decrease the flour back to 2 cups if you omit the juice.

    Happy Baking!

-J.L

ps~ On the topic of tea-time, I recently finished drawing a set of 3 tea-time cards. Images to come soon!

Jane Eyre Thoughts

Beautiful!

      This past Sunday I had a Jane Eyre Screening (of the 2011 version) and Tea Party at my home. So much fun! I'll be posting about the tea-party and giving a delicous scone recipe next-time, I'm going to talk about the movie. 

      I had not seen the film before, since Theo was only a few weeks old when it played in the theaters (though I've seen other versions and read the book). But it it is definitely worth watching! Beautiful cinematography! I enjoyed the way the story is shown through Jane's memories, which helped it move a bit more quickly than some of the other versions. I also thought that the torment of Jane's childhood was displayed very effectively. I think that this version did a good job of keeping the story about Jane, and not Rochester& Jane... Even the above movie poster shows that it is all about her... It is not just a love story.

      After the other guests left, my sister stayed longer and we discussed at length thoughts about Rochester and Jane... We mostly talked about whether Jane was a weak woman, too submissive in her relationships. Is she the classic abused lover who keeps going back to her abusive spouse? Or was she strong? 

       I think that Jane was strong throughout her life: strong enough to stand up to her cousin, to her aunt, to Rochester; strong enough to  plan to leave Rochester if he got married and to finally leave Rochester when he asked her to stay as his mistress because, as she said, she had to respect herself. She was also strong enough to demand to go to India on her own terms with St. John.  My sister thought that Jane's biggest instance of weakness was returning to Rochester at the end, but I think that she returned just to find out what was wrong and help if she could, but that she did not plan to stay. She only stayed when she found he was widowed. I think Jane is one of the most realistically strong literary heroines I've read or watched.

      My one disappointment with the film is that at the end Rochester is only bearded, not burned... and he has not lost his hand. Hollywood chose to keep him handsome instead of real.

      Other than that, I can only say, love love love!

-J.L.

Thoughts about Mother and Baby Art

   A friend of mine recently asked me to create a card for her to give her midwife for her final postpartum appointment. She wanted an image similar to this one (below) that she had purchased from me before. In my new design the woman is larger and more central, with a baby in her arms.

"The Rose Tree" c. 2010 by J.L.

    I really liked the image... I felt like it had a lot of emotional appeal but at the same time was similiar to my drawings of other women without babies. The baby herself did not change the image too much The point was not just the baby, it it was the woman and her life...

   It seems that often in art mothers with infants, and pregnant women are usually symbolic of some sort of idea. They seem to fall into 4 categories: 

1-Holy and religious (Like the virgin Mary); symbols of innocence.


2- New Age (like mother earth or somehow more in tune with the universe); symbols of life or the earth or power.


3- Tragic, as if there is something wrong with being pregnant (symbols of injustice)

4- Sentimental 

   Very rarely do we see art that includes pregnant women as just normal women going about their daily lives.., or even as background images. But my research has not been extensive, so if you have images that vary from these traditions, please send them my way!
   That said, I do really like these two more sentimental mother-child images:

"Protected" by Jody Coughlin

 & 

"PJÄTTERYD- the three ages" (Ikea reproduction of Klimt's piece "The Three Ages of Women")

    I doubt, however, my husband would want either of those images on our walls... he'd probably think they are too sentimental, at least for the living areas... perhaps for the nursery?

     What are your thoughts on mother-child/ baby art? Especially as decoration? Is it sweet or is it sappy? Is it too personal to display?

    -J.L.

First Thoughts

Hello world,

     I am starting this blog to help with my creative process... so please give me feedback as I share my thoughts on new designs with you! I will be posting images of my artwork (works in progress and finished pieces), writing about the thoughts behind my art,  and explaining how my work fits into my daily life. 

    Stay tuned,

           -J.L.

p.s.~Want to know a bit about my art style? Visit my Etsy site :

http://www.etsy.com/shop/InkThoughts