EONS

Well, it has been what seems as eons since I've been on this blog.  Four years almost to the date!  I have noticed that I am not the only one as many of us have decided that the quicker and easier way for an artist to communicate is through images and short descriptions on Instagram.  This in turn creates more time to create .... I think.  Unless I spend to much time editing my photos! But in fact I did the same with this blog so, yes, I think I am saving time.  For my few fellow followers, if you are still around, and wondered where I went... check out my Instagram account!

https://www.instagram.com/pkherring/

Here are a few sneak peaks of my latest creations (jewelry, photographs, sketches) from my Instagram account ....

Come and visit me!

Monica Ros Kindergarden Class Project

I've been busy attending to one of my new jobs....Kindergarden Room Parent!


I just finished helping guide and complete the "class project" which will be auctioned off at our Savoir Faire Fundraiser next weekend.  We (parents) cut, sanded, primed and painted the wood blocks (cut from 4x4 post) then each student chose a block and painted a chicken on it.  The tape came off, cubes were screwed into a 1/4" painted plywood base, cork was glued on back to cover screws and voila.... a Kindergarten masterpiece!


I'm not sure what we're going to call it....any ideas???


The chicken is the Kindergarden mascot, thus the chicken theme for the blocks.  In a few weeks, each student will be given a fertilized egg to take care of, study and then watch them hatch and grow.  We can't wait!!!


The hangers on the back were just attached five minutes ago and now we're finally complete!  Here's a brief visual story of what they/we (kids and parents) created....
(Sorry there are no photos of the kids!)

Thank you Val, Blu, Andre, Susannah, Mrs. Fiore and Mrs. Krout and all you awesome kindergarteners!

“We can see a thousand miracles around us every day. What is more supernatural than an egg yolk turning into a chicken?”

S. Parkes Cadman

Painted Waves from the Past

Erin, a fellow blogger with beautiful posts at Erin's Art and Gardens, was curious about the painted wave in my Halloween eve post so I thought I would share a little history.  

Many years ago in college, I thought I wanted to be in fashion so I majored in French.  Then I decided to be an archeologist, then an anthropologist.  I just couldn't decide.  Then, when I had to declare a major a year before I was supposed to graduate I realized that the only classes that I was receiving A's was in Art ....history, painting, drawing, sculpture, etc..  So, I spent an extra year and changed my major to Art Studio.  Of course, when I graduated I had no idea how to support myself as an artist so I continued waiting tables.

Working in a restaurant gave me time to paint, but I just wasn't inspired.  I looked into teaching and graphic design.... did a few internships.  My passion wasn't roused.  I decided to take a night class in interior design and had so much fun that I stayed on and three years later, I was a certified interior designer!  I missed painting but I found a way to make money and have fun. 

For about 15 years after I graduated, I never picked up a paint brush....until I met my hubby to be.  We met during El Nino when the coastal waters were like a bathtub and spent every free moment at the beach ! I was suddenly inspired to paint....the ocean.  I think this painting was the first time I touched a brush since my table-waiting days.  Then I painted another ocean-scape after we were married.... a gift to my husband for our first anniversary from a photo I took on our honeymoon in Mexico.

Haven't painted a finished picture since!

...... I will paint again someday, I'm sure.

Maui Magic

I've been fantasizing about going to a tropical destination this summer but alas, I am believe I'm Ojai bound.  I can't complain BUT there is nothing like the beautiful trade winds blowing through your hair while watching the sunset on the western shores of Maui....or the north shore of Hanalei.  I am patient though.  I can wait.  I know I will return. 

My first visit to Hawaii was on the way home to California from our two years in Anchorage when I was 6 years old.  I still remember it....the smells of plumeria, the exciting fire dancing at the luau, the warm humid mornings savouring pineapple and gagging over papaya (my sister said they tasted like bandaides!) Second trip was my highschool graduation gift..... whooping it up in Lahaina and Waikiki with my fake ID.  Third trip was during college years to Maui with my parents as I recovered from surgery.  And then the patient wait....almost 20 years later... with my own family kids and all to Hanalei. Heaven on earth is was and is and so worth the wait.  

I've had a few more quick trips since but am itching to get back to Maui.  My aunt Cheri lived there for years (she hosted me and my friend on my graduation trip) and is still inspired by the landscape to paint it's beauty.   She now has a shop on Etsy too! (If I could only get my mom and grandma on Etsy too we would have a monopoly!)

Cheri's Art on Etsy..... check it out!

Since I'm not getting to Maui anytime soon, I'll keep playing my Hawaiian music (I would share a tune if I could figure out how to do it!) and enjoying my auntie's art.  Keep on painting Cheri!

And, I still need to find that straw hat....

The Seven Principles of Huna (ancient secret knowledge)

IKE -The world is what you think it is

KALA -There are no limits, everything is possible

MAKIA -Energy flows where attention goes

MANAWA -Now is the moment of power

ALOHA -To love is to be happy with

MANA -All power comes from within

PONO -Effectiveness is the measure of truth

Pom Pom Blossoms

I just listed my little pom pom earrings today on Etsy.  They are made from from an antique Afghani bronze jewelry die and then I embellished them with tiny little dots and lines.  I didn't realize what they were until after several weeks after I made them.  They reminded me of something. Then, I went into our mini orchard and saw my pomegranate trees chock a block full of blossoms and BONK! It hit me...my little earrings are pomegranate babies!  Since the earrings looks like blossoms and Afghanistan is famous for pomegranates (pregnant women drink it for healthy babies ...great source of anti-oxidants) and the dies are from there, the little motifs must be one and the same.  


Twenty years ago, I fell in love with pomegranates after painting many of them in a college art class.  I still hang one of my favorites in our kitchen.  But I never truly enjoyed the incredible flavor (besides sucking on a few seeds as a kid) until I tried fresh squeezed ice-cold pomegranate juice at the Khan Club restaurant in Peshawar.  There is nothing like fresh squeezed Heaven.  When we purchased our home in Ojai with two mature pomegranate trees, I went straight out and purchased a special juicer.  Ahhhh.... a little slice of heaven once more!   


Pom Pom Earrings on Etsy....

Oil on canvas...circa 1990

Our very own pom babies...photographed this morning.

Sucking... painting... juicing... molding... polishing... wearing.  The funny little pom pom fruits just keep coming back into my life. I think it's a good sign especially since they are a symbol of prosperity and abundance, fertility and marriage, rebirth and eternal life!

“Let us get up early to the vineyards; 

let us see if the vine flourish, 

whether the tender grape appear, 

and the pomegranates bud forth: 

there will I give thee my loves.”

~ Song of Solomon 7:12

 King James Bible ~

More rainbows

I just can't help myself... spring is almost here and I am consumed with color!

I want share an amazing artist I just came across.  Her name is Yuko Adachi and her use of color is intoxicating!

Wave

My Wish

Another emerging talent is Benjamin Herring, 4 year olds.  He has a creative eye and loves photography....... and is showing promise! (these are NOT cropped)