s.furner fine art

Capturing the figure

2012-04-22T08:12:00.001-07:00

Capturing an image of a person is an illusive challenge for me.

Over many years I have worked at capturing the essence, the body posture of a person.
I am not interested in rendering a person realistically...each hair, eyelash, lip in perfect formation.
Rather it is the essence, the persona, the posture of what is going on in front of me that I find intriguing.
The following sketches are in various mediums, differing amount of time spent, some finished many not finished. Hopefully each image will set your mind at wondering who they are, what they are doing and can you feel some personality peeking through.

An exercise in capturing the body movement of a model. We studied her for a few minutes. Then she broke pose. We sketched (oil on paper). Then she returned and we had a few minutes to complete.

Working from a photograph, watching for values and the bare minimum of sketch.
The idea is not to duplicate the photograph.
Oil on canvas.

Three distinct personalities, but all waiting.
Red wash over the canvas before painting.

Brown paper sketchbook. Very pale washes of watercolor
with fine pen sketching. Captures a moment....

Working with multiple photographs taken in Cambodia, designs were sketched on watercolor paper. Each has collage paper from their country. All express what I saw and felt without being specific.
Gouache on watercolor paper.
Most outlining done in thick gouache.

Sketching is fun and one can only get better with practice.
Time for me to spend a little more time with my sketches on paper.

To Hibernate?

2012-04-15T05:03:00.000-07:00

It is the wrong season to go into HIBERNATION!

After all SPRING SPRUNG a MONTH ago!

Time flies on BUTTERFLY WINGS when LIFE is GOOD!

This long "vacation" has been spent painting for a gallery and a solo restaurant show.

But more importantly, time has been wonderfully spent with our adult children and GRAND-children....our first true gathering in three years.

For a few photos of our antics, visit Photography and Prose.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now: A few new paintings to share with you.

There has been much to celebrate these past weeks.

It is also wonderful to be sharing some posts with all you dear friends.

Cleaning Out the Muffin Tin

2012-02-21T09:25:00.002-08:00

A few weeks ago I shared this:

Muffin tin filled with acrylic paint....that was taking up frig space...not that i cook that much!

(so)

I scooped up gobs of paint and finger painted on several canvases.

Then they sat and sat

waiting for "someone" to have an inkling of inspiration!

Ah, where is that pesky "inspiration" when you need her?

Shortly after a box full of Stripey Stones from the delightful Elizabeth Bunsen arrived in the mail.

Slowly stuff in my head started to percolate.

The final straw, hmm, stone that got inspiration moving was reviewing some photos of rock formations taken in Cambodia.

Click here to see the Photography and Prose posting of very intriguing ancient stones.

That did the trick....time to sit down and work on those canvases.

And a new series blossomed:

Cairns

Who would guess that gobs of color was under all of this mixed media work.

Each piece incorporates: Collage, Stablio pencil, Graphite Sticks, Crayons, Pastels, Colored Pencils, Acrylic and China Ink.

Everything but the kitchen frig...well almost everything.

The Cairn series will be UPSing to the RiverView Gallery in Havre de Grace, MD.

******************

Heart Thought: when Inspiration dries up, stalls, gets lost in the fog of to-do-lists where do you GO to get things mixed up and moving again?

The Evidence of Love

2012-02-14T04:01:00.000-08:00

Dear friends, work your way down in a lazy-daizy manner, enjoy the snippets of thoughts on each Valentine. (Feel free to print a copy.)

At the end is a TREAT better than chocolate covered PEEPS.

Share a bag of Peeps, or yummy chocolates with your loved ones. Hold them dear.

Love is what binds us together.

Love is Evidenced in many ways.

This beautiful video is shared by Kat Sloma.

A wonderful photographer, teacher, philosopher and artist. It is her gift to us.

Heart Thought: for today, the video is my heart thought.

This post has also been shared on SharonPhotographyandProse.blogspot.com

Kateyestudio

The Color of Courage

2012-02-09T09:02:00.000-08:00

normally i love to post to meri's musings:

sharing jOy.

i spent hours thinking about what brought me jOy this week.

it was very very difficult.

i know that travel brings me

jOy

but my heart wasn't there.

our granddaughter, emily is what brings me

jOy this day and always.

emily is in the hospital with a chronic condition,

her teen years spent in the

peaks and valleys

of severe pain.

emily is the color of courage ~

she strives to relieve the worries of her

parents, family, friends and those who care for her~

emily shares a beautiful smile and open heart~

emily is filled to overflowing with compassion

and love for others~

she is a cheerleader for those who can do the things she can not~

she is an example to the many who are also overwhelmed in their lives~

emily is the most courageous young woman i know~

a book could be written on

the way she lives her life

under challenging circumstances~

my jOy

is emily and the gift she is in our lives.

Heart Thought: a prayer for this very special granddaughter and the challenges she faces day to day.

Hand Made in the USA

2012-02-07T08:55:00.000-08:00

It all started when I was getting my daily dose of Rebecca's fabulous blog, recuerda mi corazon. Click here and you will see what started this little family project.

While I was reveling in Rebecca's photography and prose it brought back a rush of strong cinnamon scent. It spun me back to our Asian visit last year where we visited a spice plantation. The authentic spice is STRONG`~EARTHY~~EXOTIC~~DEEP RUST BROWN~and the aroma lingers for a very long time.

Now this was a project for the Funny Bunnies. They probably wouldn't understand making cinnamon Prayer Beads....but necklaces...hmmm that would catch their attention.

And so we began. We spent one afternoon forming the beads using Rebecca's recipe...well sort of followed the recipe. It was a challenge for little fingers to make perfect round balls.... I love their odd shaped little offerings. One thing to remember is to make the hole wide!!!

The past few weeks there have been a few really great blogs using dried citrus fruit. But none is better, for sheer design and photography than Elizabeth Bunsen's BE~DREAM~PLAY. She has written many blogs featuring these tiny jewels. click here.

The day finally arrived, the oranges almost dry, some a bit gummy and a few with dark tans from being overly cooked. The cinnamon beads are funky and chunky, needing a bit of scissor widening of the holes.

So off to Squirrel Park we go. More excited to play on the swings and slides, our beading project was put off for awhile.

Eventually we settled at a table, opened the bags of oranges and cinnamon...and like little ants hovering over sugar...playground children smelling the waft of cinnamon raced to the table to see what was going on.

Long story short: we shared what we had. Eager little and big fingers, strung their cotton string with oranges and beads. As you can see in the photo of the Funny Bunnies (we had stopped for frozen yogurt after the park) they didn't quite get a full necklace made. But they were happy to have shared. They will hang their offerings from a tree limb.

As for me and prayer beads....well I will have to go out and buy another huge bottle of cinnamon.

Heart Thought: isn't it cool when kids big and little can share what they have from the warmest place in their hearts?

Cinnamon scent I will smell you next December......sharon

Skipping through the First

2012-02-04T07:43:00.000-08:00

Tell me it isn't so. Today, the 4th !!!!
i flipped my calendar over....where had four days gone. January can't just evaporate!!? i wasn't ready to leave January yet. Now it feels like half the year is over.

Did you feel this way?

Holding myself accountable, i thought where have i been:
certainly not writing blogs....
certainly not cooking fab meals....
certainly not dusting or sweeping....
certainly not having a social life....

Now i remember:
One night i woke up and had this desire to paint on canvas again...the ideas flooded my dead-to-the-world-head
( of course i forget most of them by morning). When fully awake all i knew was that i needed to head for the easel.

This is what i did February 1st:
i took my muffin tin of old acrylic paint out of the frig. i should have charged it rent it had been hoggin' space for much too long.
Grabbing a piece of canvas i began scooping up huge gobs of color and spreading/smearing it all over the canvas.
Gosh this was fun!
Adult Finger Painting 101

Here are a few of my canvases i smothered with paint with no thought to what i was doing.....bonus: no more paint in the frig.

It didn't take me four days to create this color-chaos....!!! In a day or two i will share with you the transformation of "muffin tin paint" into hmmm, something quite different. Stay tuned.

Heart Thought: how many times do we really let go and do something crazy--like our kids or husband would look at us and really wonder? Give it a try. Sure puts a smile on the face.

So here is to crazy-daisy moments: Sharon

2012-01-29T18:26:00.000-08:00

Mom always loved to tell me when I was a "little" that I received my darker, olive complexion because we lived near an

Native American reservation.

My eyes always linger on those fortunate to have skin the color of Copper, Burnt Siena, Umber, Gold Oxide, Bronze

with blushes of Crimson.

Working in a large journal these two women spilled out and onto the pages. My references are photos I have taken.

Watercolor paper, Stablio pencil, willow charcoal, chalk pastel........

Recycled post office mailer, gesso with lots of texture, umber acrylic wash, Stablio pencil, willow charcoal,

chalk pastel.

Working on a very rough texture was a challenge, but I liked the final result....

Two little offerings from my very messy studio table.

Heart Thought: could it be for the better if the entire earth's population were a warm honey color? Could there be more peace and less class division? Just something to think about.

Chinese Contemporary Folk Art

2012-01-28T08:32:00.000-08:00

Many countries share a common love of folk art painting, sometimes known as primitive art.

The cultures hold many similarities in their art, but also enjoy distinct differences. Generally Folk Art illustrates a specific story concerning the ordinary, every day living of the average person.

Chinese Folk Art is more theme oriented, telling a specific story or moral.

The following contemporary folk art scenes are painted by both men and women.

Embroidery is a long established art form in China. It is mainly a female activity. The items embroidered are quite diverse and include robes, theatrical costumes, purses, shoes and alter cloths. Some are so finely stitched that it can take 5-6 women several years to complete a piece.

Usually a traditional Chinese medicine shop puts its medicines/ herbs in cupboards lined with tiny square drawers. A dispenser would pull open the drawers to take out medicine according to prescriptions provided by doctors.

Floating in metal tubs the women gather the seeds of the lotus blossom. The Lotus blossom is a very common folk art symbol.

In Asia many homes are self contained with their gardens, animals, shrines, cooking areas and living arrangements bound by walls. These wonderful primitive paintings preserve a way of life that is slowly changing.

A happy celebration of a wedding in Shanghai.

The household goods are on barges to be taken to the new home.

Neighborhood gatherings watching films.

I don't think they are selling popcorn...but perhaps fried chicken feet! A true delicacy.

I love the clean, brightly painted, flat perspective of folk art.

No shading or highlights, just flat, bold colors with lots of tiny details. Usually the work is done on paper with paint similar to our gouache.

Heart Thought: you might enjoy sharing these images with your children or grandchildren. Let them make up their own stories, or try their hand at their own folk art incorporating their home and environment.

A Gaelic Prayer for Rebecca

2012-01-26T05:49:00.000-08:00

I became acquainted with Rebecca but a short time ago, through her blog,recuerda mi corazon.

If you don't know this gentle, gifted woman, you will wish her to be your best friend, just as I have.

Today Rebecca is in need of our prayers and heaven wishes for a full recovery from surgery.

Rebecca is Nature, Sky and Water.

May this Gaelic Prayer bring Peace to her Heart.

Deep Peace of the running Wave to you

Deep Peace of the flowing Air to you.

Deep Peace of the quiet Earth to You.

Deep Peace of the shining Stars to You.

Deep Peace of the gentle Night to You.

Moon and Stars pour out their Healing Light on You.

Deep Peace of Christ,

the Light of the World to You.

Blessings to you dear, Rebecca

Count the stars to know how many send prayers and heaven wishes for your full recovery.

2012-01-24T04:59:00.000-08:00

Why is Chinese New Year so fun for our family?

Perhaps because we have a daughter who taught school in Hong Kong, and a son and his adorable family who lived in

Hong Kong and now Singapore.

What they love, we love.

What they find joy in, we find joy.

What they experience and learn...so do we.

Today our daughter Sarah sent photos from an outing she had with two of her children; exploring the color, preparation, excitement and festivities of

Chinese New Year.

I think you will find it quite charming and colorful on the streets of Singapore.

Stall after stall of special fruits and vegetables.

Vendors with dried meats, especially duck

Globes of golden oranges, growing on trees, in baskets

overflowing with Good Luck.

Children wearing typical red and gold Chinese costumes

Every fruit imaginable is dried, mountains of sweetness.

Bakers work very long hours preparing the traditional treats. Mooncakes are my favorite.

The Year of the Dragon.

Thank you Sarah for today's little excursion.

Happy Lunar New Year

2012-01-23T07:17:00.000-08:00

Chinese New Year

The Year of the Dragon

Those born in the year of the Dragon
are considered to be very fortunate.

Their sign is Prosperity and Courage

Grab those chop sticks, order some really yummy Chinese food....don't forget the Fortune Cookies.....and celebrate
the Year of the Dragon.

May we
all have Courage and Prosperity all year long.

Heart Thought: do you know which of the 12 Zodiac signs you were born under? I am glad that I am not the Rat...!

2012-01-21T14:24:00.000-08:00

"WHAT ART OFFERS IS SPACE--A CERTAIN BREATHING ROOM FOR THE SPIRIT."

JOHN UPDIKE

It defies description TO EXPLAIN what an ART JOURNAL is all about.

It seems that EVERYONE is working in his/her art journal.

For some it is a keeper of inner secrets and wishes,

others, a "diary of sorts" filled with the minutia of the day or weeks events,

a place to explore, confront deeper fears, let loose joy

and explore.

It is WHATEVER that person wishes it to be.

For me an "Art Journal" is simply a

a marking down,

sketching, doodling, drawing the silly and the pompous, messing around with various mediums, trying new ways of approaching a subject.

It is a BIG MISH-MASH OF UNTIDY PAPERS!

...Loose sheets, purchased journal, handmade....it matters not...

It is just good to have some decent paper around when inspiration jumps in.

Two weeks ago I joined the Faces: 101 Class given by Carla Sonheim. You patiently viewed my little, teeny-tiny sketches....it was great fun...but ever so small.

For me I need BIGGER PAPER!

Here are a few things I have done since.

Charcoal on 300 lb. watercolor paper, heavy use of fingers!

Really big piece of paper!

Journal pages/watercolor paper, two page spread.

Handwriting, ink, pastel, acrylic, pencil

and a HUGE DOSE OF FUN!!!

Heart Thought: did you ever keep a secret diary? Mine was a sickly lime green with a bent latch that popped opened. I remember writing in pure shock seeing a cousin smoking behind his home! What did you write about? Think your diary was really a SECRET??????

I DID IT !!!!

2012-01-08T07:18:00.001-08:00

Yes, I did. I completed Carla Sonheim's Faces 101 !!!

Not certain but this might be a first for completing an on-line class.

It helps to have just FIVE days.

Day Five was fun and challenging.
Here goes:

Not easy!!! We are drawing someone we KNOW!
Imagination work is loads easier.
Two hues of colored pencil.
Can't get away with erasing, when you use colored pencil!

The easier part of the assignment:
Stylized Faces.

This was loads of fun...I used charcoal but also some sort of unusual waxy feeling charcoal I bought years ago...have no idea what it is...no labels!!! But it came in a box labeled, "Made in China." The mysterious crayon is the light bluish gray...
I was going for a 40's look.....

The last piece a Free For All....

I call her Stash? Why? Before I was born, my parents decided that if I were born a HE, my name would be STASH!!!
So grateful I was born a SHE!!!

Collage on Stash Tea box....just a general mish-mash that was really fun and very fast. Great idea to do a series and frame in mats with thin black frames.
Maybe another time.
Thank you Carla, for this "Silly" Trip.....it was a welcome change of pace and I learned that there are endless ways to approach a drawing, especially faces.
I will definitely continue to work with our new techniques...and add a bit of "silliness" to the mix.

Carla's next class is Imaginary Animals.

Charcoal on my fingers: sharon

Finger Painting with Imagination

2012-01-06T05:04:00.000-08:00

If you are still with me on this little

journey into Silliness....thank you! Hope a few sketches brought a smile to your face!!!

Today is the last day of Carla's course.

This afternoon I will complete the projects...and there will be a real silly factor in the conclusion.

However due to time constraints may not post until Monday.

Big deal, I know!

At least I will be able to say I completed the entire course and not stopped mid-way!

So here goes:

Out of respect for the class, I don't feel that I can say much about HOW I did these tiny sketches, but obviously I used graphite pencil.

It was a really fun project....and what I like....using one's imagination, no photo references.

Now this was super fun...this is one little technique I will keep up with.

Actually want to share with my Funny Bunnies 1 & 2. They are just old enough.

I dubbed this "finger painting with imagination!"

I forgot to name the Lass with the Green Hair. She is my favorite.

Out of all the little techniques we have worked on, I like best the ink dropper...and this one.

But who knows, there is today's lesson yet to explore!!!

Smiles: Sharon

It Just Gets Better, Not Easier

2012-01-05T07:04:00.000-08:00

Our 101 Faces just get more fun, but fun often equates to being more challenging!

For instance:

I did endless continuous drawings, men, women...more than I would ever share!

Did I hear you say "whew!"

Never removing your pen from paper is like a big puzzle, where does one put down the first piece?

I usually chose the wrong spot.

I will only bore you with one page.

The two faces that look smeary, well they are, using a water soluble marker I dampened the lines for the shading.

You can see that I didn't always make it in one swell swoop of pen.....

Ah, now we can look at subject and take pen off of the paper....much more in my comfort zone!!

This was a good project and will do again.

Definitely frees up the whole arm/hand movement, let alone the brain that wants to do it "its" way!

PS: my gosh, once enlarged and on a blog, you really really see your mishaps! But that gives one a learning point! Right?

I Think I Can, I Think I Can, I Think I Can....

2012-01-04T07:35:00.000-08:00

Whoa Bill, or should I say, Carla?

This is a whole lot of faces to do on

ONE DAY!

So here goes:

Today the assignment was similar to yesterday.

Working from any photos we can find, we sketched the faces.

Not too hard, but we weren't to sneak peeks too often at the original source.

Oops missed naming a few. I will let you do that.

Tried using colored markers. They really feel different! Once I stepped back from trusty black and white.

I actually rather liked the color.

This was my favorite assignment until I messed it up big time!

Working with ink and droppers, scooting the ink around to make an impression. My inks weren't quite the right ones, so got varying degrees of success???

But then I blew it. I waited FOREVER for the ink to dry, then glued into my sketchbook. Thinking I would be clever and roll with a brayer to really glue them down...what I thought was DRY INK wasn't and so I did the BIG SMEAR TANGO!!!

But I still love the lady in blue, cranky lady in yellow..and totally ambivalent about the last two, sorry I glued into my book.

They will remind me to try harder.

This has proven to be a really big project. But fun!

Carla has new classes forming right now, if you are interested.

100 Faces....going forth.

2012-01-02T12:48:00.000-08:00

I think I should offer my services as a

spokeswoman for Carla.

Monday's assignment was so much fun.

We were asked to work on pieces of paper cut to uniform size.....I prefer for now to work in a large, watercolor notebook.

Eight pencil and watercolor faces

As long as I can, I will label my faces....after about 75 I bet I use numbers, followed by letters! LOL

Ink sketches from life using non-dominant hand.

I had no "live people" around me,

so I found a magazine with exotically dressed women.

I found it easier to draw the faces with my left hand, than to do the hand writing!!!!! Interesting, eh?

Oops, almost forgot. I also found it easier to do the non-dominant work in pencil than pen. I couldn't quite get the angle right on the pen, and my fine tip pen was getting a little dry.

The top left face is the only one in ink.

Because I am using white paper, I loosely filled in the negative space with India Ink.

This was fun...thanks Carla.

101 Faces in Five Days....that is silly!

2012-01-01T18:39:00.000-08:00

New Year's soul searching seriousness is now past, gone, over with. Whew! Made it to the NEW Calendar:)

I have my "string of words" to inspire me through out 2012.

LIFE TRULY IS A VERB

....inspired by Patti Digh's book of similar title.

And now to have a bit of good ol' rollicking fun.

I signed up for a five day class with the fabulous illustrator and author, Carla Sonheim.

You may have already purchased her best selling book:

This is such a terrific book that I gifted our very creative grandson with it.

FACES 101

Not sure what all we will be doing, but faces are the subject. And knowing how Carla loves the silly, whimsical funny-bone in art, it should prove to be perfect for starting out the New Year with a silly-i-ness bang.

Carla asked us to do a little assignment prior to class today: draw some random faces....it is the baby-step of attempting 100!!!! faces. I better sharpen my pencils!

My humble first homework assignment.

I promise to not post 100 plus faces these next days, but a few are sure to pop up....who knows I might be inspired to try for 200!!! Remember Life truly IS a Verb!

Smiles: Sharon

Heart Thought: do you find a moment of silliness, fun- to- have fun in your day?

On the Other Side of 2011

2012-01-01T09:10:00.000-08:00

Well that was a short night! Did you stay up

to see the sun rise?

Anyway, here we are on the other side of 2011...easy-peasy wasn't it?

I thought of a zillion things to welcome you into 2012, and still haven't quite narrowed it down....but here goes.

For starters a thought provoking quote that seems to be written just for me:

For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin.

Real life.

But there was always some obstacle in the way,

something to be gotten through first,

some unfinished business,

time still to be served,

a debt to be paid.

Then life would begin.

At last it dawned on me that

these obstacles were my life.

Alfred D'Souza

That rather sums up 2011 for me.

If you are familiar with the author Patti Digh, this is my favorite of her many books.

Such an explosive title, one full of ever so many meanings and metaphors.

Truly: Life is a Verb

Remember back in grade school underlining nouns and circling verbs in endless sentences?I liked the circles best as they indicated action, movement, forwardness, direction....

I love to read blogs the first weeks of January, as there is an astounding number of writers who choose ONE WORD for their mantra for the year. A word that is personal and speaks just to them.

I have also done this.

Long and hard I thought about this "chosen word" to carry around with me for the year. Just too many choices, it was starting to nag at me and take the fun out of it.

Then I was thumbing thru Patti's book, and eureka I knew my word (S).

This year I am choosing a sentence... a string of words like pearls.

Life is a Verb....thank you Patti

I can't imagine, at this point, just where this sentence will take me, but it will be an adventure with many new ideas, opportunities, friendships, creative endeavors, family experiences....a 'wellspring' of forward moving action.

Together let's all March Forward into Another New Year!

Doesn't matter if you go left or right.

Just remember that Life truly is a Verb!

May our paths cross often.

Warmly, Sharon

DECEMBER COUNTDOWN, where has the time gone?

2011-12-31T13:45:00.000-08:00

This morning I was greeted by icy blue clouds lumbering in the sky.

Silently they slipped out of view

like our days in December.

In a mere eight hours there will be a new year.

But for now I love remembering

a few special memories and moments that only can be found in

DECEMBER !!!

I will see you on the other side of the year.

Thank you for all of the support and friendship you have shown me. We have all been on an amazing path.

Warmly, Sharon

Silent Prayers

2011-12-24T07:29:00.000-08:00

I believe most desire the same things.

I believe most desire the same for others.

I believe in the innate "goodness" of people.

I believe there is much to share a

Silent Prayer for.

For each of us to pray in our own way, faith, and culture.

Peacemakers, leaders who value peace, those who can see all sides of a problem.

For our most vulnerable brothers and sisters on this Earth.

For an end to the disparity between the rich and the poor

with economic justice for all.

For an end to prejudice, religious intolerance, but rather embrace fellowship and equality.

For stewardship over our Earth and its Resources that sustain our lives.

For the Celebrations in Life that give greater meaning and joy to our lives

From our Home to Yours

We send our love for a beautiful and meaningful

Hanukkah and Christmas

2012--where more prayers come true for all.

with love, Sharon

A Silent Stroll through Wonderland

2011-12-22T19:00:00.000-08:00

Visiting the Land of Gingerbread

Asheville, NC.

A very 'sweet' trip.

Santa Lucia Day...oops one day late.

2011-12-14T07:45:00.000-08:00

Santa Lucia

a very special family tradition that dates back

before computers!!!!!!!!

We have been out of town for a few days, but yesterday my cute family sent Happy Santa Lucia messages to us.

It is such fun to know that our adult kids now share this tradition with their own "spin on things" with their children.

Some will have Swedish Oven Pancakes with tons of berry jam and whipping cream.

Others will choose a daughter to wear the Santa Lucia crown of candles, walk around the house singing carols and end with a delicious breakfast.

I LOVE being linked generation to generation.

This is our family who live in Asia....they have so much fun
celebrating....well Niko...seems to be rather distracted.

In Sweden the little boys and girls wear pastel gowns topped with cone shaped hats, carrying stars. The daughter, who is the chosen Lucia, wears candles set in a garland of greenery.

Today we use battery wreathes!!! Our eldest daughter who was Santa Lucia as little girl, had too many experiences with melted wax in her hair!!

(I can't believe I actually lit candles in my daughter's hair!!!)

Each year I have posted a bit about this wonderful Swedish tradition. If you would like a peek back in time you can click here. There is even a recipe for Swedish Oven Pancakes.
Another fun posting when Funny Bunny Two-Two was small can be found here.

Heart Thought: in my heart, family traditions are the icing on the cake when it comes to raising a family. The cool thing is: I know that each and every one of you have special moments in your lives that you dearly revere. Wish I could listen to your stories.

Have a great week.
smiles: sharon

More From My Table

2011-12-10T17:27:00.001-08:00

Squished in between shopping, wrapping, shipping

and a bit of photography of Funny Bunny Three-Three at age 1 month,

I managed to do a couple of holiday sketches.

No master pieces, but enjoyable, and a trip down memory lane.

All it takes is a cup of hot chocolate, a sketchbook, a few good pens and a simple set of watercolors.

******************************

As our children were growing up, so did our collection of tin cooky cutters.

My prized possession were beautiful hand carved wooden molds for making Swedish Springerle or Lebkuchen Hearts .

I recall hammering rows of tiny nails along the top soffit of the kitchen walls. Hanging shining like glistening stars, was our ever growing collection of cooky cutters.

(truth be known they were quite the dust catchers)

Today those cooky cutters are dispersed amongst the family, who now make their own yummy sugar cookies with thick, sweet frosting.

(I prefer PINK)

******************

Another family tradition was the humble, cast iron aebleskiver pan.

A wonderful reminder of our Danish heritage.

Tiny crispy round donuts, fresh out of the sizzling hot pan got everyone out of bed early!!!

Dusted with powder sugar, or a slip of melted chocolate.

Or simply plain....

What a treat.

With five kids, we really could have used two pans, as the cook couldn't keep up with the appetites!

*****************************

Heart Thought: through the holidays, we love the foods of our Swedish and Danish ancestors....soul food, I suppose. What special foods do you have fond memories of? Try sketching them out, or putting into words. It is rather relaxing and a great memory maker.

warmly, sharon