Quiet time...and tea...

I love to park myself at a quiet spot with a cuppa, my journal and my IPOD..

and that was what I did last Thursday

when I started my little break from work..

my favorite spot is a cafe in a bookshop downtown..

I ordered a mushroom bruchetta

and English breakfast tea....

I appreciate quiet moments like this, alone...

watching others...

and sometimes chatting with someone friendly...

and then 

 I proceeded to the Art supplies store upstairs..

(unfortunately I didn't take any photos)

and bought some art materials to experiment..

I was happiest...

what are you having for tea today?

hop, skip and jump over to Kimmie's for a list of tea adventurers...

take care!

steph

Generosity begets love..

The "collage-muse" visited last night

and I started to cut and paste once again...

I find this process very therapeutic..

horses reminds me of my niece whom I missed dearly..

and guess what, we will be visiting her next week!!

I made this on cartridge paper so it's easier to bring along
with me to Oz....  :)

and as I flipped my book of quotes,
this particular one resonates with me for now....

"Generosity enacts the quality of non-greed;
it is willingness to give, to share, to let go.
We are inspired to give because of loving, feeling and in the act of
giving, we feel more love."

Joseph Goldstein


I feel loved....

Happy Saturday!!!

steph

Loosen up...

with water colors!!!

Have been playing with water media and "moving" paints and water,

 Field of wild flowers 


translating "real" to an abstract form

it's a way of seeing....

and the exercise was liberating....

the second painting was another fun experiment..

 Sunflower

creating textures on watercolor..

I'll end this post with a quote from Jack Kornfield:

"Great spiritual traditions are used as means to ripen us,
to bring us face to face with our life, and to help
us to see in a new way by developing a stillness of mind and a strength of heart"


I wish you a safe and peaceful weekend!

steph

I'm also submitting this post to Paint Party Friday
happy painting!!

a division between 2 passions...

my day time job 

and 

Art...

and everything that comes with it...

if you are like me...

sometimes the art muse visits

during when I am at the office....;)

and I can't wait to be back home

to experiment that idea....

and the waiting time could be one of the longest..............

and when I am finally back home...

there will be a hundred other things to attend to...

and I had to revisit that "idea"...and sometimes..

I find myself looking reeeally hard at the scribbles I made on my sketchbook...

speaking of which it's been a long while since 

I last posted a quote.....

As I was preparing to get into bed last night, 

I found a book my husband bought recently...and this quote 

got me thinking..

"When it can't be done, do it.

If you don't do it, it doesn't exist"

Paul Arden

Happy Sunday!!!

steph

More collages.....

stay happy!

Steph

Jasmine and Chilli Oil on Tuesday..

The humble chilli oil takes centre stage today..

a staple in all chinese restaurants,

chilli oil adds the oomph! to certain foods

 I had mine on crispy fried shrimp pancake

and fried rice...

and dessert was steamed layered cake

with stuffed red dates with glutinous rice

and of course Jasmine tea..

what are you having for tea today?

I'm sure Kimmie and friends will share their wonderful tea tales....

Happy Tuesday!!!
Steph

Art Journal: "You are loved...

and so are they..."

This page was inspired by 

a picture book written by Douglas Wood:

Old Turtle and the Broken Truth

In this book, the author illustrated the message of loving self (which is just half the truth)

but there is the other half.....

"To all who seek truths and who listen

to the language of breezes"

Douglas Wood

Happy weekend!!

steph

Shanghainese Dim Sum spread..

We had Dim sum with a Shanghainese twist

last Sunday..

and I was too happy to have Pu Erh

served by a master..

For our appetizer

we had

Drunken chicken

and then came the steamed Shanghainese dumpling,

and this had a non traditional twist to it..

this was "supposed" to be a minced pork and truffle dumpling

( it tasted pretty normal though..)

taken with slivers of ginger and vinegar..

after which we had the..

crispy radish pastry

and for dessert, we had the Souffle, 

a typical Shanghainese dessert made from egg white with red bean and banana

fillings.

Happy Tea Tuesday

and

remember to hop over to the Tea Tuesday bloggers for their tea adventures....

steph