years ago i met a very talented artist on facebook. his name is giovanni damiano presenza. not only a talented artist but he studied fine arts at York University and Cambrian College. he also studied brain and cognitive sciences at Laurentian University - go figure?!? his work is what i would call "gothique" and his portraits of his actual friends are to die for, but he also does some joyous stuff and we recently were able to come by some of his paintings.
jambaloney, as you all know, loves fish. every. single. kind. of. fish. known. to. man! when i saw this painting of Gio's angel fish - i knew i had to get it for jambaloney. look at how gorgeous this is!
and then i looked around at some of his other paintings and saw this little pollinator. i asked Gio if he could paint the little bee on a clover. he said no problem. i love bees!
we are sooo very pleased with our "splurge". we often only get practical and utilitarian things - but these paintings are a late 16th anniversary gift to each other. remember - we didn't even remember our anniversary on Jan 19 until our sister and bro reminded us!!! bahahahah!
these paintings go into our new addition once it's built....for now, they will live in our living room and give us a sense of joy every time we see them. thank you so much Gio.
if anyone is interested in seeing more of his work, just type his name in google and you will get his art site and his facebook page. just no one touch the seahorses painting - that one is next on my list!
continuing on, what is leftover mashed potatoes with a ton of butter and mashed carrot and turnip with a ton of butter and nova scotian maple syrup good for? hash people....wonderful, delicious hash!
with pickled beets that we made ourselves that still have bite and kick even though they are a year old!
it was such a nice day that we took our exercise mats out on the deck. hopefully we'll be doing our stretches on the mats or the bare ground (my preference) soon. we can't right now because the whole yard is mud!
and this is my second surprise that came in the mail yesterday.
this is a vanity purchase for sure. but ya know what? sometimes you treat yourself. and for us - treating ourselves to getting the dishwasher back on the porch in the next week or so is just that - a treat! these little cup thingies sway in the wind and attract all kinds of birds, pollinators, etc.
when it rains they will tinkle and sway and birds and pollinators and all kinds of little bugs can bathe or get a drink of water. i just like looking out the window and seeing such vibrant colour.
of course the Rat (i mean Edgar) had to participate in the installation. and yes, that is an old coffee table that hasn't yet completely fallen apart that we use to feed birds on. needless to say, with the Rat (i mean Edgar) sitting on the table no birds were seen.
last up - here's just the thing to keep you going until supper - it's a salad made with sorrel, a few dandelion greens, green onions, mint and parsley all from our greenhouse - woohoo! with oranges and a carrot-ginger dressing that is to die for!
an excellent afternoon snack! we are hoping you are having an excellent spring day too!
Those are lovely paintings Kymber. Well worth the splurge.
ReplyDeletethanks TB...the pictures just don't do them justice. they are vibrant and so visually-pleasing - they make us feel really good! xox
Deletei never thanked u properly for the paintings u purchased. it's an honor to know they are given a special place in ur home surrounded by the beauty u create and especially those bright cups!
Deletelove em!
thanx again and cheers to u and ur family.
Kymber, you've got the soul of an artist I think. All I ever buy is guns and ammo! I liked your presents to yourselves. Things like that you keep forever.
ReplyDeleteHarry - we are so used to just buying practical things...except every now and then jambaloney buys me some dill or some new wellies (rubber boots) and i realized it was high time to buy something beautiful for ourselves and i really like this artist. we will definitely be keeping these paintings forever! xoxo
DeleteI've never understood how people can buy art with no story behind it. I could look at a rack of original Picassos in a store and I would rather buy the two painting above because I knew the artist and his background.
ReplyDeleteWhen we moved to this house, we decided that we were only going to hang our own artwork or those of people we have met in person on our walls. It was the right choice.
Ed - you and me both. i have seen some serious originals by the greats at the ottawa museum of art - beautfiul? i guess so. do i want them hanging in my house? that would be a no. and you have no need of artwork in your house - all of the beautiful things you make and restore - that's art to me. xoxo
DeleteOooh, carrot ginger dressing! MUST have that recipe! I love those little cup thingys and the art. It's so important to be surrounded by beautiful things!
ReplyDeleteit is so important to have beautiful things Susan - and those little cups have me grinning all day for the past 2 days - bahahahah! and my paintings! i just love them!
Deletehere is the ginger/carrot recipe - it's heavy on the ginger so you can reduce it if you want but i love the heavy flavour of the ginger. and as i wing recipes, you'll have to adjust the amounts to your own tastes.
one medium carrot cut in chunks
3 tblspns of fresh crushed ginger
2 tblspns of chopped onion
3 tblspns of rice wine vinegar
2 tblspns soya sauce
1 tblspn of sesame oil
1 tblspn of fish sauce
sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
3-4 tblspns of fresh squeezed lime juice
3-4 tblspns of EVOO
a tiny splash of apple cider vinegar (with the mother)
put the carrots, onion, and ginger in a food processor and chop up until finely chopped. then add in all of the liquid ingredients. puree until almost smooth.
if you want a creamy version - add a dollop of mayonnaise, sour cream or yoghurt.
xoxo
Hi Kymber! :)) I started a comment last night then got side-tracked and forgot if I posted it or not...I guess I didn't! :) My mind wanders so lol...I wanted to say that I LOVE the paintings, they are so colourful and beautiful and I think it's so important to have art in your life - art that you love. Do you paint? You should try your hand at it if you don't! I started really painting a few years ago and I'm very pleased at what I've put out! In fact, I need to get back to the watercolours soon because I really miss it.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE those cup thingies! They are so nice, it's so important at this time of year to be able to look out the window and see more than just brown, grey and dirty white!! :) Beautiful and I love what they are used for!
The hash looks delish! :))
Rain - i have seen your paintings on your blog and i think you should start an etsy page - you could sell some of your artwork - you are very, very talented. and i agree, you need to surround yourself with art that YOU love - not someone else telling you what "art" is. i love our paintings and i am going back for the seahorses that he painted - so beautiful!
Deleteas for me painting - i kill jamie all the time with drawing things like a bunny out of the letter B. i'll do one and take a pic for you - you'll die laughing! i couldn't draw/paint/make art for the life of me - but i do appreciate others that do. and i encourage you to keep up with your painting.
and you totally got what the cup things are for - it's to see some beautiful colour when everything is brown and grey! and yes - i have already seen some birds in them, checking them out, drinking frost water, and some little flies and bees too! i love them!
i think only canadians know what a true and proper hash is. our secret eh? xoxo
Thanks so much Kymber. I think that seahorses are beautiful. Actually Alex asked me to paint some seadragons for him too. I have a whole list of fun ideas! :) Lol...are you sure you're not good at painting? A bunny out of a B sounds cute! :)
DeleteI can't wait to get my bee and butterfly garden going. I thought I had the garden all planned out, but now that I'm seeing some lawn, I'm changing my mind all over the place. I have lots of plans!!!
Proper hash is a secret recipe. Though I wouldn't withstand torture, I would be resistant to giving it up! :)
PS: I found and downloaded Nourishing Traditions, now I have to find time to read it! :)
DeleteLOL....love your art and the cup thingies. I read through this 3 times trying to see what the thingies are called? I would love some of those among my mooning Gnomes. Hugs, Tango
ReplyDeleteTango - i had to look them up in the veseys magazine because i didn't know what they were called - bahahah! they are called "poppy sway stakes" and you can get them here:
Deletehttps://veseys.com/ca/en/store/tools/gardenart/poppyswaystakes
they're pretty expensive but i have wanted them for years! xoxo
Wow...thanks. I will check it out.
DeleteSweet Kymber,
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures!!! They make great gifts for your Anniversary. I can see these pictures hanging in your new addition. Having a working dishwasher is a gift that keeps on giving.......we have one in this new house but we need to work out the well water situation because we have a white film on every dish, pot, and pan(to much salt) in the water.
Love your Poppy Sway Stakes.....you can have Poppies year round Bahahahahahahaha!!!!
Love and hugs to you both,
Sandy