"Nana's Christmas Table - Color" 6 x 9 mixed

We spent a lovely Christmas afternoon at my mother-in-law's home.  Here is my drawing of Nana's Christmas table with color added.  She has a Dickens Christmas village on the bay window sill, windows lit.  When our daughter was little, she and Nana would set the houses up, decide on the arrangement and the careful placement of all the characters. The sun pours in through Nana's curtains across the table.  It was a fun day, great food, thoughtful gifts.  Thank you for looking.  This is my 88th daily drawing, technically, my 85th reworked with marker, color, and colored pencil.   I like thinking about how to create the illusion of the backlit table.  Thank you for looking, and for your thoughtful comments.  

"City Sidewalks" watercolor and ink 10 x 9

It's that time of year. Since I was a little girl, walking about Boston's Downtown Crossing area meant seeing the wonderful glowing stars lit and suspended above the streets.  The stars have stayed the same for decades.  I assume these are not the same nets-with-lights-in-glorious-star-shapes that hung there when I was a little girl, but they are the same design so someone else understands their icon status, too.  The design is so appealing, and nostalgic for me, while contemporary, too.  This month's theme for Girls Just Wanna Paint  is "celebration".  When I see these lights, I don't think of retail.  I see history, and wonder, and the joy of the season, and beauty, pageantry, excitement.  That's a celebration for me, every year.

Thanks for looking.

"Where the Heart Is" watercolor and ink 5 x 7

The Spanish department at our school coordinates voluntary gift-giving program within the faculty.  We each choose a name for whom we are their secret angelito, give 4 or 5 small thoughtful gifts during December, and a larger gift to be unwrapped the day before our vacation begins.  I was thrilled to pick the name of a friend of mine on the faculty.  I had been to her family's lake cottage a couple of years back and decided to do a small watercolor of the cottage as her bigger gift. Gift-giving success! She loved it.  
As I told my friend, I don't always remember the gifts I have received over the years, but I remember the ones I have given well. 
Joyful Christmas and joyful holidays to all.    

Thanks for looking.

"Salt, Sea, Sun" 6 x 6 oil

This month's Girls Just Wanna Paint challenge was "ritual".  Usually, when I hear the challenge, a thought jumps into my head... not this time.  I mulled over daily rituals, the difference between "ritual" and "routine". Then I thought about annual rituals, seasonal, occasional.  We read "Night Before Christmas" every Christmas Eve and each open one gift, a ritual my family has carried over from my home as a child.  Yes, we use the Arthur Rackham illustrated version of the poem. His illustrations are beautifully eerie and convey the magic of that night.

Back to ritual...  My conclusion is that there is something spiritual, or centering, grounding, about ritual vs routine.  One dictionary definition is "a ceremonial act or a series of such acts".  I love to rise earlier than my family on weekends, sit with coffee and my book on the porch - that's a ritual.  I feed the kittens, and provide fresh water each day - more of a routine. The idea of spirituality and centering brought to mind my annual summer sojourn to the rocky coast of Monhegan, where I sit on the rocks, surrounded by sea, salt, and the sun, painting what I hear, taste, smell, and see and even touch.  It is a ceremony, a ritual, in which I joyfully participate. 

   Here are the other GJWP challenge entries.  Check out these interesting and varied takes on "ritual".  

As always, thanks for looking.  Love to read your comments.