Breakfast In Bed

In a few days Chris and I will be celebrating our 19 year wedding anniversary.  While we may not be candidates for the world record – which is currently 86 years!  We are glad to have made it this far.   One world record that I think my husband may be second in line for is the most consecutive days of bringing his wife breakfast in bed.  Every morning, since we have lived together, he has delivered me my coffee and a little treat in bed.

There is something about starting your day off feeling special, and getting breakfast in bed just seems to do that.

Marriage is definitely a give and take, and it’s not 50:50.  Depending on the hour of the day it can feel more like 30:70 or 80:20 or 51:49.  There are buttons we can push, and times when our needs seem more important than the greater relationship good.  However, taking time to do something nice for your significant other can help buoy the relationship through the rough patches.

Our Newest Addition To The Family

How about this great picture that Nicole snapped in our backyard using her Nikon D40.  The pitter patter of  little paws can be heard at the Kapan household.  Little Leila Kapan has arrived!   A Labrador/Newfoundland mix, she weighed a healthy 17 pounds when we adopted her from the Helen Woodward Animal Shelter at 3 months old.    Wish us luck as we try to train this bundle of energy over the next year.  

 

Happiness is…

Finding my voice through art again .  Delighting in the little things again.   Finding the song in the silence …..

I’ve Tripped Into A Trend

My wardrobe has progressively shrunk in the last two years because I can’t seem to keep paint off my clothing.  If you run into me lately you will invariably find paint on every article of clothing I am wearing.  While one could see it as a fun game of where’s Waldo of paint sorts, I don’t know if this is exactly the image I want to portray.  To preserve my shrinking wardrobe so I have something decent to wear I have two pairs of Paige “Laurel Canyon” jeans that I keep sequestered in my closet for fear that I will have absolutely nothing to wear in the “real world” when I am not schlepping the kids around in my paint splattered jeans.    I’ve turned into a doppelganger of me and the clothes I choose set forth my day.  Is it a paint splattered run into the market with a hat on my head day? Or am I meeting a teacher, seeing a girlfriend or am simply not stepping foot into my studio day?  Well the wardrobe schizophrenia is over! One has to appreciate my excitement when I was perusing the newest catalog of one of my favorite designers “Free People” and saw they are selling the “Painted Skinny” for $265.00.    It reminds me of the I Love Lucy episode where Lucy wants the designer dress and Ricky and Fred don’t want to pay the designer prices so they trick Ethyl and Lucy into thinking a burlap sack dress with a trash can hat was from the designer.  They traipse through Paris in these get ups. Just like I traipse through Encinitas in mine.   Love it!

Pikachu

My son loves pikachu and he has been asking me to paint something special for his room so here is a sketch of the painting I am starting for him.   I am using a deep edged canvas that measures 3 feet high by 4 feet wide.   I put his name in graffiti font in the back and can’t wait to use some bright fun colors.

New White Wash Frame

Here are some images of a custom white washed frame Dotty and I created for a client.   We applied many layers and a distressing technique.   Then applied a nice varnish and hardware.  The signed print is called “Looking Back” and can be found at our web store www.artdivas.net.  or at Leaping Lotus Gift Store, Solana Beach, California  ~ Tamara

Off The Beaten Path

Sometimes the best memories aren’t planned. The hair isn’t perfectly brushed.  There might be a smudge of chocolate on the corner of one’s mouth from a yummy ice cream.  Maybe the outfit doesn’t match.  That is what makes it so perfect

Happy Times in Happy Valley

"Hole In The Wall"

After our weekend in San Francisco we drove to LaFayette, California and stayed with close friends.  Julie is one of my closest friends and when we get together it is like no time has passed.

Coyote At Mount Diablo State Park photo by N. Kapan

Heart For Peace carving at Mount Diablo State Park, California

We took the kids to Rock City in at Mt. Diablo State Park where we saw a lot of wildlife there.

Racoon at Mount Diablo State Park, California by N. Kapan

There were also some great rock forms.  Hence, the “Rock City” name.

For the past few years I have been photojournaling various forms of graffiti.  Here I found some great carvings in the rock.

As humans we just can’t keep our hands off the environment.  No matter where I hike, or travel there is always some human “stamp”.    I am still compiling my photos but will attach a heart for peace photo that I took as well as one of the many holes in the walls there.

Road Trips Rock

Just returned from a nine day road trip with my family.  First, we went to San Francisco to visit My brother Scott and his darling wife Kirsten for the weekend.   Nothing says summer like a trip to San Fran.  Like my brother says, the coldest winter is the summer he spent in San Francisco.   First, stop – empanadas in Bernal Heights.  Then an incredible hike to the top of Bernal Heights where we had amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge.   Along the way I couldn’t help taking photos of the great doors with their hardware.  I only took a few because the kids wanted to get to the park.    I think I want to go back and just photograph the “Doors of San Francisco”.   I wonder what is behind them…..

I opted to rent a renovated painted lady (Victorian Home) nearby instead of a hotel room.   The cost was comparable, but the benefits were greater.  We loved sleeping in a slice of history with old oak floors and curved glass windows.  The home had lots of charm ~ and new appliances.  We had a great dinner at Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack where I loved the retro vinyl upholstery. Great thrift store finds at Buffalo Exchange and Wasteland in Haight Ashbury where I got a fabulous Nanette Lapore coat!  Mom bought some paints she needed across the street,  and then off we went to Chinatown for some Dim Sum.