13/52

It’s week 13 and it is finally nice-ish and warm outside! we have enjoyed a family weekend and some mother’s day celebrations, spending lots of time outside and making the most of the sunshine. 

Olivia: She knows what food she likes and dislikes, and we now know that too! it took us a while to understand while she was not eating properly at times and devouring her dinner some other times. She has acquired her own taste for certain foods; her favourites are still walnuts and pistachios, blueberries, sweetcorn and raw carrots, and we can’t really complain about that! And after this weekend, we can happily add ice cream cones to the list.

A list // March

I am…
making: a painting a month.
cooking:  lots of cereals.
drinking: decaf tea and coffee. And it’s going to be like this for a while.
reading: La banda Sacco(Camilleri).
wanting: to move to Rome.
looking: for signs of spring.
playing: with stickers’ books all day long.
wasting: time at work.
sowing: creative seeds.
wishing: for a slower paced life.
enjoying: planning for our move.
waiting: for the clock to change.
liking:  my effort for sticking to my plans.
wondering: how things will be when baby #2 will be out.
loving: the me time during my lunch breaks (still!).
 hoping: that everything will fall into place.
marvelling: at my growing belly.
needing: a new passport.
smelling: the spring air.
wearing: flat shoes.
following: my fellow expecting mamas (@krugthethinker, @sagerchatter and @peoepea) on Instagram.
noticing: the days are getting longer.
knowing: we will be a family of four.
thinking: it will all be ok.
bookmarking: lots of botanical painting workshops.
opening: the windows to get the warmer air in.
giggling: when Olivia sings to herself.

feeling: a bit clumsy and overweight 🙂

12/52 + 23/40

It’s week 12 and posting a bit later than usual! I got the spring bug this week, and felt a bit lazy with regard to basically everything, but laying on the couch and playing games on my phone.

Olivia: She surely is a 2-year-old toddler in full swing! she has learnt how to push the right buttons to get what she wants, but when she is in a good mood she is just the best kid a parent could ask for! we have been enjoying playing with sticker’s books, singing out loud and reading stories (she does that by herself at bed time!). And started to ask, especially me, to remain alone in the room while playing, apparently I distract her too much!

Baby boy: It’s 23 weeks, weighting just over 1/2 kilo and measuring more than 28cm…apparently the size of a large mango! Not sure I follow babycenter’s fruits comparisons, but that is what it says.

Camellia sinensis

 

Back in November last year I got a request from a potential customer, and tea shop owner, to draw an outline of the Camellia sinensis, whose leaves and flowers are used to make tea. I wasn’t quick enough to respond to the email and didn’t get the job, but had at go at it anyway. The outline is based on an old illustration by Franz Eugen Köhler.

Spring in a jar

March’s project has been all about bulbs and spring flowers. I love looking into gardens and parks, and roadside edges to spot little green leaves sprouting through the ground and colourful flowers peeping through. This time of the year is full of surprises if you know where to look and what to look for. I have been indecisive for a few days on how I would create a spring garden, and then it finally hit me. I have fallen in love with Jeninne Zlatkis’s terrarium, and tried to recreate something similar.
Of course the results are not as pleasing as her illustration (nowhere near!), and I’m still thinking this painting is missing something, but so far I have not been able to figure it out. Maybe is the colour scheme or that red-ish frame (which I’m thinking of taking out). What do you think? Suggestions are very much welcome!