Aloha mai kākou,
This morning has been refreshing with both a humble harvest of calamansi fruit from the garden and the ceremonies of the inauguration of United States President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., and Vice President Kamala Harris. Our family watched the event on live television in Hawai’i. Please pardon the juxtaposition.
~ Rebekah
Hello studio fans,
No resolutions, no affirmations. This first post of the new year is more like a personal inventory—a pause to take stock of my likes and what brings me joy, as well as my wishes.
Just looking around, I see I like flowers and fashioning lei. I like to garden and grow food. Cook food, bake fruit pies. Play music, sing. I like to play with my dog; I know he understands English, he’s just not able to speak it. I like to create, as in making art, I like to write and make photos.
I enjoy visiting with our two granddaughters and hope I can be a good example for them.
I enjoy connecting with friends and relatives, remotely at this time. I look forward to a time when I can see them in person. How will we have changed?
And as for my wishes, but no promises, I wish to be kind. a good listener, an understanding mate, lighter all around.
Stringing kou flowers into a lei
Sweet potato stems peeled and prepped for cooking. Tasty!
Mountain apple pie
At the Yamaha
JJ the family dog
My most recent oil sketch with red and green complements
Our moʻopuna
Happy New Year!
All the best,
Rebekah
As one last hurrah to close out 2020 and welcome the new year 2021, I present “Painting One Mini Series 2020 A.D.” Two faithful students, Robin and Kristi, came for 10 continuous Wednesdays to my Painting I class in Kaaawa, and I painted the tabletop sets with them. The most recent session was on December 23.
Actually, I would call my work “oil sketches,” as I did them with a palette knife and relatively quickly.
Yellow and black pigment make green
Blue-green and red-orange complements
Yellow/violet color complements
Blue/orange color complements
Red/green complements sing for the holidays
As the unusual year comes to a close, I’m all ready to toast in 2021 that hopefully can be more harmonious. How about you?
~Rebekah
It’s Christmas Eve at the studio, and there are presents under the tree. DH asked me, when shall we open them? I can tell he’s excited, but we haven’t hung up our stockings yet, and it’s still daylight in the Islands. He asks, maybe one?
Some families attend Christmas Eve midnight service and open gifts after they return home from church.
Some folks wait until Christmas morning, you know, to see what Santa Claus brought. Remember to leave him a treat.
Our granddaughters are allowed to open one each at 5:30 on Christmas morning, and then they have to wait until the rest of the family gets up to open the rest.
When I was a kid, my father would count the presents under the tree addressed to him and open one a day starting that many days before Christmas Day. So, if there were five, he would start opening on December 21. Clever guy, my dad. Who’s the kid, now?
Whenever you open your presents, remember that a gift isn’t a gift until it is received. Receive with gladness and acknowledge the reason for the season.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! Or, as we say in Hawaiian, Mele Kalikimaka! May all your dreams come true.
~ Rebekah
Christmastime 2020 seems odd to me. I can’t articulate my feelings well, except to note that Kilauea volcano started to erupt at Halemaumau last night. The video footage I saw was beautiful.
The conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, the “Christmas star” seen over the manger 2020 years ago, is happening again.
We’re exchanging gifts of home-baked cookies with neighbors and friends, but with face masks on and from a distance because of the pandemic; no hugging.
I am making a pecan pie for my two painting students who are bringing lunch on the 23rd. It’s the final class of Painting I, and coincidentally the studio setup is comprised of the complements red and green Christmas colors.
Chef Logan, who usually delivers our mid-day meal, is taking a break, only to make it up by providing an intimate Dinner for Two for my darling husband and me on Christmas Day. We don’t have to cook!
All this seems odd to me because all I really planned to share was the reindeer Rudolf that my father-in-law—whose father’s name also was Rudolph—made to wish us a Merry Christmas.
Chef’s creation
Christmas colors
Rudolph~ Rebekah
Staying home because I really don’t want to get sick with the COVID virus, I’ve had to put a moratorium on my online shopping for Christmas gifts. It’s almost too late, but I rationalize that I am not spending money on gasoline for the car or eating out at restaurants.
One room here has been designated “Santa’s Workshop” with gift wrapping and mailing supplies and an area for incoming “no peeking” packages. Quite a few for a big family.
Yesterday our neighbor Eddie presented us with a bag of carambola starfruit—as a kid we called them five fingers. I got up early this morning to process into tangy pickles after a Better Homes and Gardens recipe. I see that I’m out of whole cinnamon sticks, so that means I’ll be sending our designated shopper (DH) out to get some.
Carambola from Eddie
When sliced crosswise, you can see why they are called starfruit
A wonderful gift is one that you make yourself. Merry Christmas! Love,
Rebekah
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