Good morning friends,

What a gray, cold day it is today. I’ve been trying to get outside despite the weather, and taking my little English dog on a very English walk (cold and rainy!) Well, at least we have a dry day today!

In my painting and, really, in my living, I’ve been focusing on indoor pursuits. One idea I had recently for a painting was a scene of baking bread– something that, for me, reminds me of time with my son. There is nothing a little boy likes more than getting their hands into a big gooey mess! So when I went to make this piece, it was with my (newly turned 6!) son in mind, and also my grandpa.

My Grandpa Fred was one of 5 boys. For many years, he was ‘the baby’ (until the surprise baby came and was, you guessed it, another boy!) During the late 1930s and 40s his mother ran a small diner, and little Freddie was put to work learning to cook. It soon developed into something he loved to do and was very good at. It served him well throughout his life– whether it was making fried chicken for his German friends in post-war Germany (they’d never tasted such heaven) to being the main cook for his own family.

My grandpa is the one who taught me how to make a large Thanksgiving meal, and is the one I call to ask if I have a cooking question.

So, of course….when I was thinking about this piece…little boys in the kitchen was a subject close to my heart!

Of course while painting, I had to get some of my own bread going. There is just nothing like fresh, homemade bread. These loaves came out beautifully. This Christmas I was thrilled to get a real Kitchen Aid Mixer (so now, we’ll have fresh whipped cream on EV.RY.THING) but the punching down and shaping of the loaves was still done by hand. All done with the approval and under the watchful eye of my own baking boy.

In the painting, there are several things I put in that are particular loves of mine (aside from cute little boys who love their mama)– including a nice copper pot on the stove and blue and white china. I love my copper tea pots– I have a few adopted second hand pots that I just just to be pretty, and also a workhorse copper pot I got last Christmas that I use every day, multiple times of day. I plan on using that precious pot for the rest of my life 😉 it’ll be one of my kid’s inheritance one day, haha!

I also gave this baking mama a beautiful collection of blue and white china, I’m sure her best pieces. I have blue and white china in my own special hutch (you can see it in the first photo) and as I was painting at the dining room table this weekend I kept glancing back at my own plates for guidance.

This painting is now happily complete and happily sold as well. I will get prints made up soon too. I’ve already got another painting in the works, and I’m so happy and relieved that my painting dry spell seems to have ended. It’s so hard when the muse just wont show up….but these past several weeks I’ve been hibernating a bit and not letting too much noise in, and I think it’s helped.

I will share more with you soon, but will go for now!~

Take Joy,

H