Hey there
Well this colored pencil session was a real treat.  We decided to try out a new restaurant in town.  We were dubious and a little nervous but in the end delighted.  Amarelo is a tapas/ specialty coffee bar.  Their barista won three years in a row in Guayaquill competitions and so I just couldn't leave until I tried a couple of them.  There was the mint latte on the top of these pictures and then there was the raspberry latte, with real raspberry, YUM.  Let's just say that they are desert coffee's and works of art, almost too pretty to drink.  I said almost.  Of course that meant that we had to eat there also and the cesar salad was amazing (something I have never had correct in Ecuador, ever!) and I had a terrific spanish omlette with grilled peppers also , Yum!.  
So that brings us to the bear.  He is a bloated fellow who has just enjoy one of the pleasure of life, a great meal and now he is looking for another..... a good glass of wine.... or whatever.  Nuff said.  It was just fun to do this drawing especially after an inspired meal.  
So Yeah, this was really mostly about the food and coffee but isn't that what it is like sometimes?
Talk with you all later
Robin

Hi there
It was a sunny day in Banos and I decided it was a good day not to make lunch at home and also have coffee out.  So back I trundled to the Healthy Garden Cookery.  Had lunch with my son and we checked out some of the different nacho plates and decide the vegetarian chili nachos was a favorite. The vegetarian meat was made from a combination of spices and quinoa, it was actually very good. The hot n' spicy would have been good also for the heat but it had hot dogs on it and welllll, that says it all.  

The restaurant was a bit busy, my son needed to go back to schooling and I still had work to do and so I swallowed my latte quickly and went to the park to finish the drawing.  

As I was sitting in our lovely park, an elderly fellow came over and sat on a bench opposite of me and chatted, he just wanted a little visit and talk about why he loves his city.  He was in his Sunday best complete in suit and hat and comfortable as a cucumber, and me in my shorts and t-shirt sweating (I guess that is the Canadian in me).  It was very darling and I loved his pride. He invited me to chat again if we were to meet in the park again and with a tip of his hat he was gone.

 Needless to say, not thinking I sat in the sun and got a bit too much but still enjoy the warmth of both creating in the sun and people watching when my eyes felt like it.  Ahh the gentle sunny days in Banos!

Hello folks:
This was drawn from coffee time when I was in the restaurant Chez Robin.  Yup I was too lazy to go out for coffee and had it in the studio.  Today it is called Chez Robin as I added french vanilla to my drip coffee, no where near as good as a Latte but it helps me to pretend.  

My studio is much like a wee tower that over looks our neighborhood and also down the valley to see the gateway to the Amazon.  Even with the amazing view I can still feel my age and need to wear my reading glasses more and more and start to feel resentful for having to wear them especially in that wonder hour of coffee deprevation in the morning.  

I am no longer a smoker and haven't been for well over 20 years but you still get the same feelings as in this picture at least I used to, much like "Maxine".  I just hope that I don 't look like this, I would scare even myself.

This was actually came from a set of pet drawings that I had done also about 20 years ago. Rob found them a little while ago and I thought it would be fun to see how they would play out after all this time. Rob and I were early in our relationship and were trying to think of ways to create money through art.  This idea came up after a bottle of wine brainstorming and lots of laughing.  

Yeah it is a little silly drawing but from my experience if when you can't see in the morning and you require that first coffee and your are wandering around in a caffeine depressed state you don't always see where your think your slippers are.  This was not a slur against puppies or small dogs but the morning and lack of senses in the morning before coffee.  I am actually greatly sympathizing with the puppies.

Please don't take offense to the assumed puppy abuse it is totally fiction.
Talk with you later 
Robin

Hello here is an interesting blog.  This is an example of playing with the Peerless water color paints as an under painting and the Kor I Noor colored pencils over top.  This painting is really more of an exercise to see what these two products can do together.  The effects are interesting and very flexible, the colors are vivid and dynamic. This is going to take me a bit of time to deal with learning to paint with these paints as I will have to MAKE my own water color paper.  Yup believe it or not I am having a hard time finding good and heavier than 100 lb paper here in Ecuador.  This is causing me a bit of delay in my learning.  This paper is what is called "Cartolina" and it is just a heavier drawing paper.  Yes good, really good quality drawing paper is very hard to find also.  I will have to make my own and then I can make sure it is also acid free.  I am thinking that the paper that I am using might not be and that is very sad for me but I have scanned and recorded it so I have not lost the designs, they are cyber recorded.  I have found several recipes to make water color paper based with wood fiber but as wood fiber is naturally acidic you MUST but in ant-acid in it to stabilize the paper.  
I was in this restaurant and the owner is trying to create vegitarian foods for lunches, they are quite good, especially the vegitarian chili nachos and of course the Capichino is nice also.  This restaurant is in Banos and is called the Healthy Garden Cookery.  He is really trying to put a good foot forward and create unique and interesting foods, this restaurant is attached to the Mercado in Banos and is really easy to find.  He was really proud of his new restaurant and really wanted to have a shot of his new restaurant.  So the last photo is of him, his restaurant and a great big smile.

Hi All,
I am involved with several online classes and each have goals to do but this week I did some other things that maybe were more pertinent.  This has been a tough week for me.  
My daughter broke her collar bone, she is in Canada and we are in Ecuador and that felt really bad because of the distance.  But I have to tell myself that if we were in Canada distance still would be a factor. Yes, this was painful and difficult for her to go through and also for us, my heart broke and cried right with her.  It was soo bad for all of us..... Of course to deal with it as best I could I went into problem solving mode to try and make the journey to recovery less difficult for her but I maybe should have been softer with her and gentled her more but......   

Then I found out my Dad was just diagnosed with stomach cancer in the primary stages and both of my grandparents died of that also, and where else in my lineage.  So that set me on fire a bit as you can imagine.  My dad is well in his 80's and is in amazing health, he is a swimmer and a biker and is very active and eats well, so it came as a bit of a surprise.  He has had a health scare though that avalanched.  It originally came in the form of a gallbladder problem.  The gall bladder caused a prostate problem which blocked the urethra caused a kidney and bladder problem which caused blood chemical problem which caused a heart problem, no kidding,  I just hope I am recalling this incident accurately, I may stand corrected on a few details.  Eventually the MD's cleared it all up. This is the path that health can take.  The present stomach issues may be something else all together or could be related to gall bladder.  So my thinking is this, my sister also had had gallbladder issues and my dad soooo.

Gall bladder is the holding station from  the liver to stomach for bile.  We use bile to help us break down fats, things like to extract the fatty vitamins, like vitamin A,D, and E.  If this goes array then a number of things can happen and end result for gall bladder is the removal of it.  An option which I am not for but whatever.  What is interesting is that gall bladder in Chinese and other medicines is about anger, frustration and also motivation and inspiration and also passion.  

So this is the point where my new awareness changed my goals from art oriented to health for this week, I looked at the signs and made a decision.  Especially when anger and motivation and inspiration are things that I might be able to influence for the better.  Sooooo, My husband and I did a gall bladder cleanse.  Look on the internet about that, look up gall bladder cleanse/Epsom salts.  It is not really a hard cleanse to do but it has amazing results if you do it exactly as it says to the letter, very important!

 What was amazing for me was the results.  I expelled huge numbers of green gall bile bits for the entire next day following.  Some of the symptoms of gall issues are pain in shoulders usually right side more, low back again right side, migraines etc. take a look for more if you are interested. I am almost pain free right now and I feel different….. calmer and focused, aware…..and I am still assessing for more…. 

We went for a hike the next day after what seemed like all was calm and passed and I was shocked how fragile and sweaty I was, I needed to rest frequently, I was wayyy weaker, and I was pouring out sweat.  This is from a hike that I am very used to.  I also was very emotional and weepy all along the hike.  My Husband was also having the same reactions.  We were chatting and discussing what we were going through and without looking at the Chinese medicine information, had come to the conclusion of problems with motivation and inspiration and feeling defeated were what we were feeling we were going through especially from our past.  This then came down to something big and electric, passion for life, for art, for living. Then when we got home we confirmed it on the internet and were kind of shocked to see it confirm what we were going through.

Some would say that this experience was bad thing but I feel so much better now.  I feel like I released so much.  The cleanse people suggested that this cleanse should be done again every couple of weeks until there are no more gall bits released, so I have to say that this is something that I will commit to.  I prefer this to symptoms and surgery.  I would like anything related to gall issues release and moving freely.  I choose to do whatever is in my power to become a more inspired, motivated and joyful and passionate person.  My actions in regards to my health and my art and art business are part of the change, they are interconnected for me.

I thought when the class was done last week that the most important thing to do was something art related and that I would fail by not completing an art task that was public and bold (that was the class assignment) but I have to say that in my case taking care of my body and its physical and emotional symptoms are perhaps a good place to focus while I do those other goals as well.  Noticing how my emotional is affecting my physical and also my success and thinking is something I am reminded to embrace.  If cleaning my gall bladder will help my motivation and inspiration and passion that is one closet I am very happy to clean out, body mind and soul.


Be informed, responsible and take action for your own health, and if you are lucky and you feel that you have a supportive and informed MD, Naturopath or whom ever, work with them to make these changes.  
Robin

Hey there
At a coffee shop again, and creating another card.  This one is colored with the Kor I Noor Colored pencils and that background in black felt pen.  In on of the other cafes there was this tiny little salamander and I decided to let it be the inspiration for a drawing.  This little creature was maybe only 2-3 inches long at the most.  It just goes to show you that wild life is adaptable to human worlds also if you just take a look.  
Sorry this is such a short blog but I just finished doing a gallbladder cleanse and it was amazing but truly exhausting.  I am looking forward to doing it soon again to really help my liver function better.  I recommend doing this but be prepared for taking it easy and releasing lots of yucky stuff, that shouldn't be in your body anyway.
Talk to you all later, eat consciously and take care of your body.
Robin