Artemis, Liverpool and Conwy, Wales!

So my amazing cancer-beating friend Artemis booked a last minute adventure to England, and we had a fabulous time!  She took the reigns on planning, booking and deciding what we were going to see and I skipped along for the ride!

We spent her first week here exploring the local area - I took her to Ely, La Hogue, London and she also spent the night in London exploring on her own.  

Sunset on our first evening in Liverpool

The second week, we hopped on the train to Liverpool to explore The Beatles Story and the hometown of the Titanic. 

Liverpool Waterfront

Liverpool Waterfront at night

Liverpool is a beautiful mix of old and new, the architecture is blended beautifully and the waterfront is very well planned and the central district is wonderful to explore.  Artemis found us an amazing apartment that was right in the center of it all on the waterfront, which was a great hub to explore from.  We ate amazing food, found beautiful treasures, and learned more about The Beatles than I even thought I wanted to know. 

I particularly loved the section about John Lennon, him being my favorite and all  :)

We also explored the village of Port Sunlight outside of Liverpool, which was a village created by the Lever Soap President to house his workers and their families.  It was beautiful, with expansive gardens and the old houses are still very intact and lived in.  It was super interesting and very chill :) 

In the Port Sunlight Museum

A rad flower that I have never seen before!

The Dell at Port Sunlight

After two nights in Liverpool, we hopped on the train to Llandudno Junction, Wales. 

**Traveler Tip: If you are catching a train out of Liverpool and your itinerary tells you to depart at Liverpool Central Station, IT IS LIES.  You cannot print your tickets at Central Station, you must go to Liverpool Lime Street Station.  It's only a couple blocks away, but we missed our train due to the snafu and the cranky woman at the Central Station counter.  We caught a slightly later train and all worked out fine, but be aware!**

Welsh Coast

Chugging through Wales was beautiful as usual, and we got to follow the coast line for a ways which was fabulous.  When we arrived at the village we were staying in, our super helpful and kind host picked us up from the train station and gave us a quick tour of the walled castle town before taking us to the ridiculously huge and awesome house that Artemis booked for us. 

The epic view from our place in Llandudno Junction

I had no idea where we were going before the trip started, all I knew was that we were going to Snowdonia which I already knew to be epic.  But this town, my god.  The castle is still standing, the walls still surround the town, and the views are unbelievable. 

The view from the King's Tower of Conwy Castle

We spent the whole second day climbing around the castle and exploring the town.  I don't think I've ever said 'unbelievable' more times in a day.  The views from the tops of the castle towers were seriously incredible.  It was a tear-jerker moment for me. 

I love Wales.  So hard.  Everyone calls you 'love', pronounced 'lowv' and I love it.  It is so beautiful, the food is amazing, everyone is so lovey and lovely, and I'm pretty sure Wales and Scotland are two places that I could spend my golden years very happily.

The beginning of the journey of the blue boots!

It was a quick trip but so wonderful! Thank you Artemis, for everything, and for making the journey! <3

Now I am a month out from the Lakenheath Holiday Bazaar, so the crack down in the studio is in full force!

There will be beautiful silk ornaments, tiny paintings, prints, ponchos, skirts, scarves, pillows and more! I can't wait to see your lovely faces there!

With love,

Emily :)

Loch Ness and the Scottish Highlands!

So this last weekend my two best lady friends and I hopped on a Sleeper Train and headed up to the Scottish Highlands.  The sleeping arrangements were smaller than anything I had ever slept in before (aside from possibly a card table fort from my childhood), and sleeping was nearly impossible due to the constant squeaking and rattling of the train car connections and the noises coming from whoever decided that it would be easier to bang in the bathroom right next door than in their beds. (SIYUCK!) Yes, that's how small they were. 

In the morn when it was time for us to switch trains, we zombie walked to the next platform and then head bobbed our way through the next leg of the journey.

Our kick ass guide Dave picked us up at the train station in Inverness.  Dave, as you may remember from our Snowdonia trip, is a magical, all-knowing sort of fellow.  As usual, he is skipping all jolly through the hills, naming trees and plants and telling us their purposes and which ones will make a tasty salad.  Adventure loving badass, he is.

Loch Ness!

We went straight to Loch Ness, then to a castle, then to another castle.  I don't remember much from the first castle because I was starving to death and very focused on my tasty homemade soup and bread.

That is wool, washed up around rocks.  Just so you have an idea of the sheep population lol.

The second castle was rad, and apparently has been in James Bond or something. The scene was epic.

 

We stayed in a lovely place on the sea with an amazing cook and a super cheap bar. It was fabulous.  

Isle of Skye

Isle of Skye. There is a stormy grey sky and golden field painting in my near future.

The second day we headed to the Isle of Skye to visit the only scotch whiskey distillery on the island.  

Talisker Distillery

The scotch was not my taste, but their packaging was super fantastic :)

The second half of the day was kayaking time.  We got all squeezed into our wetsuits and gear, picked our boats and headed out. We took off from the other side of the castle we were the day before. It was lovely to see it from the other side as well!

The first afternoon was everyone getting the feel of their boats and whatnot and the wind was at our backs so it was a lovely day.  And the sun was shining!  You never know what the weather is going to do in these parts, so it was extra magical.

The next day was a full day of sea kayaking and potential wildlife sightings galore! Rain had been predicted from 11am on, and we were on the water by 9 I believe so we were enjoying the sun and warmth as much as possible.  About 3 hours in, we headed toward a small rock island to eat lunch and stretch.  We we getting closer to the island and we started noticing a couple seals popping their heads through the surface.  By the time we reached the island, we were surrounded by seals on all sides, floating quietly with just their adorable puppy heads above water.  I was really hoping one would hop up on my boat for a cuddle, but alas. 

Once we were sitting on the rock eating our sammiches it began to rain.  Not a harsh, windy rain, but enough to get us wet pretty quickly.  Once we were back in our boats and out on the water it started to ease up, or at least it felt like it did. 

About half of us paddled far ahead of the others on an undeclared quest for silence.  When each of us had reached the very edge of viewing range of our guide, we would stop paddling and began to drift around in the still water, leaned back, boats pointed in various directions.  The silence was beautiful.  The calmness seeped into my soul and the cool mist into my skin.  Looking across the sea was emotional even.  The smoothness in the gradients of blues and greys from the sky, over the mountains, down to the water and along the glass surface to my boat was itself healing to behold.  There was not a noise apart from the calling of birds and the breath of the earth.

Once the rest of the group caught up to where we were, our guide led us to another seal colony that surrounded us on all sides again, silently investigating us.

 

Another thing that was amazing about this trip was the two incredible women that I was with.  Being able to absorb each others' beautiful energy and joy all weekend was a privilege.  I think we all travel with certain needs or intentions for that time away from the normal routine, whether it be consciously or not.  We were all getting whatever it was that we were needing that weekend, and it could be felt most definitely.  Communing with nature on that level will always do that for the soul, I believe :) I'm sure the super moon kicking ass over us on the shore was intensifying the awesomeness as well. 


Our 10 hour drive home took us through some ridiculously beautiful landscapes, including Glencoe.  I seriously wanted to frolic so hard through these hills.

Yet another epic and successful adventure, solidifying Scotland as one of my top favorite countries. I don't think I would ever get enough of this place.

With endless gratitude,

Emily

So Many New Prints!

Holy shit its been awhile since I posted! It has been a crazy beautiful summer, busy with lots of new pieces and travels!

We spent 4th of July weekend in Naples with my husband's brother and a couple close friends, which was fabulously lazy and relaxing.  I consumed enough food, wine and gelato for three of me, swam in the Mediterranean, and visited the ruins of Pompeii, which was so much bigger than I had envisioned.

I didn't take my camera on this trip, I don't know why... but I should have.  It was amazing.

The rest of July consisted of a lot of painting, sweating and prepping for the holidays up in the studio.

I have also been working to get more smaller pieces in the shop at lower price points!  I've spent the last few days getting all of them shot and uploaded and ready for your walls!  If you click on the picture, the link will take you to the shop where you can see all the delicious options for printing!

London Night - Available in Red as well!

Ready Two - Available in Terra Cotta and Black as well!

Ready - Available in Powder Blue as well!

Urban Nylons - Now available in Mint Green, more colors coming soon to Minted!

Summer - Also available in Turquoise and Raspberry

Gold Leaf

Orange Trees on Woodpanel

Purple Trees on Woodpanel

Teal Trees on Woodpanel

 In two days, I am headed to Scotland for a weekend of kayaking and frolicking on the Isle of Skye with two of my closest females! There will be dolphin hugging, seal cuddling, whiskey tasting and more!  I'm soooo incredibly pumped for this trip, it is going to be ridiculously beautiful and amazing!

The Isle of Skye - photo by Emmanuel Coupe

I can't wait to see the epic creativity that this trip will inspire!

XO

Emily :)

Q & A!

Well hello lovelies!  A couple weeks ago I posted a few questions on the Facebook page for you, some of which were wondering if there were any questions you had for me.  You came back with some very interesting questions, so I thought I would take a stab at answering them!

Here we go! 

Michael asks, "How do your goals align with or deter from military life?"  

Fabulous question!  For those of you who don't already know this, I am married to a delicious military man.  This means that we move around the planet every 2-4 years, with little warning or clue as to where we are going.  Fortunately, this lifestyle suits our personalities very well.  We love to travel obviously, so having a new hub to journey from every so often is fabulous.  Business-wise, it is very beneficial in many ways.  The frequent travel is constantly inspiring my work and life.  The constant turnover in the military population as people move here and move away keeps the market fresh and ever changing.  And every time we get moved, I am able to build my network, resources and breadth of opportunities even more.   

Every location has its varying pros and cons of course.  For example, in England, we are out in the middle of nowhere in farmland and forests.  While it doesn't allow me much opportunity for face time with the local population, it is AMAZING for the scenery and frolicking through nature.  So, to directly answer the question, my current goals align wonderfully with military life.  :) 

Andelyn asks, "Would you ever offer classes or lessons on your techniques?" and "What is your favorite form of art that you create?"

I've thought about this many times! I have done private lessons with adults in the past, and it was fabulous and has led to some lifelong friendships.  I have also done private lessons with children, and that doesn't fit very well for me.  I've thought about teaching adult classes on basic techniques, perhaps in one of those BYOB settings, but the stars haven't aligned yet in that department.  Eventually!

As for my favorite form of art to create, I believe it will always be my first love which is acrylic on canvas.  The possibilities are endless with it, and the gratification and calm that comes with the application of endless layers of paint to create something that is new and a piece of myself is unmatched.  :)

Mei Lin says, "I am very interested in learning about how you make your trees and elephants. Also--how you get the colors to be almost "water-color" design."  

This is a hard one!  I suppose they could both be answered with, 'lots and lots of layering!'   I've had many other people make the observation that my acrylics often take on a 'watercolor feel'.  This isn't something I do intentionally, so I'm not quite sure how to answer!  I use a lot of water when I paint, for smoothing, blending, glazing, layering, etc. so perhaps my pigments become so liquefied that they take on that appearance on their own! :) 

Many have asked about the different places that I've traveled and how they have influenced my art.  This could be a whole blog post on its own!  But here is a list off the top of my head, and the first thing that comes to mind that inspired my work while there. If you click on the country, you can also read the post on that location!

Ireland - GREEN, rolling hills, the Cliffs of Moher (nearly all the 2009 posts are about my summer spent in Ireland, so feel free to browse the archives!)

Grand Cayman Islands - the flora. There are some incredible species of flowers and plants on this island, that I had never seen before. Apparently I didn't blog about this trip for some reason...

Netherlands - Amsterdam is the happiest place on earth. The architecture is beautiful and distinct, the tulip fields are epic, and the Keukenhof Gardens will inspire my work for life.

Canary Islands - this trip involved eating Paella and drinking sangria and laying by the pool, so I don't have much from this one lol.

Belgium - classy, elegant, refined and relaxed was Belgium. I think of glass and wrought iron ceilings, lamp posts and cobblestone.

Scotland - Mmmmm Edinburgh.  My absolute favorite skyline thus far.  The spires, the architecture, the castles.  The kindness of the people and the deliciousness of the accent, the haggis, the scotch, the kilts...it is like a fairyland. Love me some Scotland.

France - the Provencial countryside is unlike any other.  The trees really do look like a Van Gogh painting.

Greece - the white washed buildings and blue domes of Santorini are of course very distinctive. The view over the caldera from above is epic.  The lushness and super smooth stone streets of Corfu are lovely.

Italy - too much to reference here! The sea, the caves, the ruins, the architecture, VENICE, the list goes on.

Croatia - such a peaceful and calmly beautiful place.  The sea blends with the sky. The castles on the cliffs, the islands all up and down the coast. Love.

Norway - the motherland. The Norwegian Fjords are one of the earth's most incredible occurrences.  Words cannot describe the scale and magnitude of these natural formations. Not to mention the landscape beyond the fjords.  The mountains rocket toward the sky, the lush green hills make me want to run and sing and cry, the flora, the harbors, the architecture. It is all amazing.

Denmark - Copenhagen is rad and very chill, and has a lovely botanical garden.  We didn't get to see much there, it was just an overnight!

Germany - Bavariaaaaaaa! The Alps. No explanation necessary.

Spain - Gaudi's work and influence on Barcelona's architecture and public art is very distinctive and beautiful.  Barcelona is huge, there is so much to see and it is beautiful.

Canada - west coast, Vancouver area, so green and beautiful.

Montana - the homeland! Glacier National Park, the Rockies, that is what I grew up in. I'm spoiled and my standards of natural surroundings are very high as a result :)

Washington - living in Seattle was amazing.  I LOVE that city.  The Olympics, the Cascades, the Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands, all within a short drive.  If it didn't cost a billion dollars to live up there, I would love to again :)

Arizona - Phoenix was a dirty hell hole, but head up north to Sedona and serenity will return.  The red rocks, the rivers, the luscious sunrises and sunsets, and the art community is very strong there.

Phew! That was an interesting recap!  Thank you for that question, it was really cool to run through what I have taken from each place inspirationally :)

And finally, I am frequently asked about my silk painting technique and process.  I would have a hard time conveying that in just words, so I'm working on putting together a photo or video tutorial on this very topic in the near future!  I would love input on this from you! What would you like to see specifically? What would you like to know?

I love to hear from you! I love answering your questions and hearing what you think!  Is there anything you would like to ask me?  Fire away!

With gratitude,

Emily :)

The French Riviera to the Dalmatian Coast: A Journey of Indulgence

Danielle arrived with only two days to experience England before we departed for France, so I did what any good friend would do and took her to Harry Potter Studios and filled her belly with the most delicious British treat ever, scones and clotted cream. 

We flew to Marseilles to catch a train to Avignon on a Sunday morning.  Upon arrival in Marseilles, we were very glad that we made the decision to go straight to Avignon.  Not a pretty place to be, Marseilles.  I don't recommend it!

The bridge in Avignon

In Avignon, our ridiculously wonderful and kind hosts (AirBnB) retrieved us from the train station and brought us to our most fabulous apartment - fully equipped with a Nespresso machine! - and familiarized us with the neighborhood.  The city of Avignon is still surrounded by castle walls, keeping it very quiet and small inside.  It is lovely and easy to navigate, and in the market and shopping areas, the calming scent of lavender floods the senses.  It is lavender season of course, and makers all over the city are crafting soaps, oils, pouches and countless other delicious topical treats for your enjoyment.  

Our apartment in Avignon

Calla Lilies in Avignon

On our second day we headed down to the Camargue, a National Park and Wildlife Reserve filled with flamingos, bulls and the notorious white horses, as well as a plethora of other avian beauties.  It was incredibly quiet and peaceful, and we were grateful that we beat mosquito season. If we had had more time in the area, we would have enjoyed the Toro, the local dish of bull.  But we didn't realize that we wouldn't be able to get it once we got back to Avignon. The epitome of local food!

The town outside the Camargue

Spices at the Camargue market

The next day was our wine and olive oil tour, which was super interesting.  Olive oil is made in a very similar way to wine, just with olives instead of grapes.  Different ages and types of olives generate different flavors of olive oil, and it was rad to hear about them in tandem with tasting the oils they produce.  I brought home a bottle of my favorite, as well as some amazingly rich olive lotion that makes my skin very happy.

The Olive Oil Mill

Learning stuff

MMMMMM

After the olive mill we headed to a Provencial winery - the very same winery in this Van Gogh painting, I later realized! We made a large purchase of a large bottle of one of the most delicious wines I've ever tasted. It was really interesting to see the species of trees in the area and how recognizable in the works of Van Gogh they are.  His work makes sense on another level after seeing the distinctive landscape of this area. So beautiful is the South of France!

The Winery

The trees that Van Gogh loved so

Our next stop was Nice, where we were looking forward to a day of pure relaxation laying on the beach. Our train ride there had a couple hiccups and was filled with a thousand sweaty bodies headed to Cannes for the Film Festival, so we were very glad to get off and get settled in our lovely little apartment 2 minutes from the beach.  The next day we awoke early, had some tasty brekkie and espresso and skipped our happy asses to the beach.  

I also ate escargot and steak tartare for the first time, and it was delicious!

If you happen to find yourself on the French Riviera, pay the 15 euro for a private beach. It is worth it, I promise you.  Squishy lounge chairs, giant umbrellas, wooden walkways, immaculate bathrooms, and chairside food/drink service while you read your book allllll dayyyyyyy. Bliss. Bliss indeed.

We definitely wished we had another day to repeat that behavior in Nice, but the next day we were headed to Venice to meet our hubbies before embarking on the cruise on Sunday.  

Venice. What. A. City.  I expected it to be cool, but sweet jesus that is the most beautiful city I have ever laid eyes upon in all my traveldom.  I don't even know where to begin.  Once the guys arrived and we got them settled in the apartment we headed out to start shoveling Italian food in our mouths.  After dinner, some espresso and some gelato, we started moseying across canals and bridges toward St. Mark's Square.  The streets of Venice are very confusing, and very easy to get lost in and end up at dead ends at canals.  Fortunately, every window along the way is filled with beautiful art, supple leather, mounds of gelato, flowing dresses and countless other niceties.  

The skyline that I have been painting for so long, I finally saw in person!

When we finally reached the Square, I was mindblown.  There were mini symphonies every 50 yards, beautiful lights along every ledge, and because it was night time the amount of people in the square was much lower than in the daytime.  The pictures don't do it justice.  

After a couple days of gorging in Venice, we made the epic trek to the port to hop on our cruise ship.  The trek was much longer and sweatier than we were expecting, so by the time we got on board we pretty much ran to the buffet and the bar.  It was much welcomed.  

Our first stop on the itinerary was Bari, Italy.  Bari itself isn't anything to see, but we had booked an excursion to the caves outside the city so we headed out there right after we docked.  The caves were pretty epic and will provide some rad material for some paintings I have brewing! 

Second stop was Katakalon, Greece.  A very small port with one main street of shopping, and buses to Olympia.  We didn't feel like making the journey to Olympia, so we hopped on this beer bike instead.  And then we had an epic meal of giant calamari and souvlaki. It was a good day.

Third was Santorini! This was the stop I had planned this whole trip for, the place I had been dreaming of seeing since I was a lil' tyke.  Oia was the place to see, and I didn't realize that the island was essentially one big cliff and all the towns were built on top of it, making everything pretty hard to find and access. Two boat rides, a bus ride and a seasick husband later, we finally got to the top, to Oia.  I now understand why it is so expensive to fly into Santorini!  Oia is incredibly beautiful, and very distinctive in that beauty.  It is one of the few places that really does look like all those incredible photographs you see when you google.  I took this shot while eating a delicious hunk of feta wrapped in phyllo dough and fried with honey and sesame. It was amazing. The view and the feta.

What I was not expecting were the hundreds of donkeys.  Used to pack tourists up and down the cliffs and the 600 stone steps from Fira to the old port, it made for quite a journey down the mountain.

The next day was Piraeus, which is local to Athens.  I stayed in bed, while Danielle and the hubbies trekked on.  I got up and had a nice quiet lunch and then proceeded to the pool to read and wait for my loves to return.

Then we were on to Corfu, a super green island of Greece, where we were committed to finding a beautiful beach, which had eluded us at every stop thus far.  We had come to the right place, and finally enjoyed a few hours in the sand and swimming in the sea.  We headed back toward the center to find a tasty gyro, and found that Corfu kicks a whole lot of ass.  Lovely open town center, very well preserved ruins and fortresses, chill atmosphere, beaches around the whole island... Corfu is a place I would not mind returning to for a longer stay. For some reason all my Corfu pictures wouldn't load.  I will add them later if I can :)

Our last stop before returning to Venice was also one that I was highly anticipating - Dubrovnik, Croatia.  Sailing along the coast and through the islands was epic in beauty.  When we ported, we were shuttled to the center, right outside of the castle walls.  

One of the greatest things about traveling is the constant surprises along the way.  I always have a picture in my mind of what a place will be like, and it is almost never accurate.  Dubrovnik was most definitely one of those places.  The town is inside the castle walls, preserved amazingly to this day.  We wandered through the city and eventually saw a sign that said "Cold beer and the best view in the city >>", so of course we followed it.  They weren't lying. The view was epic.  The beer was cold, but we all about shat ourselves when she told us how much they were.  That beer with a view was expensive. But totally worth it.  

There were also little kittens roaming around that I seriously wanted to put in my purse and take home.

Looking out over those cliffs, the water was so still it blended perfectly with the sky.  It was mystical, surreal, so peaceful and serene.  And the bar was playing some lovely blues music, the first good tunes we had heard in quite awhile.  After we finished our million dollar beers, we continued to explore the city.  Awesomeness.  We even got to nerd out Game of Thrones style just a tad!

By the last day we're all ready to get off of the ship with the thousands of people cramming into the restaurants, elevators and pools.  We got off the ship and had one final incredible meal together in Venice before we parted ways and I cried my way over the last canal and boarded the bus to the airport.  

An epic trip indeed.  I could not be more grateful.