Sugar and Spice and All Thing Nice

I took a trip to our downtown Eastern Market to buy spices and then made paintings. Some spices included garam masala, curry powder, raw cocoa, Hungarian paprika, turmeric, crushed spearmint, dill seeds, lavender flowers and more... The drawing is done with coffee (Medaglia D'Oro Instant Espresso) and there are touches of 23K gold leaf and patent leaf on some. The whole house is fragrant.

This painting reminded me of a Byzantine icon:

A detail of the spices:

A spicy profile:

The first full-sized spice painting. Kind of Buddha-like:

Lash

She's married to the sea, no matter where she goes. Lashed to the mast, suffering the pain of lashes, gazing out across the waves from under curved black lashes. Some ties bind forever and ever.

Acrylic on paper, with gel medium photo transfer and mica. From the Leather Sketchbook.

The Sailmaker's Hands

Sometimes our fate hangs on the slenderest of threads.

Acrylic paint with gel medium photo transfer and pearl-colored mica. From sketchbook.