angelayoder

Celebrating National Cheese Day with Memories from Paris

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Have you ever dreamed of traveling? Where was your first international destination? Before I was able to do so financially, I dreamt for years of going to Paris. What sealed it for me was after I saw the movie “Amelie”. A single girl living her life, accordion music, old architecture, popping in somewhere quickly to down a glass of wine. All of the streets to explore, all the food to try, the gorgeous language. I couldn’t wait to experience the people myself. It just seemed like the perfect city for me for my first European travel. I saved my money, (it took years) and I booked my ticket for October of 2014 for about 10 days. And, I went alone because I had to, to prove to myself that I could walk around this world and be safe and I was, that I could be autonomous, and do what I wanted when I wanted. It showed me how capable I am, how lovely human beings can be, how helpful and hilarious, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I won’t lie to you, I had a few crying jags. I was mentally exhausted after a week of thinking in English and working so hard for those thoughts to come out of my mouth in French so I cried. And then I went out and had one of the best meals of my stay.

My first venture out I got lost and picked a small bistro to get my bearings and eat something since I was starving. This sweet establishment had the kindest waitress that spoke English with me which I needed in that moment of jetlag and exhaustion. I really appreciated her thoughtfulness. She told me how much she loved her job because she got to meet people from all over the world, nice people like me. That touched my heart so much I still think about her and I hope she is doing well. I can’t find the name of this place which has driven me crazy all these years. However, I did think to snap a photo before I devored everything and this is what I ordered:

charcuterie, wine, and a respite

My first French meal, a nice charcuterie board with four cheeses, four meats, cornishon, baguette, greens, and yes, a slab of butter. That round cheese was super skunky and I had a hard time downing it. My red wine went very well with everything. Delicious.

After I left this cozy place, I wandered around trying to find my street and thoroughly enjoying the process. As I snapped photos I found a restaurant I made sure to remember for another meal during my stay. The calm din of French voices filled every corner on my walk. Peaceful, relaxing. People enjoying the night air with drinks and food and their friends. I thought, why don’t we do this in the US? These pics were taken somewhere on Rue Montorgueil.

From this angle you can see how shiny the stones are in their various patterns. When I turned around, this beautiful store window greeted me:

I think that is candied fruit on the middle half circles. Yum. I did not shop here. I wish I had.

The variety of cheeses made me say, “Wow”, out loud. I wish I had tried more kinds, but my focus was visiting museums and just enjoying whatever I came across. The entire city is an undiscovered treasure to me and I can go back again and again.

Eating in after a full day at the Louvre: leftover meats and cheese with a fresh baguette and Bordeaux. I gave up trying to eat the stinky one and let it go. I still feel a little guilty about wasting food in Paris, but when I remember how funky the smell was, I’m good. 😀

the glorious croque monsieur

After Mass at Notre Dame,I ordered this cheese covered glory with ‘un cafe’, grabbed a table outside and devoured this exquisite sandwich. I swear, I was the only person eating on the entire street. I’ve made these at home and there is nothing like melted, crunchy cheese on the outside of your American “grilled cheese”. Monsieur Croque, je taime. 🙂 Recipe here: Easy, Cheesy Croque Monsieur Recipe | Jacques Pepin

The author enjoying her first cheesy Croque Monsieur.

It has taken me nine years to share my Paris trip with anyone. In 2024, I promise myself I will spend time in the past looking at, creating art from, and remembering as many wonderful experiences as I can to share with you. I hope it gives you some dreams you would like to make come true, too. You can go anywhere and do anything you set your mind to. I’m living proof. Until next time, keep dreaming. xo

One of my last evenings in Paris at the Eiffel Tower. I didn’t know it was painted brown until I got close to it. The night time light show is insane.

Sweets Designs; How I created my first Surface Pattern Design Collection

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VPH Design Part Three: My Surface Pattern Design Guide.

I love Christmas. I love the lights and shiny ornaments when they hang on the tree. I love it so much that I have had a little pink Christmas tree in my studio forever. I keep it up all year and it has my favorite ornaments from Old Fashioned Christmas, I buy one every year at my favorite store, Drees, in Olympia. I have candy and ice cream ornaments, shiny pine cones, a rooster, a purse. And more. Yes, I posted this pic yet again. I love my little tree so much:

Little Pink Christmas tree in my window, up all year! 2020

As I worked with my coach, Jeanetta, (see my previous post here), she had me create Mood Boards. Before my first meeting with her, I again, invested in myself, and bought Photoshop. I know it fairly well, but it had been some years since I used it regularly. I highly recommend investing in yourself, too, and get the yearly subscription. Adobe Lightroom is fantastic. I did not buy Adobe Illustrator, but did use the trial version and I can see why people like it. Photoshop has mood boards, too, so I stayed with that.

surface pattern design mood board how to
First ever mood board, Sweets. 2020

Having never made a mood board before, I found it quite challenging. I learned a few things: I don’t need to be so literal with the inspiration. I actually added two of my paintings into the board, which I did not need to do, I can choose furniture, nature, or really anything that would give the “mood” of what I am going for, and next time, I will work on a story and pick descriptive words to go with the “mood”; like happy, playful, fun, cheery, etc. I was concentrating so hard on the actual making of the board, I got a bit lost. All in all, though, it was fun to make and I can’t wait to make another one. I’ll just keep learning!

Here are the four motifs/icons/paintings I made for my first design, all in watercolor, inspired by the ornaments on my little pink Christmas tree:

Ice cream watercolor surface pattern design how to
Ice cream. 2020
Cupcake surface pattern design how to
Cupcake. 2020
Lollipop surface pattern design how to
Swirl pop. Actual lollipop I can’t bring myself to eat. 2020
Lollipop surface pattern design how to
No reference, Fantasy lollipop in red with hearts. 2020

I took pictures with my smart phone because I am currently without a scanner or printer. I played around with the icons in Photoshop; copying, rotating, etc. I couldn’t think of anything to do besides these tiles, which I thought were pretty cool:

Tile design pattern surface design vph sweets collection
Tiles of from my paintings in Photoshop 2020

I added hearts and stars. And cherries and then I didn’t know what else to do with them. I was ready for more help in our second session.

Jeanetta used the “share screen” option and I was able to watch her as she played around with the file in Photoshop. It was so cool! She suggesting “brightening up” the colors, as my photos were dark and what a difference that made. She duplicated, recolored, and turned and mirrored the icons into options I never thought of. It was pure play! Below is one orientation she came up with that I really like:

fabric pattern design how to vph sweets collection
Screenshot of Jeanetta’s guidance, rearranging my motifs in Photoshop

After another tutorial and tip sharing, she sent me on my way to practice for another week. This got me thinking about cake toppers and fun things that could be added to desserts. Jeanetta suggested I start saving images for more moodboards in one of my online accounts that I won’t mention and I won’t use anymore. (that’s a whole other blog post). Here is one image I just love:

Credit to Wilton.com

So I sketched and played with colored pencils. I drew and drew and I still felt stuck and frustrated. What was I doing wrong? Why was this so hard?

Next post: I’ll share some of the sketches, ideas, and struggles of the process as I rework the Sweets motif.

Forgiving the Past, How I Began My Dream of Surface Pattern Design

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VPH Design Part One: My Surface Pattern Design Guide.

Hey, #GenX. How’s 50 looking for ya? Hi, everyone else! I’m just getting my stride over here. Are you worrying about retirement, like me? Now, I know our pop, capitalist culture hates aging. As we enter our 50’s how are you feeling about that? I’m calling bullshit on feeling anything but glorious and empowered about it. We have never been smarter or more beautiful. Sure, there are body aches, menopause, gray hairs, and wrinkles, but, I love all of it. I love all my life wisdom. I love those I know who are aging with me. I love that you are not coloring your hair anymore. I love that there is a bit of a tummy appearing.

We are in the Age of #Corona. I’ve been in quarantine since early March. I have good and bad days. How are you doing? I feel like our government currently seems to hate us and I don’t have faith my pension and social security will be available to me. So, I’ve got a plan. A retirement plan. Let me tell you about it. First, some background:

Long, long ago in a city far, far away, I struggled in college with the course of study I “should” follow. I wanted to study art. My professor told me “Washes are your thing.” Black ink and water. Shadow and Light. At the time, I took it and put it in my heart. Then, I listened to well-meaning voices who told me I couldn’t make a living as an artist. Fear took hold. The ramifications of that time are still in my body and I, at 53 years old, am working to finally release them. I started to focus on Biology and I turned my back on visual art. I finished college and one of the first purchases my mother helped me buy was a set of #Pelikanwatercolors, markers, paper, and brushes. This was before my first job and I just needed these supplies to dream and practice with as I coped with transitioning from college to finding my way in the workplace. I was depressed and missing my friends so badly. The art supplies helped me so much during this time.

At the same time, I started a distant learning course for writing children’s literature. It was hard and I didn’t even try to make pictures to go with my writing at the time. Why? I was disassociated. Depressed. Still believing I couldn’t be successfully artistic. Sad. 🙁

With the compliment I got in college still hiding in my heart, I began to play and learned how to Watercolor. It is my first love. It can be tamed to a point, but has that exquisite, expressive quality. I love trying with it. What will happen if I…? I added too much water… Not enough? I haven’t stopped painting in between having gross jobs, moving cross country, making cards, working in theatre, and so many other things.

I found Sara Middas’ South of France book in the late 90’s and it lit me up! What a clever book. She lived in France for almost a year and just collected what she saw, what she ate, where she was and it is brilliant. This is the book that got me interested in surface pattern design. I want to make a book like hers, only, it will be about my neighborhood, what is around me. So, I started paying attention to where I was. Sketching, painting, note taking. That book idea is stuffed way in the back of my brain, dusty, forgotten. But I digress. I drew my first design idea, a mug and a plate with a blue pattern. (* I would insert it here, but I can’t find it…) I didn’t know what to do next. This was before the internet and I failed at finding resources or any kind of help at all. So, I gave up. On that. But, I kept painting. And dreaming.

Then three decades went by, like, how the hell did that happen? A marriage. A first home purchase. A divorce. A house lost. A new family. A second home purchase. Many jobs worked and in between, the surface design dream pops up now and then. And then, one day, I’m 50. 😳

I’m ignoring any voice that tells me no, or stop, or I’m too old. I’m not slowing down, I’m ramping up. I’m awesome. My life has given me experiences and knowledge that are valuable and I will be paid handsomely for being creative and ridiculously brilliant. My retirement plan is to remain artistic and earn with making and selling my art. Come on, my 50-somethings! Let’s manifest our dreams and lift each other up to create a beautiful, enjoyable next three decades. How is your self esteem? You deserve the best. What is your retirement plan?

Next post: I find someone to help me on my path.

surface pattern design marie antoinette
Watercolor, inspired by the movie “Marie Antoinette” by Sofia Coppola. 2017

“Rue in Paris”, Paris sketch, $20. 00

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Looking back through my photos, I took three separate shots of this building at three separate times, on three separate days: one at night and two during the day. I must have really been drawn to it. Ha. It was near where I was staying, but sadly I cannot tell you which rue.

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Isn’t it magnificent? I played with a little black glitter on the roof. Imagine lots of cars and pedestrians in front of it. I didn’t feel like portraying them. 💙

Available. $20.00 framed

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