Art By Tali Landsman

I made a mushroom risotto for dinner last night. I was able to get organic wild mushroom which I sautéed with onions and organic veggie stock. Today I mad oatmeal chocolate chips cookies and a seaweed dish with carrots and beans. All this cooing tells you I was not in the studio.

Today is one of these days that I look at my art without love in my eye. It is worst than I say, I actually do not like anything about my new style. This means that I should stay out of the studio and let the rough waters pass. Instead I sit on the sofa to rest and read.

Today I have spent some time in the studio reworking some of my earlier pieces from the series “The artist’s sketchbook”. I decided to hang some new paintings around our house just like I did in NZ, so I can see the paintings when I am resting and reflecting, to see what works and what doesn’t. I did not stay in the studio long but it was good just holding the paint sticks again. I plan to spend some time in the studio daily now that I am slowly adjusting to the time zone. Next week Jules is flying to Miami and I usually spend more time in the studio in his absence. I have to admit that I miss NZ. I miss the gentle energy of the green hills, the people and our house. I need some time to readjust to the harsh Colorado sun, the arid mountains and to our Colorado living environment. We could not have chosen to live in two more different places. Even the people in the streets seem to move in a more determined way than they do in NZ. I am sure that I will get readjusted soon. I love living ...

I spent the whole day yesterday in our basement, organizing , collecting things to donate, recycle and throw. It was a very productive day but somewhat back breaking as our basement is less than 5” high. While there, I came upon boxes filled with credit card slips of people that bought my art. It was an uplifting reminder of the popularity of my art, even if now I am experiencing a slow down. Today I placed an order of canvases. It was hard to do with the limited space that I have in my studio, to buy more large canvases that I have no place to store. It is so dispiriting and I wonder what artist that are living in NYC do. Surely they live in houses that are much smaller than mine and most have studios that are smaller than mine. The answer is not to let art accumulate but sell it.

The weather is so lovely in this season in Colorado. The bugs that come with summer are not yet here, our creek and rivers are gushing with the melting snow and the birds are singing over the wildflowers. We decided to enjoy the day cycling. I made us a green juice to start the day. (lettuce, cucumbers, celery, lemon, apples and oranges. We drove to Basalt where we usually start the bike trip. We decided to do an easy trip as this is only our second cycling trip since last summer. We cycled down the old Rio Grande bike trail situated on the foot of green mountains, rolling hills and pasture. We admired the gorgeous homes built along the Roaring Fork river. Large ranches and luxury homes, some made with recycled wood and reclaimed materials. They look so good in their locations, surrounded with creative gardens full of Tulips, lavenders and Poppies. We stopped for some ice tea at Woody Creek where they set up a cooler filled with cold water especially for cyclist to fill their water bot...

Memorial day weekend and we decided to spend today running errands. Whenever we have many things to do, we leave early to allow ourselves extra time to sit in a cafe’ or a restaurant and linger or just to insert a sense of ease and luxury into our day. We bought a trampoline. We heard so much about the health benefits of jumping on a trampoline, that we could not resist it. We also bought a steam mop that is aimed at cleaning your home with minimal use of chemicals. We shopped for organic fruit and veggies and ate a lovely fresh dinner at a local Mexican restaurant that was bustling with people and energy. Not a day of great achievements but a nice and quiet day. While sitting at Starbacks, I read a book that I picked up at a local bagel shop that run a loose book exchange. It was called “An Unquiet Mind”. It is the memoir of a psychiatrist who suffer from manic depressive illness. Her story is very humane and very touching. I find it so interesting to dive into the human psyche and ex...

I still wake up late in the mornings and hardly get out of bed by noon. I did meditate this morning and did my Course In Miracles lesson before I got out of bed, so counting these activities, I am probably getting adjusted to the time zone a little. I spent the day in my studio, not painting but getting my space organized. I created an area to place the dry and the unpainted canvases that is easily accessible. I also moved the drying rack that I use for drying small canvases to another location that opened up some space. I organized the tools I use so I can reach everything easily. I worked from 1pm until 8pm and still there is so much left to do. Jules came to the studio and opened a box that he got from a gallery that many years ago, when he was a young and promising photographer, represented his work. We went through them and I savored the beauty, melancholy and magic in them. It is so sad that he did not stay with his art, the images hold so much promise. He worked in a few series....

The interesting thing that happen when you own more than one home, is that each time you return to it after a long stay away, you see it with fresh eyes. I noticed for the first time that we really do not have nearly enough space in our home for all the sport gear we have accumulated. So I called some closet companies to get a gear closet installed in our garage. Today the designer visited our home and we signed the contract. I like things around me to be clean and organized. I think better, I work better and I feel better with a clean and clear space around me. When we first moved into this house, we converted our three cars garage into a studio space for me, but we use the front of the garage for our biking, kayaking and skiing gear. Needless to say that my studio is not well organized with boxes of canvases, old (and unsold) painted canvases and a large variety of art supply, and materials for creative ideas. With ski jackets hanging around, six sets of bicycles and kayaking gear le...

We are back in Colorado and it is hot and dry and I am so jet legged, I can hardly get myself out of bed by noon. Of course I am also not able to sleep before 2-am and I am not very hungry until after midnight. But I know it will pass within a week so I am patient and not very ambitious in these days. I plan to spend my next few days getting the house cleaned and organized before I go into the studio. It is amazing how much there is to do in a house that was closed for three months.

We fly to Colorado early tomorrow morning. I will not be writing in my blog for the next few days. We plan to spend two days in Boulder and shop for organic groceries, rent a car and drive home into the mountains. Today we are in packing and closing up mode. We say farewell to New Zealand and wish everyone in this part of the world a wonderful and calm winter.

In preparation to leaving, I cleaned my studio and my brushes, closed the dehumidifier and put away the wrapping materials. Even though I love both of our homes, it feels sad to be leaving this wonderful place with the lovely new kitchen that we hardly got to use. The mornings are very chilly and it rained on and off today which is a reminder to me that we are leaving in time to avoid the winter. Jules and I carried a long conversation yesterday evening about the direction of my art career. Jules said that I need to be honest with myself and redefine my goals. If my true desire is to be hugely successful, be represented by great galleries and sell my art for high prices, why is it that I put absolutely no efforts towards approaching galleries? If my desire is to develop a great internet business, then I need to state it to myself and take the steps required to develop this. Whatever I truly desire, focus on and work towards, I will manifest in my life. If I allow the waves of doubts to...

Finally I am done with packing all the art. It feels a little strange not to be able to enjoy any of them before they are off to face the world. They go straight from the drying racks to the exhibitions. The paintings I hang in the bedroom really brighten up the room. I love to be able to see my art in a “living” situation. It is very beneficial for me to see it in different light, different time of the day and around me. It helps me reflect on what elements to expand on and what to avoid. Laying down examining my art feels very different from examining it in-front of my easel. I feel a bit sad to be leaving so soon. We do not have much time to enjoy our new kitchen before our departure. But I try to remember that our houses are for us, for our delight and experiences, not to get attached to and enslaved by. Tonight I will make some cookies for us and I will write again tomorrow when I have more energy.

Today is a great day for us. The kitchen will be finished and we slept our first night in our new home. It feels great to be here. I love the fact that the veggie garden is so close and that I can go out to pick up some leaves and make us a salad. We already cooked our first meal of pizza and a salad, using our new kitchen. With our departure date so imminent, I feel like I am half here and half in Colorado. My mind wonders into the arid mountains surrounding our home, the bike trails, the greens of Aspen, the vegetarian bistro we eat at on weekends, the tulips growing in the gardens around Aspen, classical music concerts, the song of birds on our Sweetwater creek, the hot mineral pools at Glenwood Springs. It will be great to be there when the weather turns rainy here in NZ. While Jules seem to dive seamlessly into ...

We are back from Singapore and are enjoying the mild weather of the Hokianga here in NZ. I did not write in the last few days while in Singapore. The days were long and full of activities that by the end of the day we just showered and collapsed into the crisp sheets, wearing our fluffy robes. I had little energy left to blog. Here in the sleepy Hokianga, we find (as always) a way to keep ourselves very busy and anxious. It seems like so much is getting done just before we leave to go back to the USA. Tomorrow the gas fitter comes to fit and activate our gas hobs. On Monday we get the wardrobes installed and the kitchen finished. Next Friday we fly back to the USA. We ate breakfast and dinner at the Waterline cafe’ and visited the new art exhibit at Village Arts. We enjoyed the beautiful paintings done by a group of local artists. They seems to have a theme of flowers and plants. All well made and wonderfully pleasing.

Despite the fact that Singapore is full of tourists, we were the only ones exploring the "Geylong" neighborhood. It hosts an eclectic mix of residential buildings, vegetarian restaurants, prostitutes, Taoist and Buddhist temples, a mosque and endless colorful shops. The colors, and sights of the area dazzle the senses. We ate a superb lunch of Lily bulbs with asparagus, a mouth watering olive rice, and a dessert of sea coconut and flowers. The air conditioned vegetarian restaurant was bright, cheery and full of customers. We happened upon people from the Buddhist Institute that were curious to see tourists in this area and invited us in to tour the Buddhist institute. We had a lovely conversation, exchanging inspirational ideas about meditation, life and worship. These are the delightful experiences that come from getting off the main path and exploring hidden and alternative sights. We treated ourselves to a great reflexology foot massage. It is one of the real treats we fel...

This is store that sells funeral items to be buried with the deceased.

is Lily bulb and asparagus dish