Art By Tali Landsman

I took advantage of the patches of sun between the clouds and the rain and took some photos to add to my blog. Jules and I booked a last minute trip to thailand. We will be leaving next week for ten days. We plan to visit Bangkok and Northern Thailand. We booked a small cycling adventure into the mountains to visit the hill tribes and we hope that it will be a fun and exciting break. We have not been to Thailand before and I was always curious to meet the tribal people. Many years ago I painted some of the "long neck Karen" tribal people from photos I have found in the National Geographic Magazine. I am adding images of these old painting here.

Despite the fact that yesterday was a very rainy day, we woke up this morning to a gloriously sunny day. We took advantage of the sunny day and worked outdoors all day. I have oiled our Jensen Jarrah outdoors wood furniture while Jules line trimmed our lower plums orchard. By the end of the day, we both had a great sense of satisfaction over our daily chores.

Another glorious day in the Hokianga. I decided to spend the day doing a garden project. My plan was to transplant some lilies into the garden bed in front of our living room deck. I transplanted them from our upper orchard where they grew wild. It was a lot of fun working physically hard, pulling stubborn weeds, digging holes and feeling for lily tubers. Just walking with a wheel barrels full of plants up and down our hilly property was a good exercise by itself. But I welcome the physical challenge. I believe that it is the best form of exercise there is. Jules made me a mochachino when we had our rest and helped me clean up. By the end of the day I had a great sense of accomplishment.

I have started working on a new painting. Instead of starting with a white canvas, I started this painting with a black canvas that I painted with blackboard paint. I started doing the sketched on it with white ink and chalk. It is harder to work with it as the white ink is very unforgiving against the black board. I need to experiment and to learn the "ropes" in order to get the results that I am after. I also entered a painting in a NZ competition. It is the first award contest that I have entered when we first moved to NZ. Back then it was a small event that you needed to send a small painting to and if you did not win, the painting was auctioned for charity. It was for a good cause and I felt that it is a good idea to integrate into my new home country. Now it is a much bigger event with a $20,000 award and you do not need to send the art any more, just an image of it.

We took advantage of the glorious weather and planted our vegetable garden. I wanted a garden that does not require much care since we are not around for half of the year. Potatoes are easy to grow and the plants can yield more than one year. I planted purple potatoes (called Maori potatoes here in NZ), and red potatoes. I also replenished my herb garden with sweet basil and oregano. Then I transplanted my strawberries to a raised garden bed that I covered with netting to protect it from the coveting eyes of the birds. It looks great now. We transfered our kayaks from the house that we sold and built a holding rack for them in our driveway.

When the sun is out, I take my tea outdoors and sit in front of the vast harbor. In those quiet moments, all sort of philosophical questions and answers swirl through my mind which I will share here. This morning I thought about the concept of adaptation. (to a situation, to the changing weather, to a location, to an idea). Here is what the I-Ching says: Adapting brings exceptional progress. There is an advantage in correct persistence. Then there will be no mistake. Growth in the midst of excess, forms the condition for adapting. An enlightened person therefore, when in darkness, leads the way within for a comforting rest.

When the weather is stormy the best place for me to be is in the studio. I have arranged my loft -storage room with canvases and art supplies and spent the rest of the day painting. I enjoy taking my time and working slowly on the Sketchbook Series. It is fun to see it taking shape. I am now at the stage of the doodling which is the final stage of the piece. In my mind, I am already planning my next piece.

Many of you are aware of the earth quake and tsunami waves that devastated Samoa, Tonga and Indonesia in the past few days. Here in NZ, we have the reminiscence of that weather pattern in the form of heavy clouds and rain that is hanging over the Far North. Not the best weather to do things outdoors. I did photographed some of my paintings today and filed the images. I am also working on arranging my storage room to be efficient. I plan to store my large empty canvases and stock in a better way in the next few days.