Ways to Wear a Scarf -- Part 2

  So I am back, as promised to do the second part of Ways to Wear a Scarf.  First I will show you how to braid a scarf, then we will get into inventive ways to wear scarves.  I think I actually discovered this technique on  pinterest. So you start with the choker scarf, (see part 1, the previous blog if unsure how to do this).  Pull the center loop down so that it is even with the two tails, make a single twist in the center loop as shown in the picture to the left.  Then tuck one tail over and through the bottom loop as shown in the picture to the right.  Next, tuck the other tail under and through the bottom loop.
      You must make sure that one tail goes over and the other goes under, otherwise it will not come out right.  Pull down slightly on the two tails then on the center loop to tighten and pull it all together.  If you have a nice long scarf, this can be done twice, just make sure the center loop is pulled down far enough when you start to be able to twist, pull the tails through and twist again to pull the tails through a second time.  Some scarf patterns really look amazing with this braiding technique as you can see by the pictures below.  See more hand painted silk scarves in my store.

      Now for some of the other fun ways to use a scarf besides around your neck =).  I sometimes use a small scarf as a bracelet.  This allows me to dress up an outfit with a scarf, without having to worry about the scarf being a encumbrance if I am doing something active or with a lot of bending.  This is very simple to do, Hold the end of the scarf in the hand you plan on wearing the bracelet, wrap the scarf around your wrist until you have a small tail left, tie a single knot with the two tails and tuck remaining tails up under itself.  Or if you want something more eye catching leave long enough tails to tie a beautiful bow.  You can use this same technique to dress up a wrist cast or brace.
     A tried and true method of dressing up an outfit with a scarf is to use it in your hair.  Tie it around a ponytail, use it as a headband, or do a head wrap.  This last way can be done a couple different ways.  Your scarf must be wide enough to reach from your forehead to the base of your neck, if it is wider than that, just fold it in half to make it narrower.  Wrap the scarf around your entire head, tie a double knot at the base of your scull.  Twist the entire thing so that the knot is just behind one of your ears, pull the tails over your shoulder so that they hang down your chest.  Don't want the tails hanging??  Just twist them tight until they start wrapping into themselves, leaving enough at the end that is not twisted to fully wrap around the twisted up knot, making what looks like a ball just behind your ear.  Tuck the remaining tails up into your scalp.

      Want to know how to wear scarves as soleless sandals??  Stay tuned for my next blog.  Have a question or want to have a scarf hand painted just for you??  You can contact me via my website  www.pianobycheri.com

Ways to Wear a Scarf -- Part 1

 

       So I just recently started painting silk scarves, and it has come to my attention, that many people are unaware of how many different ways a scarf can be worn.  So here are a few basic ways, and my next blog will cover a few more ways.
     There is the one that everyone knows, just simply around your next, or tucked under a collar.  This, while easy, displays the scarf beautifully down your chest, but the scarf must be fairly short to do this one.  The next basic one is a single tie as shown in the picture to the left. Probably the most common way to wear a scarf, simple yet beautiful, and can be done with any length scarf.
   
The next way, I wear a lot.  I love the feel of the scarf up around my neck and because I don't wear a lot of jewelry, this works as a choker, as you can see with the picture just above.  This is also quite simple.  Hold the center of the scarf up to the front of your throat, put the two ends of it behind you so that they are hanging down your back.  Crisscross the two ends behind your head and bring them back over your shoulders.  This can be worn two ways, as a choker in the picture above or you can pull the loop that is around your neck down, shortening the two tails to as far as you would like.  As you can see from the picture to your left, to do this the scarf needs to be fairly long.  The scarf pictured is a 72" scarf.
      We are going to talk about one more way in this blog, but my next blog will discuss a few more ways, including braiding your scarf.
     So this next way is also very simple to do.  I wear this with my winter scarves a lot, because you can pull it tight and have a lot of the fabric up by your throat keeping you extra warm.  For this one, you are going to fold the scarf in half and put it around your neck, see picture to the left.  Then you will tuck the tails through the loop, picture below, then pull the tails down as far as you would like, you can tighten it all the way up to your neck, or keep it loose.  As you can tell by how short the tails are, you can not do this one with a short scarf.  Find your favorite scarf now, and go experiment with it.  =)

 
    You can see more of my beautiful hand painted scarves by visiting my online store www.etsy.com/shop/artbycheri  you can also keep an eye out for my new items by following my facebook page www.facebook.com/pianobycheri  and you can contact me for special orders via my website. www.pianobycheri.com

Female Form -- A Study

     So, I have decided to do a study in female form.  I have always been drawn to art that uses female form in some way.  Whether it is photography, realistic art, modern art, abstract art, it doesn't seem to matter if the female form is included at least in part.  Well, I decided I wanted to create art with female form.
    A couple winters ago I took a basic drawing class from adult education.  Having never had any art classes in school, I wasn't sure what to expect but I thought it could be useful with my watercolor paintings.  Well, I did discover one thing in that class, that I was miserably horrible at drawing people and faces.  So, I thought, I will just stick to landscapes and never draw human form again.  Now, we both know, that did not work out well for me.  I just kept being drawn to female art, and the more I saw the more I wanted to create it.
   

 But .... there was one HUGE problem with creating female art -- I couldn't draw human form!!  So a spent a couple years afraid of it, afraid of the thing I so loved.  Admiring the one thing I couldn't create myself.  UNTIL... I finally just said Fuck It!! I'm doing a study in Female Form!!
     A few weeks ago I took down one of my pieces of art that I love and decided to try to draw the woman in it.  It came out kinda like a ... well, very alien-esk.  But, I made it all the way through it, you can tell its a female ... mostly.  On to my next one.  That one came out much better, but I still cant do hands, had to hide the hands.  The next one, couldn't get the nose right for the life of me and had to cover it with her hair.
     So, I am still at the very beginning at my female form study, but already I have improved on the basic body.  The face, hands, and feet are proving to be more difficult than the rest of the body.  So far I have been able to be creative with hand and foot placement so that I don't have to draw them as much, but soon I will have to make point to just tackle them too.  You can find my art on Etsy or on my website.  Follow me on facebook to be the first to see my newest creations.

Tomato Kale Soup

     Living in Maine, the winter's can sometimes get to you, but when you walk in that door, to a delicious smell coming from the kitchen, all that cold just melts from your body.  Well, if you are like me, you are always on the search for yummy, easy recipes that give off that warm cozy fragrance through out the entire house.  About a month ago, I created this one out of pure accidents, having a big bunch of kale that needed to be used.  So I just dug through my cupboards to see what I could do with it, and Tomato Kale soup was born.  Well, stupidly, I didn't take any pictures of it, so I couldn't blog about it, but last night I made another batch and remembered the pictures this time =)

Tomato Kale Soup
 Prep Time: 30min  
Cook Time: 1hour

Ingredients:
4cups Tomato Soup I used Pacific tomato soup 32oz box
2cups Chicken Stock
1 big bunch Kale
1 med. onion
1 Lg Carrot
2 lg Tomatoes (or a can of tomatoes)
1can Chickpeas (Garbanzo beans)
1 heaping TBS diced garlic (4-6 cloves)
1/2 Green Pepper
1/4cup Olive Oil
2TBS dried Basil
1TBS dried cilantro
a Pinch of Ground Red Pepper (if you like it spicy use 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes)
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan Cheese (to top when served)

Directions:
In a med to large stock pot, put in olive oil and set on med high heat, add the diced onion and pepper.  Once soft, add the garlic, cook until the onions are translucent.  Turn heat down to med., add tomato soup, chicken stock, basil, cilantro, ground red pepper, salt and pepper.  Stir.  Add the carrot, it can be diced, I sliced it thin with a slicer.  Tear the Kale into bit size pieces and add.  If using canned tomatoes add now, if using fresh tomatoes, wait.  Put the cover on the pot, and turn down so that it is just simmering.  Let cook for about 40min, until kale is nice and tender.  Add diced tomatoes and chickpeas, let simmer another 10min.

Serving:
I usually cook it early so that it can just sit on the stove with the cover on for 30-45min before serving.  Serve with some grated Parmesan cheese sprinkled on the top.

As you can see from my picture, my honey, really likes it, the pot is almost empty this morning.  You can also make this gluten free if you use Pacific brand soups and stocks.
You can also find me on www.pianobycheri.com or
facebook or the online shopping center for hand made items Etsy

I hope you enjoy this delicious soup as much as we did!!

Concerts and Recitals -- A Love Hate Relationship

 

   As a pianist, I have been in my fair share of recitals and concerts.  While some people love being in the spotlight it is not my favorite thing. Now, I watch my students, preparing for a recital and it brings me back to when I was a student.  I absolutely hated playing in front of people back then, I'm not even sure how my parents and my teachers got me to actually do it.  I would have to say that not a lot has changed since back then accept that I have many, many more performances under my belt.  But it gives me insight into my students that struggle with the same thing.
       Well, Christmas as you can imagine, is a busy time of year for me.  Now, after last Christmas, I said, no more Christmas concerts!!!  It is just too much work, too exhausting, too stressful.  Well, of course, by midyear, I have forgotten all about the work, exhaustion, and stress and want to start planning a Christmas concert.  It's like breaking up with someone and a few months later, getting back together with them.  How can we only remember the good parts and somehow forget all the bad parts??  How do our brains completely misplace all the unpleasant memories??  Well, somehow it does, and onto the planning stages of the concert I go.
     This year I have decided to play the accompaniment for ALL the music for the concert.  In previous years we have used some background music for parts of the concert, but after viewing the videos, I am not happy with the result.  This may seem a bit self destructive considering I am also producing, singing and dancing in this concert, but with no turning back, I plunge head first into it.  September turns to December and I THEN remember how busy I get during the holidays, but I can't turn back now, Christmas is just a few short weeks away.
     The day is finally here, and of course I barely slept last night with all the things I have to try to remember.  Dress rehearsal goes smoothly, and I am excited to see my vision come to fruition. view dance video  Despite all my worries and fears and sleepless nights the concert goes beautifully.  Everyone does a superb job and it is well attended.  I couldn't have asked for anything better.  And now that the holidays are over I can relax and breath and plan my next recital.  LOL
www.pianobycheri.com picture below is a still life I did "Concert Prep" Music is Love in Search of a Word

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Etsy Maine Team

    My Art has been on Etsy for a few months now with no results and no sales.  For those of you that don't know, Etsy is an online shopping place for small businesses to list their homemade and vintage items for sale to the public. I was seriously thinking of closing down my account after the holidays, but then I met a fellow artist at one of the craft fairs I did the fall that has had success with Etsy.  So, I took some of her pointers and joined a couple of teams.  The one that has made the most difference has been Etsy Maine Team.  They are a community of Crafters, Artists, Moms, all from Maine.  All the members work together as a team to like and share each others items so that you can get your shop out there beyond your own friends and family.       I have been so overwhelmed with appreciation for these team members since I joined a couple weeks ago.  They have all been so welcoming and supportive.  I have even gotten my first two sales from the team members.  Now I know that 2 sales doesn't sound like much, but to someone that hasn't had a single sale in the almost three months I have been on etsy, 2 sales is a huge deal!  My shop is now up to over 30 items in it and I am working towards 100 listings by this time next year. Yes, yes, I know, that is a LOT of painting to do in the next year!!
 

 I will be branching out soon to wall art, paintings large enough to put in a frame on your wall.  And maybe if I have the time to experiment this winter, paintings on fabric for scarves and such.  Right now I still have cards with my beautiful watercolors on them, as well as jewelry beads with my watercolor artwork on them. I would love it if you checked out my  shop.
     A big thank you to all the Etsy Maine Team members!!
www.pianobycheri.com
www.facebook.com/pianobycheri
www.facebook.com/maineteam

New Challenge

      Well, my art teacher Doris Rice gave us a big challenge this week, a still life with multiple items and textures.  So we have spent the last couple weeks learning to do different textures and now for the real test -- a full blown still life.  So I spent a week racking my brain as to what to bring from home to create my still life.  What to use, what to use??  I didn't want to do a bowl of fruit with a tablecloth, too boring.  I could do a picture of my dog, but what would I put with it?? Hmmm, maybe a martini glass with a mask and beads, a Mardi Gras still life, no, that's not really me.  Maybe one of my scarves, with a pair of boots? No, again too boring.
   

 And then, I finally got it!!  I have tons of old music, why not use that?? Ok, so now, what do I put with old music.  An old plaque with a music saying, yup that works, but what else?  A musical instrument would be nice but all of mine are too big.  Oooh, what about a pair of my fingerless gloves? Oh, and pearls and a flower.  Ok, I'm on a roll now.  All I have to do is arrange it in a way that looks awesome.  Well, now, that is easier said than done.  It took me 40 minutes of arranging and rearranging and taking pictures of them, and the help of another set of eyes to finally decide on one that I really liked. 

  Phew!!! That's over, well, I thought that was the hard part, wrong!!!  That was the easy part.  I bring my selections to class, set them up and think I should get my pencil drawing done of them this week, and can paint it next week.  HaHaHa!  Doris, had other plans.  She gave us all a sharpie and a cheep piece of watercolor paper.  Do a contour drawing in sharpie, she says.   OMG, are you kidding me??? I think I must of held my breath the entire time!  Just knowing that you can't erase it is enough to give you heart palpitations.  I guess, that is why its art CLASS.  I get half way through it and I think, Why did I select so many damn items?!!  But I finally finish the sharpie drawing and of course it looks awful.  But now we have to put in some of the color to make sure we are going to like the end product.  This is our "study" to make sure we really like what we are doing for a still life, to make sure everything is where we want it, to find out what background looks good with it, etc...  Oh, man, I think we were all glad when that class was over!

     So, next week, I get to actually paint this still life, and hopefully it comes out better than my "study" did!!
To see my art visit me on Etsy or on my website
pianobycheri.com