Sketching and moving - avocado and clementine.

First time I can sketch after we moved house. It took a month to unearth the painting supplies. I painted what was at hand in the fruit bowl, on the kitchen table since there is no other painting space right now.

My Hyde Park stick was also right there in my pen box. I found it a while ago in hyde park, carved exactly as is. The soft wood nib is perfect for ink drawings, as its purple end shows.  

Family crest

The start of studies for a family crest, the homely comfort I enjoy most. To be developed to include the other interests of husband and kids.  After finishing a big project that took a lot of my free time over the past few months I am taking back the time to paint for myself a little.

Lamb and mutton

There were lots of sheep and lamb in the Lake district. This is a quick 3-minute drawing from the car window while the children attempted loud communication with the herd...!

The difference in English between Sheep and Mutton is that one is the animal, the other the food.
A lot of culinary terms in English are derived from old French,  Clearly lamb is such an English delight they did not adopt the foreign word for it!

Eggs - continued, wolves and MFK Fisher

Started to read the Art of Eating by MFK Fisher, lots of fantastic quotes and reasons for a few doodle... Both strike a chord about recent experiences.

Want one of them, or any quote illustration, as Kitchen art? contact us!

Achillea Flowers

We met Clare, of Achillea Flowers on Mill Lane at the West Hampstead Christmas Market.  The mom and daughter shop is bursting with beautiful flowers that are not your typical Florist offerings.  Bursting with what I can only describe as vintage chic with a pinch of countryside natural organic beauty, the shop is located slightly outside reality.  You step in and surrounding the masses of perfumed flowers, there are little antiques, vases, teapots and various knick knacks collected over the years.

It reminds me very much of the movie Practical Magic, where the witchy sisters had the most insanely beautiful decorated house complete with a green house for their potion plants.

Long story short, you can pick up a Melinart watercolour there now with your trendy bouquet if you are local to West Hampstead!!  We even offer the possibility to order custom paintings of whatever antiques are in the shop!

I made these little business signs to put under the first watercolours to be presented there.  Hope Achillea's clients will like the paintings!

St Jacques

The christmas/New year break was a festival or great food, family and friends. Among these were lots and lots of "Coquilles St Jacques" or Scallops.  

Like any food mixing tradition I love that they are linked to the pilgrims and the St Jacques de Compostelle trail from France to Spain. The pilgrims always carried an empty scallop shell. Shells on buildings and fountains signified to them that they were welcomed to rest there. These shells (or their representation) are also supposed to hold great powers and bring serenity and clarity.

Contact us if you would like your own watercolour of St Jacques scallops!

(These particular one had a little baby scallop growing on its shell, explaining the bluish round spot on the upper right corner of the shell.)

 



Other foods I can not resist are Galette St Michel, buttery cookies with an imprint of St Michel crushing the dragon. St Honoré, a splendid cake of choux pastry, whipped cream and caramel, bearing the name of the patron saint of bakers. And St Félicien or St Marcellin, wonderfully runny creamy cheeses.
Having a Saint's name in them makes them in my mind calorie free item (almost)!

The Carrots Of Love

Carrots are one of my favorites subjects to paint.  Don't know why I find them oddly relaxing.  That and I love all shades of oranges.  These includes the purple and yellow carrots found at the farmer's market. 
In a soup with cabbage and leeks, the carrots give sweet creaminess and body.

Christmas market

2012 is drawing to an end.... (but of course it is not an end to our drawing....:)
Here are pictures of our stall at the West Hampstead Christmas market, with our goods on proud display.  Melinart paintings of vegetables, fruits and donuts but also Mr MelinArt upholstered storage boxes, made of Toile de Jouy and French wine boxes.  We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, talking and sharing coffee and cookies with our neigboring stalls and the happy visitors of the market.  We hope to do it again next year.  In the meantime, we are celebrating the holidays with family and the new year with the happiness that is wanted and needed for all of us.

 

 

 

Woohoo 2

The lovely Clotilde strikes again.  Featuring a Melinart illustration on her famous and mother of all food blog site,  Chocolate and Zucchini
This series features French Food Idioms and has been so interesting over the years, mixing a bit of French history and litterature with the food theme. Check it out!

Thank you Clotilde!

Just Beet it!

In the famous words of Michael Jackson....!  :)
Ok so his one will be on sale at the Xmas market this Saturday, unless of course you snatch it before by contacting us here !

Close-up of the wonderfully runny colors..!

Watercolor Mushrooms

I am back from a one week business trip and painting like crazy for next Week-End's Christmas Market.  It will be on West End Green 10am to 4pm on Saturday 8 December. 

I hope it will be a success!

The Art of House Portraits

I am honored that journalist and blogger J. Walters from Sketches and Jottings has picked Melinart for its daily inspiration topic.  I read this blog regularly and the "inspiration of the day" are well...always inspiring.   Here's the blog's own description:
"...looks inside the journals, diaries, sketchbooks and notepads of artists, writers, travelers and other interesting people."

He picked my house portraits.  It was surprising because, I guess it is not a very developed section on my blog.  So here are a few more examples!

Would that be a fabulous christmas or house warming gift for a loved one?  I do custom portraits so do contact me with price inquiries and specifications.

 

It is always so interesting to see your art through other people's eyes. Here's what Mr. "Global Art junkie" said about Melinart:

"Commissioned house portraits are often accomplished with the precision of a draftsman. I prefer works done with the type of creative eye that fuels MelinArt. This British watercolour artist actually focuses on French Food Watercolors on her visually delightful blog. But she also does beautiful house portraits, and this is the one that caught my eye. She is today’s inspiration."

 

 

How about a painting of a specific street sign for someone who is moving? Or a luxuruous dreamy French vacation house ...!

Do contact me if you want to get your house seen in pretty watercolors! 

Velvet Tub Chairs

Back from a long week working in Paris.  I missed the kids.   This lovely "Tub" chair is how I see very colorful things: The vibe of the colors, then the shapes.

 

Original Watercolour 6x6inch (15x15 cm) FOR SALE please contact us!

 

Glorious Bees - A Beehive Watercolor

I love Bees. I love everything about them, their intuitive almost psychic way for each single bee to act as a whole.  The way they are so in tune with nature that they are barometers for the state of of it.  The delicious cakes and "pain d'epices" (spice bread).  The morning toasts slathered with dark chestnut honey.  The medicinal properties for sore throats of course, but also for disinfecting and healing a wound without scaring. 
Honey and bees are some of my favorites subjects to draw. Certainly, it is one of my life goals to keep bees.
Here is a an old-style beehive in Watercolor which I enjoyed making in sweet green, honey and rose colors.  I also added a cropped bit of the picture to show the granularity of the watercolor that makes this technique so sweet.  Enjoy!

FOR SALE - £50 original A4  - Contact us here.

Framed it could look like this:

 

Details of the granular Watercolour

 

Halloween Pumpkin Soup



Hello there! I am back from a short trip and a spicy pumpkin soup was waiting for me at home.  Just what you want to eat for diner rolling off the plane. 

 

"Hearsay" recipe from Husband: A huge butternut squash, 2 small onions and a couple of small potatoes thrown in, a couple of carrots, 2 cloves of garllic, salt, cracked pepper and lots of pepper flakes!  Creme fraiche was witheld due to (my...) diet concerns but the soup did not need any. 

 

 

We are now the proud owner of one of these.  I brought it back in my carry-on suitcases.  Iberia personnel did not see anything odd about having a hoof sticking a fair way out of my suitcase!

 





So one of this now hangs from the kitchen ceiling in a "sock" the shop gave us for it.    It took 2 of us and some fairly deep cuts (finger cuts) but the transparently thin slices are awesome with a bit of pumpkin soup!

HALLOWEEN IS COMING!!!
FOR SALE - Contact me!

Spoon Portrait Commission - Someone's Xmas present!

A christmas present commissioned by a thoughtful auntie for her brother's family!

 

 

 

Shot of the work in progress!

 

Let me know what you think!!  

 

Macarons - An oldie but goodie

MelinArt has booked a stand for the West Hampstead Christmas Fair....! So preparation will start soon.  Macarons watercolours proved popular last year so we should have a few in stock for you holiday shoppers!

And another one to feast your eyes!!!



AGA Portraits

This AGA portrait was made for a dear friend who moved house and country, but wanted to take her beloved royal blue AGA with her, at least in her heart and on her future walls!  She had managed after a degree of time and tears to establish a clear line of communication with it (it took a while).   These are a couple of proposed ones, the third one she loved the most and she took away with her!  I named this one "Lady AGA" of course!

AGA Portraits are fab gifts and are available from our shop.  Please use the contact form to order.

Chocolate & Zucchini - WOW

What an honor!  An illustration by melinart is featured in Chocolate and Zucchini today in the series on French Food Idioms!
The idiom is "Papa Gateau".  I let you read all about it there!

This blog was the first I ever followed some 9-10 years ago when we moved to London.   Clotilde Dusoulier, software developer-come-Parisian foodie has such a nack for writing about the latest foodie trends, somehow combining it with the local, seasonal and traditional french passion for food.  She's has had an amazing career, branching out in many cookbooks (her own or in collaboration for the HUGE "I know how to cook" reprint).  She possibly has the best recipe for cumin gougeres in the world...!  She does talks, radio events, seminars.  And not least of all is a new mom.
Can you tell I am a groupie?
Thank you Chocolate and Zucchini!

(alternate design)

Cauliflower - West Hampstead Farmer's Market - (WI and walnut cookies)

Picked up a couple of nice cauliflower heads, along with biodynamic eggs at the West Hampstead Farmer's market.  Made a vat of cauliflower mash with milk, salt, papper and a pinch of cumin.
oh yeah...and I sketched one head with a quill....
Now wondering about a little watercolor wash.....? What do you think?

 

I missed the Women's Institute crowd, the market was so busy! But won't miss the October 4th meet at Brioche café!!!

 

 And since the weather is so wet, a batch of roasted walnut butter cookies-pinch of cinnamon sugar on top.  The house smells lovely.