So this weekend I went back to Fire Island and let the creative flow continue. I picked up where I left off with these shells I painted with gouache many weeks ago. The technique is called “Gouache Wash-Off” and you basically paint many different layers of gouache, let each layer fully dry, and then slowly drizzle water on them to blend the pigments. Check it out!!!

I also painted giant wooden beads that I am going to make into necklaces:

It looks like earth on acid! Hahaha! Or Lisa Frank-ized! Hahaha. Right after I finished these we went for a walk on the beach and I was blown away by the giraffe-like pattern/texture the high tide and left all over the sand.

It literally felt like walking on a giant painting or installation but it was made by nature!!! I was super bummed that I forgot my fancy camera so I just took tons of pics with my handy iPhone. This one really looks like a long giraffe neck but many of the shapes looked like alien blobs or muppets to me.

I could seriously post 10 more pics but I have many other visual inspirations to share with you! For example, check out this amazing sign I saw on my first bike ride (!!!) in ages.

Any doctor that uses googly eyes is OK by me. Hahah. For reals, we all know humor is the best medicine. Speaking of healing and medicine, my friend Vera gave me this inspiring book on Thursday:

Vera is doing a practicum of the class taught by the author Saki Santorelli at UMass this summer so she thought I would get a lot out of the book. The class is part of the Oasis Institute. Vera even said I could come to a class if I wanted to. The book focuses on the healing relationship between patient and practitioner and often blurs the line between the two. Here’s a line that I found particularly relevant to me at this time and my interest in healing. “Outwardly, we direct our efforts towards restoring others, but somewhere maybe we know there really is no other.” Many of my doctors/therapists have been commenting on what a good job I am doing of taking care of myself by eating well, staying active, getting massage/acupuncture, etc. so maybe my focus on taking care of myself (which is something I practiced for many years before I got sick) will allow me to be a powerful healer. The book also talks about not running away from the pain or scary moments/events and this seems like a good thing to practice because as good as I feel and as positive as I have been lately, it’s not easy to accept all that’s happened to me over the recent months and the implications it holds for my future.

Well…that got kind of serious and I didn’t anticipate writing all of that. I guess I will segway now to the delicious food that I ate this weekend at Fire Island. I love the way my food photographs come out at the beach. It must just be the salty air that adds a filter to them that isn’t available in Instagram. For example, I whipped up this chicken tortilla salad with leftover chicken that Rachel made last week with a perfectly ripe avocado:

And then for dinner, my parents grilled some soft shell crab. I felt so bad I couldn’t help with dinner because the fatigue that never came last weekend caught up with me around 5:30pm and I found myself immobile on the couch. But look how cute the crabbies are!

The shells were actually a little hard and not easy to eat. I guess it’s the end of the season. But the insides were deeeeelish! Crabs are by far my favorite shellfish, both aesthetically and to my tastebuds!

Back to visual inspirations, check out this unbelievable present that my besties in LA, Maura and Abe, made for me!!!!!!!!

I am so impressed with their craft skills! And it’s so spot on and in three-dimensions. Plus, he’s sooooo soft!!! Tonight is going to be a serious snuggle-fest with this guy! Hahaha. Man, I am a lucky duck to have so many good friends. And my friend Dawn sent me this amazing necklace and bracelet! Watermelon is my favorite thing to eat these days and I’ve always loved them visually. Just like crabs!!! Watermelon and crab salad coming up! Hahaha.

Well, it’s way past my bedtime but here’s one last visual inspiration I wanted to share with you. Check out this amazing label from the wine my parents were drinking at dinner.

In the case of the wine, I can’t enjoy the flavor but I can enjoy the label! The flowers are embossed so it almost feels like its embroidered. Isn’t that amazing? This is a real theme I am picking up on, the confluence of visual and sensory taste!!! Do I sound like a liberal arts graduate or what?!?!?!? Hahahaha. Ok, I am really going to bed now. Ciao!