Bakewell Tart~Watercolors~And Internet Usage.

It's no secret I love the GBBS:)

And I have grown fond of Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry..

I hear things are changing..I hope I still get to see the show.

I like them together..and she is amazing.

81 years amazing.

Anyway..I have seen Mary Berry's bakewell tart here and there and decided to make one..I used the crust I have fallen in love with..I shared it here..

just try it..it's so easy and so good..

doesn't fall apart..crispy and flaky.

PS Edit today Sept 24th..in emailing with my friend Linda I remembered I omitted to mention here I had 4 tbsps of jam..I covered the base of my 9 inch fluted pan.

I must have merged a few of Mary's BT recipe found here and there.

I was quite unpro though and used an almond frangipane type filling I bought in the USA..

Next time I will make my own..because I do like being true to a recipe to give an honest review..as it stands it is delicious.And pretty.

So if possible even moe delish following the recipe.

the one on her recipe..

here..I used store bought raspberry jam..lovely sliced almonds and then a drizzle of icing sugar glaze..

after all fall was Wednesday..the 21rst..

I made a stew the 19th and it was boiling out..

I am in the mood for fallish food now.

Onto what is interesting to me..and I have no clue of knowing how to determine..

I have had an Instagram account for a long time..and never used it..never looked..was not even curious..lately..I became curious..seems our internet usage is at 75% after less than half time..

can this be it?

I would hate to think..that it takes up that much usage:(

And...

I mentioned I would sometimes talk about watercolors..

Now is a good time to start?

If watercolors are not for you..just skip:)

I know it makes for a long post.

Most..if not all.. my watercolor books.Some I have had for 100 years.

See the Quinn violet blob on the # above?

That was not planned I bumped my brush while loading colors for the swatches and it spattered on my man..it's my favorite blob..it ran into the beard etc..

that's what her art is about..letting colors merge and create beauty..

Jean Haines

In the past 20 years I have bought a few watercolor books..then in the past 6 years..I added some..and more recently 4..
I don't have that many as you can see..
and I don't know what I get exactly out of each one of them..yet..
I will read..experiment..and maybe get a better sense of what works for me..

but I know one.. I have particularly liked  very much..
and it is You Can Paint Watercolors in Twelve Easy Lessons/ Yuko Nagayama....
I will get into that one..later..on another post w/ another paint set or two.

So that's not the one I am going to talk about here..

I am going to talk about the Jean Haines one.. World of Watercolor..and the DS paints..

I have loved her work online and two artists had mentioned her in the same week..I'd love to get looser..so I went for it..

I am just starting to really look at it...it's beautiful..lots of animals...I may try the chicken..well I did:)but it's not presentable..there are koi..a koala..chickens..etc..
I would have loved more vegetables..outdoor scenes..countryside..etc..she has many books so perhaps I picked the wrong one..but I love her choice of colors..and the loose dreamy look of all her work here..Atmospheric it is called..
She has some nice tutorials..and I plan on practicing:)
And plan on reading her every word:)


there's a lot of what to have..in it..supplies etc..about which paints she had when starting out and how she  kept getting to know colors and buying more..and how they please her.
I admit to being such a paint lover..I love a new tube!♥
So..as I said just getting into it:)

I had mentioned the DS color cards..this is the only one my shop has..
The paintings you see..are 2 paintings I did..copying what I saw in her tutorials..albeit the Christmas tree one is minus a cute little child..

A funny thing about the man in the hat if you can make it out..she calls him a cowboy and in her detailed piece he does look like one..but in this one..I saw Monet.
The swatches I painted on the right hand side are not the colors I used..some yes..not all..
But I wanted to show you colors I loved on that card..and the quinacrodones win for me..
I have Quinn Rose and Quinn Gold..I have a few on my wish list..
I also bought Imperial Purple because of this card..and Anita's cards..you may remember I received dot cards from her:)

I don't like the luminescent colors at all for me.They are on the bottom portion of the dot card you see above.

The Christmas ornament one..I had painted something terrible on the other side so flipped it to paint this..the paper was still a bit wet..so wet on both sides..it gives it the feeling of fabric ..sort of when dry..
oh well..

here is my favorite paper/ art journal..one of them  ..I do have a few others;)
I bought it through Curry's online and I should have bought 2 in my initial order..I like it so much..I save it for things I apply myself to:)
I wish we could just go to our fave art store and buy them.
Thank goodness I have my big St-Armand's book♥

So first of all..this is for novices..like me..not the paper..but..

..see the cold press words above?

That means you will have some texture in the paper.
Hot press..think of it as ironed paper..
Rough grain..I don't like ..apart from the one I get in Montreal from St Armand..I love that one..it has a lot of texture..but it's not hard..hard to explain..

I save that book for small things here I like..a miniature cup..a miniature vase..I should really scan instead of taking photos at the last minute..it's brighter and whiter and crisper in person.

I love Daniel Smith colors..I love them..M Graham are vivid ..and I like the ones my Fl friend had me try..
but I think I love DS more..
I squeeze the tube paints into empty half pans or palettes..
those are like a collection though:)
Half pans and pans are hard to come by here..so I just ordered more from the UK..shipping is not great.More than the actual pans.

I'll come back to paints and the novice;) later..

I did get one comment I found very interesting about investing in watercolors for a débutante..

I read all the time..invest in the best paints etc.. you can afford..but I do know that painting will not be for everyone..

so..
Artist Loft  brand,cheap and cheerful..Michaels..Amazon..for loads of colors..the coupons do not work at our Michaels as they are considered always low price..
but if you want to SEE if you could get into painting..and do not want to invest too much..these would be fun..
I took an online art class 2 yrs ago..or 3 ..and the recommendation was Prang..I have those too..cheap and cheerful..whole different consistency..very bright ..rich gummy..
The Artist Loft..I compare to higher end Grumbacher ..I have the 24 color set that actually came w/ 23 colors:(
Amazon..I only noticed much later..
so I never said anything.

I find Grumbacher..in this form..chalky and that is the attribute I would give to AL..

and not because they come in pans..because I have pan ones that are not chalky..but to start..AL  paints..would tell you..in using watercolor..if you love to paint or not:)

Blablabla..I am a novice..my tastes..are novice like..but just in case some want to try:)

And that paper ..Michael's ..you can use your coupon and there is a LOT for that price..not textured..not flat..not great..but to start..:)

Or..we can just bake;)As I know a bit more about baking than painting..and even that not a lot...like many of you.

Bon weekend!
In case our usage gets cut off..I am publishing..now;)