PAPAYA! BLOG

PAPAYA! Artisanal Chocolates

One of the biggest and most exciting projects we've ever introduced has finally come to fruit.  Our new artisan chocolate tins are a collaboration with master chocolatier, Tom Micklin of Samadhi Chocolates in Seattle, and PAPAYA!  Each chocolate piece is hand crafted in small batches and made with the very best of ingredients and skill. They are beautifully nestled inside colorful PAPAYA! tins embellished with lots of shimmering gold. (more styles here)

TADA!!! Aren't they just beautiful!  And soo delicious.  You can imagine the nutritional trouble the staff is having packing these lovely tins up.  Having thousands of gourmet truffles on hand is really quite a dillemmma.  (Good thing we also offer a personal trainer and a gym onsite.)  We will have them available in our Flagship boutique, PAPAYA! Living very soon and they are now available on our website.  Just in time for Mother's Day!

 

Anna Willi Highfield creates magic with simple paper. Using a unique process, Anna layers cotton paper that has been stained, torn and hand sewed. A sprinkle of artistic magic brings these paper sculptures to life!

Words fail me .... oh, just one WOW!

  

Anahata Painting in Mexico

As many of you know, Anahata Katkin is the artist behind the beautiful body of work at PAPAYA. She also keeps a lovely blog over here and while we try to stay in sync with news, artwork and the like, there are many entries I like to repost here at Papaya to show the behind the scenes art-making at work.  

Here's it is again--a glimpse into the magic and mystery of painting, sketching, illustration, and the art of creating. This post is from a spring break vacation with her son. I love this.

"While in Mexico I had lots of downtime with my kiddo.  It gave me time to sketch at the beach and paint at night. This little painting above I had a chance to make while on our trip. Being slowed down is really helpful for me when it comes to painting.  I seem to be able to do digital arts better when life is moving fast. 

But painting, for me, seems to take a little gentler timing.  I need a sense of calm to be able to go with the flow of patience.  But really it's a mindset.  It doesn't actually take that long. It's being able to sit still and hang out with the finer details.  I'm chattering on about this because I try and pay special attention to the times when I feel satisfied with creating and how I got there.

Having to be productive as an artist to satisfy my career demands can put the pressure on.  And studying how you best generate your creativity is so key to keeping your flow alive.  I'm always searching for the subtleties that make artwork a bigger part of my life.  

I'm always looking to improve my relationship with creating, find ways to stay productive and avoid burnout.  This is PAPAYA's 10th year anniversary and my tenth year being a full-time artist.  So I'm trying to listen closely to my inner muse so I can keep the flow alive for another magical ten years!"

Brighten your Friday with a peek at Kristy Gammill's Textile inspired paintings.

This large scale painting would look amazing in a an all white room!

Bright and beautiful weekend to you all!

 

Anahata: New Portfolio Launch!

Check out Anahata's beautiful new portfolio launch. It is filled with luscious paintings, illustrations, incredible home decor photography and detailed information about her artistic path founding PAPAYA!, PAPAYA Living! and her life as an artist, teacher, business person. 

From the PAPAYA! Kitchen: Leftovers au gratin

Today's lunch was inspired by Mindy's Easter leftovers: ham and asparagus. The menu: Potatos au gratin, roasted asparagus and broccolini, salad, sourdough bread, and grapes.

Margaret roasted the broccollini and asparagus in a light coating of olive oil and salt, baked at 375 drgrees for 15 minutes, and drizzeled with lemon just before serving.

The salad dressing was a ratio of 5 parts: 2 parts oil (1 part olive and 1 part grapeseed) and 3 parts vinegar (1 part red and 2 parts rice) with a little dijon mustard and sugar.

Potatoes au gratin

Ingredients:
5 lb russet potatoes
1 cup half and half
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup whole milk
Leftover ham
2.5 cups grated gruyere
1 cup grated parmesan
Salt, pepper, and nutmeg
1 tbs butter

Preheat oven to 350
Wash and thinly slice the potatoes uniformly
Mix half and half, whipping cream, and whole milk in a sauce pan and heat to scalding.
Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste
Add potatoes and simmer for 5-10 minutes
Butter the bottom of a 10" x16" casserole dish
Dice leftover ham into small pieces.
In your casserole dish, spread the ingredients in layers. First layer potato mixture sprinkled with ham, second layer 1 cup grated gruyere, third layer potato mixture sprinkled with ham, fourth layer 1 cup grated guyere, fifth layer potato mixture with 1/2 cup grated parmesan and sprinkles of gruyere
Pour scalded cream mixture over all layers
Top with leftover cheese and press down tightly
Cook for 1 1/2 hours
Let stand for 15 minutes before serving

Tulum

We've just returned home from our spring break trip to Mexico.  We started here in Tulum and it was just as lovely as I had imagined. Powdered beach, go-slow lifestyle and a small town.  Traveling solo with my 12-soon-to-be-13-year-old son was a good learning experience as well.

I learned my paradise and his are two very different places.  We had a chance to learn a lot about where we're both at in life and how we like to express ourselves while traveling or at home. We compromised a lot to try and find the right groove for us both and the best ways to be together.  It was our first solo traveling and my fantasy of what that would look like and the reality where two different things.  But that's how parenting is.  Always trying to figure it out and keeping up with the changes in who they really are...at this moment.

We stayed at the adored, Teetotum Hotel in Tulum.  Where a warm hearted staff and accommodations made a great landing pad in Tulum.  Just my speed.  Look how cute it is!  That right balance of stylish and laid back- a thoughtful place with heart, that was so appreciated.

Then off to the Gran Cenote.  No photoshop tricks here.  It really Is that beautiful!  This was a real highlight in Tulum for us. In fact the Mayan Underworld proved to be a comfort throughout the trip. Often inspiring us more than the beaches.   Rowan snorkeled for half the day buried in the caves and cool water.

Then of course back to chill out at Teetotum.  Which we where very good at!

They kept the banana french toast, coffee and salads flowing for us while we played chess and did some painting!

The town had loads of tourist treasures and I was so enchanted by these dream catchers!  They where all over Tulum and made from drift woods.  (Too big to get home and the shop keepers where kinda crabby anyway.)  But being the shopper that I am of course I loaded up on sticks of homemade, local, Mayan copal-resin incense and this amazing cowgirl neck thingy!

Tulum was a lovely, enchanted place.  I hope to go back one day with a little more time and less G rated, more tequila inspired perhaps. (just sayin)  But spending quality time with my son was the best part of the trip and of course the reason for going at all.  I have so much more to share from Mexico as soon as I do some more unpacking.  Happy to be back in Ashland for now.  Big hugs!  xoxox...

 

Golden Easter Eggs

I love Easter. It's the start of spring, flowers blooming, that pastel palette I tend to gravitate towards & sweet art & craft projects like these gold foiled eggs. I am especially in love withe bunny ears!

You can use gold foil paint, gold foil or metallic gold spray paint...each with a varied effect. 

I see a craft project in my near future. Easter is early this year & it's crept up on me but I think a little nest of these foiled eggs is a must for my Easter dinner table.

Happy Easter & spring everyone. xo

Tuesday Inspiration: Alexandra Valenti

Tuesday inspiration comes from talented photographer and painter Alexandra Valenti. I love the Patterns and sheer color that play across these images. 

Bohemian vibe meets classic beauty! This one reminds me of Marilyn Monroe in her last film "The Misfits" Anyone else feeling that?

 

 

Hello Spring, Hello New Painting

It's spring, it's a new quarter, it's a new painting to play with! Anahata just finished this amazing piece and we are loving the pink, aquas & greys, the pattern play with woodland creatures & the soft edges. Please stay tuned for pieces of this on perhaps a pouch? An iphone case? A tote? Possibilities are vast.