Friday, December 30, 2005

Illustration Friday "Flavor"


When I think of flavor I think of coffee. I love coffee and it loves me! I don't go in for all these fancy coffees, although if I am out and there is
a cappucino machine I won't say no to a nice latte. I just go in for regular filler up ding ding good old fashioned coffee. This illustration is from my 2004 "HomeMade" calendar. Yes, you guessed it "Coffee House" is the title.
Cups grow like flowers waiting to be filled. And donuts and cookies grow from vines! The coffee is percolating in the lid and it looks like another happy day.

Sorry to all that came by this past week, I needed to amp up my work schedule on the houscape that I am painting and the holidays are the optimal time to crank on my workload. I won't be posting until after the 1st. The 31st is also my 9th wedding anniversay and 12 years together. John, Rat and I wish you all the happiest of celebrations! Have a prosperous, creative and loving New Year.

copyright 2003
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74 comments:

Caroline said...

What a great coffee pot / house!

Have a great wedding anniversary - and as the 9th is pottery - you've just done the perfect illustration for that too!

Happy New Year!

Janet said...

Neat! And the little cup flowers are so cute! I like just plain ol coffee, too.No flavors, please!But, every now and then I like a frozen coffee.Happy Anniversary (and New Year)to you!

vfm4 said...

that's wonderful... i love your imagination....

Ginger*:) said...

This is so charming and quite "tasteful"! I don't go for flavored coffees much, but during this cold winter I love to sneak some cocoa into my coffee or find comfort in a cup of ginger lemon tea. The Ginger-Lemon tea has a bit of a zing to it.

Love the illo!

Cynthia F said...

cute illustration! happy anniversary!!

Lee said...

very whimsical - happy anniversary, hope there's many more!

Cream said...

Happy Anniversary, Val!
I love the "Cups grow like flowers waiting to be filled!" I will remember this whenever I have my espresso!

Kim Carney said...

That is wonderful for Flavor!

Courtney Pippin-Mathur said...

very cute, love the steam and flowers :)

Teri said...

This is so perfect and so cute. I'll take a vanilla latte!

scott said...

ehy there valgal.
another beautiful work, that couldn't have any other title.
I love the cup flowers, they really caught my eye.
that red one seems to be moving in the breeze.
congrats on the twelve years, enjoy yourselves and I will see you in the new year.
love scott

ps. I always need some coffee, whether the word verification says so or not.

Joy Eliz said...

Happy Anniversary!
I love coffee too. When ever I see a commercial or someone mentions coffee I have to get a cup.

les said...

Mmmm...steamy and warm!

doodlegirl said...

Aww, that is so wonderful!! I love the birds, too!! I lived in Tacoma, WA for a few years in the 80s and I used to drive past a coffee shop in shape of a coffee pot, which reminded me of yours (!!) --- though yours is much more adorable, of course!

Congratulations on your wedding anniversary and Happy New Year!!!

You can view the coffee pot building here:
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/set/coffee.html

Whitney G said...

Cool looking house! I want to live in it. Except I drink tea. I don't drink coffee and I don't know the vocabulary associated with it. He he he!

Baskerville Hound said...

Such a lovely illustration- makes me feel like brewing a pot right now. Absolutely love the teacup flowers frowing....

Dana S. Whitney said...

Love these! I'm still planning a 2007 calendar... but it is in the gestation stage, to be sure! Happy Anniversary and thanks for letting us know you'll be gone for a bit.

Fern Lady said...

Oh, this is my favorite so far. it's so cheerful and colorful. Love it.

Alexandra Baptista said...

Its a great Coffee House. The flavor must be hummmmmmmmmm...delicious.

elegraph said...

this illo is darling. i love those little teacup blossoms.

Daniel said...

Great work, very warm. the mood is just like the moment you take that first sip of tea with a great friend!

congrats!

andrea said...

Mmmm... now that's flavour! Happy New Year and Happy Anniversary, Val! I look forward to your new year's offerings.

The Unknown said...

Wonderful! My girlfriend needs to live in a steamy warm coffee house. She is always cold. Love the illustration!
love

Anonymous said...

Love coffee and love your image especially the cups! Have a great 2006 with lots of flavours!!!

gudbrandsdottir said...

Uuuummm coffee....thats a flavour I couldn´t be without! Great painting, I agree with so many others here about the cups growing like flowers waiting to be filled....
Happy anniversary today (mine is tomorrow) I hope you have a great day and a happy creative 2006!

Jason said...

Excellent style, I like it. Funny. Now I am craving coffee. :)

isay said...

All the best and congratulations and best wishes on your wedding anniversary and have a wonderful new year's eve, too!

this illustration has made me smile. i like it so much.

Weichuen You said...

I love the warm and homey feel in your coffee house illo. It makes me want to have afternoon tea though it's already nighttime here!

Unknown said...

Ahhh wonderful!
love those cup flowers. I've seen on some garden shows where they take actual cups and saucers and place them on copper tubing for bird seed feeders in the garden.
your illo reminded me of that.
Have a great new year and anniversary.

carla said...

Oh...I love this one, Val! It has everything in it that I like...coffee, a cat, birds, flowers, a little mouse, even a table outside! So pretty and happy! I want to wish you a very Happy Anniversary and of course...Happy New Year!

Merlyna said...

happy anniversary and happy new year!
what a wonderful coffee-house.. perfect for your new year/anniversary party

Marcus said...

Your work is sensational, and I want to move into your coffee house.

I too love coffee, but it's a guilty love. I hated coffee until I was in my mid 20s. I thought that it smelled good, but I was upset that it didn't taste the way it smelled.

Then suddenly, in grad school, I started liking it. But the coffee I LEARNED to like was the coffee in this little cafe. It was el-cheapo (i.e. Maxwell House), made in a Mr. Coffee. And -- to my shame -- I've never learned to like "good" coffee.

So-called "gourmet" coffee always tastes horrible to me. I actually prefer the "bad" office coffee to anything from Starbucks or one of NYC's (where I live) glorious coffee shops.

I feel like someone who prefers Tom Robbins to Tolstoy. But, as Woody Allen says, "The heart wants what it wants."

Unknown said...

Another Masterpiece ValGal. Do more.

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of the nursery rhyme about the old bag who lived in a ginormous shoe. Yours is better, of course. :)

valerie walsh said...

i enjoy these comments soooo much! i am loving what you all have to say about yourselves and what you think! i appreciate the effort that you all make to say something and I want you to know that like a lot of the artists and participants I really make every effort to take my free time and look at everybodys work and make a comment back to all the people that submit. seriously, the only reason I might miss someone is the list colour randomly changes orange and i am not sure why? But if I don't catch you on this round I will on the flip side. Thank you everyone and you are a special group that I embrace wholeheartedly! Happy New Year all!oh and i love when you peeps give me me house ideas, even tho I have a million and one ideas i could always use more... so keepem comin

Katili said...

Oh, this is so playful, the idea is absolutely wonderful with the cups being flowers. The colour are very fairytalebook-like and I like the whole image's safe and comforting atmosphere. Very good drawn !

TheTart said...

As always just marvelous. And your little friends are in this one too!

Smooch,
The Tart

Radha a.k.a Ratlion said...

Hello. I thought of coffee the first thing too :) Love that brew...and love those little cup and saucer flowers!

raim said...

I'm a coffee lover too...
Happy new year...and a Happy Anniversary
:0)

String said...

I love coffee too and I love those colours! I'll have a cup thank you very much, right there on the lawn!

Doodlestreet said...

I'll join String on the lawn for a cup of jo. (she's my cousin, don't cha know). I'll have a dark roast only...no flavor for me as well...you're illos are so sweet. I really love how each one is so vivid with color, and they are so inviting. Very very very nice stuff. Now about this rain....

Regina said...

love this! So whimsical and sweet. Beautiful colors!

Dorkus Americanus said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Dorkus Americanus said...

Clever idea and very nicely done! Your coffee pot house reminds me of a coffee cup sculpture on the yard of a neighbors house
[IMG]http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c257/suzykendall/random%20stuff/miralomapark.jpg[/IMG]

Grace Garton said...

Absolutely fabulous, I can smell the coffee brewing from here!
I wandered around your site and just love your illustrations. And what a fantastic studio!
I'll be coming back here often.
oh and thanx for posting a comment on my blog.:)

Anonymous said...

Vow, what a line of comments. The picture is absolutely beautiful.

WCTs said...

Happy New Year..your houses are charming and uplifting!

albina said...

Happy Holidays and Happy Anniversary!
Lovely Illo!Your artwork turning me into Pavlov Dog, I have to go and brew a pot! Just good old fashioned Columbian, no bells and whistles, just enough caffeine to draw till I drop!
Thank you for being my very first comment ever!

Kelly said...

ydz

Kelly said...

This is wonderful--great colors and concept!

Julie Kieras said...

A coffee house! I love that - I love coffee to, unfortunately the caffeine doesn't love me, so I have to DE-caf it... Great illo - I enjoyed the whimsy of it!
Thanks for stopping by my site as well!

Todd DeWolf said...

I can feel my brain perking up all ready. Love your little coffee house. So clever! Happy anniverary too.

RHoward454 said...

I really like this a lot. And being a coffee hound I really appreciate the subject matter.

modroom said...

If those little 'uns at the table drink too much coffee they'll be dancing through the vines.

Ian T. said...

Val, I don't have anything much intelligent to say about this perfect picture, except that I spent a long time looking at it. I love the colours, the way you've set up the round parts of it in 2 and 3 dimensions, the composition, the framing and small elements - brilliant, lovely work!

And I can smell the coffee...

Liz Jones said...

Oh, I love this! Love the colors, love the feel of it (Love the COFFEE too!). Nice job!

Twisselman said...

Wonderful coffee house. Yep, I'm a reg'lar coffee drinker, too. Can't go to Starbucks. People look at you weirdly if you just order a vente cup of the day... and no, I don't need you to save room for cream or anything. Happy Anniversary and New Year and great success on your housescape.

Karlishhh said...

You have a super waw imagination, you mix the colors very well,

Jaimie said...

beautiful as always. I just love your soft colors. lovely technique. Mmmmm coffee. I like the fair trade dark roast sumatran.

Mustashrik said...

truly wonderful work valgal! im loving the love you have for coffee, i do too! it keeps us students going through the semesters daytime! ;)

RedT0pMedusa said...

nice details cute style very very nice

so nice i might turn you to stone...

-redt0p

CosasEnEstereo said...

wow OMG great great great color and design i love this one too much it looks like a fairy tale.

Wilnara said...

Val I am smelling the coffee brewing! The coffee house looks so warm and inviting. I love how this image seems so simple and peaceful but, if you look real close the little details add extra warmth. I especially love the detail of the little tea cup flowers. I do agree w/ the earlier post- I can see myself in a coffee house just staring at this image for hours. Val, thanks so much for giving us such joy with your work.

Grangry said...

I know its coffee, but this has shades of the mad hatters tea party about it! Its brilliant!

Baskerville Hound said...

Hey Val- can you please confirm your email address for me? you can leave it on my blog if you like- i tried sending you some info on the travelling art journal project & an invite to the blog, but it bounced back to me :(

Chuang Shyue Chou said...

Very very refreshing piece oozing with favour. I like it!

Majane said...

I love this! Thanks for dropping by my blog and the compliments!

ste-pha-nie said...

Gosh you got a lot of comments! Happy anniversary to you and John. Me and my John are celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary today! How cool is that.

PS - I love coffee also.

Tant C said...

Happy Anniversary!

So wonderful! Love it!! and coffee, too.
Cat and mouse, they're cute ones :)

And Happy New Year!

TXArtcGal said...

Is it tea time already? Great illustration! Love the colors!

Unknown said...

Oh my goodness happy anniversary. My anniversary was on the 31st too. We've been married 18 years. How funny.

Love this little coffee pot/house. The illustration is so warm and welcoming....now I need to go make a pot of coffee.

Happy new year

Natura said...

Feels so good aout there, very friendly and warm as your beautiful work.

Have a wonderful year!

Aravis said...

This is so sweet and inviting; I love it!

agata said...

It's a wonderful illo! I love its warmth.
And I must say I admire the rest of your work too.
Belated Happy Anniversary!:)