Shanghai dumplings and Shanghai noodles by Ming's

Went on a date last night, DH and I. Went to The Artist, the award-winning film I wanted to see ever since hearing the music and wondering about that cute dog on the Golden Globes. When I told my date there was a dog in the movie about the size of Alice Brown, he said okay we could go. Woof!

Is it in black and white? Yes. Is it a silent movie? Most of it. And that’s all I’m gonna say because I don’t want to spoil it for you. A fine, heartwarming flick!

Where to go for an after-movie snack? It’s Chinese New Year! Chinatown is in the opposite direction from home, but I felt like acknowledging my ancestral heritage nevertheless, so taking a cue from my friend Lori, I suggested we find Ming’s Chinese Restaurant in the little shopping center at Waiakamilo road and Dillingham boulevard in Honolulu and eat some Shanghai dumplings.

That’s not what they’re called by the restaurant, but you can look for a picture of them, similar to the one I made above, on the menu. We ate the dumplings by loading each onto a soup spoon, biting off the tip, slurping the soup that is inside, and only then ate the pork filling and its wrapper. Mmmm, good. Very tasty! And even better with red vinegar already on the table. No need to ask for it.

DH pronounced we could do this again. Good movie. Delicious snack. Renewing date night.

Copyright 2012 Rebekah Luke

A photo panoramic view of Lanihuli peak from Luluku on a sunshiny winter day. I've made several paintings in oil of the vicinity. I like to paint in the landscape as much as I like to blog. Access is from Ho‘omaluhia Botanical Garden. Please see the painted images below.

I had a Reiki client this morning, too. That is great for my being. Then I was glad to get some nice email from some folks I hadn’t heard from for a while.

The studio is clean, that is, clean enough that I’m not going crazy with clutter, and I’m expecting my cousin Jim this afternoon when we will continue working on a new book about our family, my grandparents’ clan.

I’m on track with writing the lesson plans for the Painting classes I’m teaching starting February.

DH and I are sleeping very well since moving our bed back to the original master bedroom that we vacated to accommodate my aging father (1914-2003) and later Miss Marvelous, while her parents worked and she was not yet in school. Anticipating the kids’ move to Italy in a month or so, we disassembled the crib and moved back in after almost 10 years.

The feng shui is better in the living area, thanks to a simple rearrangement of furniture to allow for a freer flow of energy.

I’m eating more sensibly since the holidays, though enjoying Chinese New Year food, and, at this very moment, the aches and pains of aging are non-existent. I’m listening to soothing harp music and not a ball game on TV.

Yesterday I painted with the Thursday group and got some good critique from Val and Naomi, who paint differently from the way I paint, but they have good eyes and suggestions to improve the canvas I’m working on—a morning scene of Kuilima Cove on the North Shore.

I was sorry I didn’t bring a large blank canvas, for the vog gave way in the morning to clear skies and a spectacular landscape in the top photo that I should have been painting instead. I snapped two pictures with my iPhone. After posting them on Facebook, Kelley commented the mountain scene was so beautiful to her. I agreed. Nature in the right light. Yo posted she almost mistook them for one of my paintings.

In fact, I have painted scenes from this place on other occasions, and surely will paint another now that I can see the mountain up to the top, for there were few clouds, and definite form and cast shadows from a point source—the sun!

"Banyan Shade," 16" x 20"oil on canvas

"Clouds Lifting Over Lanihuli," 16"x 20" oil on canvas

"View of the Koolau Mountains" by Rebekah Luke. Richard Guy Collection.

"Golden Retreat at Ho'omaluhia," 11" x 14" oil on canvas

Reiki blessings to you!

Copyright 2012 Rebekah Luke

Kalo diptych / 10" x 7" / oil on canvas

Copyright 2012 Rebekah Luke

For the Christmas holiday I took three Christmas balls from a larger collection in a basket in the foyer and put them in a smaller display stand  in the living area for a design “repeat” where normally there is an ipu (gourd). Later I found Miss Marvelous “helped” me by neatly putting the items back the way she originally remembered them, that is, she remembered where the ipu belonged, and she saw the big basket of shiny colorful ornaments.

Today, as I packed the decorations away — it’s the 12th Day of Christmas when I usually take things down — I missed a Christmas ball from said collection. I looked around the room and noticed it sitting, again so very neatly, on a low shelf next to the portrait of me that Miss Marvelous likes. Ahahaha!

Copyright 2012 Rebekah Luke

The “Painting I” course consists of 12 weekly lessons on Wednesday from February 1 to April 25. Class sessions will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and include a lunch break. Tuition is $100 a month. Cost of materials is additional.

I just noticed it’s leap year, so you’ll either get a bonus or won’t have to feel bad if you miss one class.

Students will learn impressionistic painting in oil. Lessons will generally follow those taught by the late colorist Gloria Foss, my oil painting teacher, and as found in Foss’s guidebook How to Paint. I’ll add my own experience as a fine art painter and photographer to show you what to do.

I’ll teach you art fundamentals and the logic of light to give you a solid foundation to pursue painting as an avocation or a vocation.

What you’ll learn

Here’s just some of what you’ll learn in my Painting I:

Each lesson will consist of a brief lecture on art theory, a demonstration, hands-on still life drawing and painting in the studio, homework, and critique.

Each week we will build on the previous technique learned, and eventually we will apply what we have learned in the studio to the landscape.

Gloria Foss and me

I first met Gloria Foss at the Honolulu Branch of the National League of American Pen Women where she was an Arts member and I was a new Letters member. She was a UH Mānoa student getting her Master of Fine Arts degree. She wanted to teach. She said if all of her art teachers had explained some things from the very start, it would have been a lot easier. She was about 60. Teaching was on Gloria’s bucket list!

After I finished the black-and-white photography curricula at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena (I didn’t complete color photography), I sought a studio class to keep my eyes trained. By then Gloria had designed her own “Gloria Foss Color Course” and opened the Foss School of Fine Arts in Honolulu.

Then I had the honor and delight of making the photographs of the studio lessons in her book How to Paint. It’s now my desire to share what I learned, then and since, with others.

Tuition, materials and supplies

Your investment will be the cost of tuition—$100 a month for each of three months for a total of $300—plus the cost of materials and supplies. When you register, you will receive a complete list of art materials to buy.

For the first two or three lessons, you will not need everything on the list. All items on the list will cost an estimate of $125-$150.

Easels will be provided for class use.

An optional text is How to Paint by Gloria Foss (New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1991) that will be used for reference. It is out of print, but you can try to locate a used copy. Information on how to obtain a CD of the book will be given in class.

How to register

To reserve your place in class, send your correct name, mailing address with ZIP, phone number, and email address with a minimum $40 deposit to Rebekah Luke, P.O. Box 574, Kaaawa, HI 96730. Or, include the information in an email message to rebekahluke@hawaii.rr.com and send your deposit via PayPal with the DONATE button in the right sidebar. After your deposit is accepted I will send you a supplies list and information on where to go in Kaaawa for the first class. Happy painting!

Copyright 2012 Rebekah Luke

What’s new on your plate for 2012? Here’s what’s on mine: 1 lotus petal, 2 reunions, 2 books, 50 lei, and plenty of Skype.

This month I’m getting ready to teach my first formal course in Painting, to be launched in February at my studio in Kaaawa. Our kids and grand kids will be moving to Italy for their work around that time, and with a crib and other childrens’ things gone from our place, I’ll be rearranging the furniture to make room for a few students and floor easels. I can envision another petal of my lotus opening. Exciting!

As we have all noticed, I’m sure, this is a time of great change in our lives and on our planet. I look at these changes as part of the circle of life and events to be celebrated.

Of course, having one’s family move half way around the world is a big change, and we are helping each other adjust emotionally as well. My darling husband (DH), who was Miss Marvelous’s primary caregiver in her first year when her parents worked outside the home, and I will miss the two toddlers especially. It’s so much fun watching them develop.

Thank goodness for Skype. Thank goodness for a great reason to travel to Europe—I’m projecting in 2013—and thank goodness they will be back here in three years.

In June I’m partying and reminiscing with my Punahou Class of ’67 classmates for our 45th high school reunion. Yes, indeed, it’s been that long. Nearly everything is set for the six-day event, and I hope many will attend. We’ll have such a great time reconnecting.

In July I’m committed to welcoming the yachts of the Pacific Cup race to Hawaii, and my crew of lei makers will be on call once again.

Come August it’s a biggie. I’ll have published a new book and e-book about my relatives in time for a gathering. My cousins of my mom’s side and I are going to North Kohala on Hawaii island for a family reunion. Kohala is where my grandparents and their 15 children lived until June 1925 when they moved to Honolulu.

In 2011 I made two scouting trips there to find the old house (it had been moved, and I found it!) and to gather information for the trip. Our family is so fortunate that we can literally walk the land of our ancestors and experience the place of their birth.

And that’s it. Pretty full, huh? I’m sure yours is too. It’s meant to be. I wish you love during the transition. There still may be some bumps in the road, so take it easy. Thank you so very much for visiting, and check back often during the year. Reiki blessings to all. ~ Love, Rebekah

Copyright 2012 Rebekah Luke

One is a recipe, the next is a travel tip, and last is someone’s bucket-list item.

For my hanai brother Brian, here’s “Oven Kalua Turkey” from A Hundred Years of Island Cooking by Hawaiian Electric Co. Valerie, a sister member of Hale Kūʻai Cooperative some years ago, gave it to me. During the holidays she always has this on hand for guests, she said. I made it for Christmas Day (omitting the banana leaf because I didn’t have one) and Mom served it alongside a ham. I bought a frozen turkey and started thawing it in the refrigerator four days before cooking it. After Julia Child, I used butter.

OVEN KALUA TURKEY

Rinse and drain turkey. Line a large baking pan with foil. Wash ti leaves and banana leaf; remove fibrous part of the veins. Line baking pan with ti leaves radiating from center; place half of the banana leaf in bottom of pan. Place turkey on leaves. Rub remaining ingredients on inside and outside of turkey. Place remaining half of banana leaf over turkey; fold leaves around turkey. Crimp foil around turkey and cover pan lightly with additional foil. Roast in electric oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 6 hours. Shred turkey, adding enough of the pan liquid to moisten meat. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

For my Kaaawa neighbor Ted, who is more senior than I and who is curious about ship travel because as a member of his family has airline privileges he and his wife Dorothy have always flown, I highly recommend river cruising, and here’s the web link: http://vikingrivercruises.com. Go ahead, click on it. With the money you have saved on airfare, you can afford being pampered.

I booked a Viking River Cruise for DH and me on a whim when I quit my last job, and the trip became our 25th anniversary present to ourselves. I thought I’d better do it while I still had money in the bank. It was our first real cruise — the kind where you unpack just once — and we loved it. We rode on the Danube River on a 150-passenger longship across Austria in the December snow, stopping at the river towns and traditional Christmas markets between Germany and Hungary. Unlike us, you don’t have to go in winter.

For my alumni glee club sister Linda, who is newly retired from 9-to-5 and has painting on her bucket list, here’s a big announcement: I’ve decided to give formal lessons in how to paint, starting February, to you and a small group at my studio, following my teacher the late colorist Gloria Foss. Yes! Before I change my mind, I’m posting it here! Registration will open soon.

Linda kept whispering painting questions to me between songs in rehearsal every week, so I figured she’s serious. “I can teach you that,” I said. Teaching a course in painting will be a first for me. I’m not sure what took me so long to take this step in my journey, but I’m excited! Mahalo, Linda, for inspiring me to share what I’ve learned.

Copyright 2011 Rebekah Luke