Harvest

 

"Every tree, every growing thing as it grows, says THIS truth,

you harvest what you sow."

— Rumi

Ça y est !

I picked some of my orange and green cherry tomatoes. 

They are riping in a basket slowly and surely. 

In Loches, France, it's been exceptionally cool and rainy summer. 

Tomatoes, fruit trees, and other plants suffered. 

Most of my tomatoes are still green now.  

I heard that before a tomato rots, you could pick green tomatoes and let them ripe in a basket. 

So, that's what I will do. 

For me, from seed to riped tomato, it took four months and a half to grow. 

In warmer climates, it will take only two to three months. 

What grew well in excessive rain were zucchinis, mushrooms, and Marigold flowers. 

We planted two zucchini plants last year, and they grew well. This year, zucchini plants grew surprisingly bigger than last year. The garden bed which we made for zucchinis was not big enough. Zucchini plants went way over an edge of it. Since I did not expect the zucchini plant to grow so big, I planted some green beans next to them. I was afraid that green beans would be overshadowed and would not grow. However, they found their ways to grow and still gave us some green beans.  

We planted three cucumber plants, they grew fine, but one eggplant plant died because it got sick. 

I failed to master the use of mulch, so the weed took over the garden. 

Since it rained so much, so I did not tend our garden for days. And that was a big mistake. One time, the weed grew as big as the plants, which was quite overwhelming and discouraging. 

My friend Julie encouraged me to work on the garden for 30 - 60 minutes EVERY DAY, and her advice helped me. We must tend our garden a little bit every single day; otherwise, the weeds start to grow. 

I avoided working on the garden when it was wet, but actually, it was the best time to pull out weeds. 

Well, for someone who did not know much about gardening, the plants grew somehow.  

I am constantly fighting to get rid of weeds. Our garden reflects my garden skills — not very experienced. 

Too many rainy days

 

"What cannot be cured must be endured."

—Proverb

How are cherry tomatoes doing in my garden? 

It's been cool and wet for the last few weeks in Loches, so that's not ideal weather for tomatoes.

They are hanging in there and enduring excessive water.

From tomorrow, the sun will come out. 

Slow growing tomato

 

"Every plant grows at a different rate."

I planted cherry tomato seeds in the yogurt pot at the end of March. 
It germed in a week and then grew very slowly. 

Three of them were transplanted in our garden after "Les saints de glace" (the ice saints day - May 13th.)

The month of May was quite wet and cold in France, so it did not grow very well. 

So while we had bad weather, I covered them with a mini plastic greenhouse so the small fragile tomato plants would not get wet from excessive rain.

Today (June 10, 2021, almost two months and a half after seedling,) they are the smallest tomato plants in our garden. 

We planted one Cœur de bœuf grafted tomato plant which we bought from the marché. This grafted tomato plant is already 30 times bigger than the cherry tomato plants. It is already forming a few small green tomatoes.

I care more about cherry tomatoes plants than any other plants in our garden. 
Is it because I grew them from the seeds?

Summer is coming and after many days of rain, we are having hot days this week. 
Tomato plants will love that. 

I am confident that my cherry tomatoes will grow fine and bigger.
That they will give us plentiful delicious tomatoes this year.  

Seedling experiment

On March 31, 2021, my friend Hervé gave me one old cherry tomato. He said that I could plant its seeds. 

In this cherry tomato, there were about 35 seeds.

 

I bought a seed starting mix for the germination.
My understanding of the seed starting mix is that it is light so that the seeds can germ easily. It is different from regular soil, so I have to transplant when the seedlings have developed their second set of true leaves (about in a month?); otherwise, the plants will get sick from a lack of nutrients. 

So, I planted 20 seeds (out of 35 seeds) in the different seed starter pots.

Overall, the month of April was cold in France, so my seedling experiment was not successful.
It was done in a sunroom, not in a greenhouse, so the tomatoes grew quite slowly. 

The plants need the right temperature, sun, soil, and water to grow.
18 out of 20 seeds started to germ after one week of planting.

Three weeks after planting the seeds: 

The tomato seeds in the small biodegradable seed starter peat pots grew only two leaves.
Not very impressive. 

The tomato seeds planted in the pots made of toilette paper tube grew two leaves and the tiny third leaf.  

The tomato seeds planted in the recycled plastic pots grew four leaves. 

Tomato seeds planted in origami plant pot grew four leaves and two tiny leaves. 

(Click here to see how to make an origami plant pot.)

Tomato seeds planted in our favorite goat yogurt pots grew four leaves and five tiny leaves. 

And this was the best I could do. 

Seeds are like fish, they grow bigger according to the size of the pot. 

In an ideal situation, three weeks after planting a seed, it can grow twice as big as this one. 

At marché I bought one pineapple-tomato plant, which is 18cm (7") tall, and one grafted tomato plant, which is already 50cm (20") tall. The lady at the vegetable shop told me to wait one more week to plant them. "Les saints de glace" the 'ice saints days' (cold snap in early spring) in France, is on May 11th and ends on May 13th this year, so that's the date all gardeners are waiting to plant vegetables. 

Healthy soil

The best time to plant tomatoes, peas, green beans, zucchinis, etc. is in late spring/early summer when the lowest temperature of the day is at least 10°C (50ºF). (Someone said 10 - 14 days after the last frost day.) 

I am getting ready to plant some lettuces in my garden soon. 

I am mixing organic fertilizers and compost so the soil will have more nutrients for vegetables. 

The foundation of good gardening is to have healthy soil.

Good soil = Good plants

I took a note from various gardening sources. 

So this is what healthy soil is made of; 45% Mineral matter, 25% air, 25% water, and 5% organic. 

 

Marigolds

On YouTube, I found Gardener Scott. He gives some advice to a beginner gardener. One of the advice he gave was that to be a gardener, you have to be patient. 

There is timing for everything. 

Time to sow, plant, water, harvest, etc. 

Spring is here, but it is still cold. 

In France, the frost is damaging fruit trees now. 

This is not the time to plant outdoor. 

My friend, Hervé, planted two tomato plants in his greenhouse. He thought that they would be fine from frost, but one of them has died. 

One of our neighbors has a big beautiful vegetable garden. Every year I admire it. They plant different flowers with vegetables, so the garden looks pretty. 

They don't plant anything until May. 

I want to copy them. I will not plant anything in my garden until my neighbors do. 

As a beginner, I will learn from the expert gardeners, the experiences of others, and my own experiments.

I thought bright orange flowers would be attractive to bees and birds. So I planted Marigolds seeds in the egg box. 

As waiting for the right day to plant, I am planting seeds indoors. 

I am amused to see tiny seed germs. 

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Monday!

My vegetable garden is ready; however, it is still too early to plant. 

So, I am waiting for the right timing. 

I planted some tomato and pea seeds indoors.

I might end up buying small tomato plants in the end, but I decided to try planting the seeds just for my garden experience. 

The paper egg box is a good seed starter pot. 

My first garden lesson 101.

It's IMPORTANT to read a seed packet thoroughly.

All the information you need is written on the package.

- Plant name/picture

- Company name

- Plant description, traits, characteristics

- Price, weight, quantity

- Dates packed for/sell by

- When to sow and transplant

- Planing depth and seed spacing

- Days to germination

- Days to maturity

- Harvest time

- Level of difficulty 

It was common sense to read the instructions, but I admit that I never paid attention to it until now. 

 

Hello again

 

"We must cultivate our garden." — Voltaire

My garden tools.

Hello again, 

The last few years have been quite different because of moving and renovating a country house and a new apartment. Then previous year, Coronavirus hit worldwide, and that changed quite many things. 

Since 2012, I have been participating in a few art shows, and this time of the year, I would be busy preparing some illustrations for exhibitions. But that's all in pause now. At the moment, another lockdown in Paris.

It's now over one year that we live in an uncertain situation. Many people started to get some vaccinations, but still, we have to stay vigilant. We have to be careful not to catch the virus nor propagate it. 

I hired a marketing coach Neni, and she recommended that I post on Instagram, so I abanded blogging and started to post on Instagram. However, the blog of my friend Sarah Galloway inspires me to blog again. 

During this pandemic, we are staying in our country house in Loches instead of Paris. 

I am having a hard time focusing on my projects. 

What motivates me now is "gardening." And that's what I am inspired to draw. I am making a 240cmx370cm (7.9' x 12') rectangular vegetable garden. Right now, just digging and getting rid of weeds. I am new to gardening, so I like to take notes about it. 

Bonjour

I have not been posting on my blog for a long time now. 

Je n'ai rien publié sur mon blog depuis bien longtemps.

In 2019, we were busy selling an apartment in Paris, and by buying a new one. Then we were busy renovating the new apartment and moving. Also, I started to work with a business coach - Neni -, and she recommended that I post on Instagram rather than on my blog.

En 2019, nous avons été occupés par la vente d'un appartement à Paris, et l'achat d'un nouveau. Puis nous avons été occupés par la rénovation du nouvel appartement et par le déménagement. De plus, j'ai commençé à travailler avec un "coach business" - Neni -, elle m'a recommandé de publier sur Instagram plutôt que sur mon blog.

Despite what's going on in the world today, we are keeping ourselves busy and I keep working on my projects. I recently published the "Keep a green tree in your heart," which is a collection of illustrated proverbs from around the world with a positive message of life.

En dépit de ce qui se passe dans le monde aujourd'hui, nous restons actifs et je continue à travailler sur mes projets.  J'ai récemment publié le livre "Keep a green tree in your heart" ("garde un arbre vert dans ton cœur"), qui est une colection de proverbes illustrés du monde entier, avec un message positif sur la vie.

In 2019 I updated "ABC & Phonétique," so the next project will be that I will make audio/animations of the book.

Do you remember how you learned your language? You needed a parent to read an "ABC" to you! So I asked a French friend of mine to read "ABC & Phonétique" to us so that we can learn the French pronunciation.

It will take me some time to do the animation work, follow me on Instagram! 

En 2019 j'ai mis à jour "ABC & Phonétique", le prochain projet est de réaliser des diffusions audio et des animations du livre.

Vous souvenez-vous comment vous avez appris votre langue ? Vous aviez besoin d'un parent pour vous lire un "ABC" ! J'ai donc demandé à une amie française de nous lire "ABC & Phonétique" pour que nous puissions tous apprendre la pronciation du français.

Cela va me prendre quelque temps pour créer les animations, suivez-moi sur Instagram !

Screenshot of Yukié's Instagram

Natural Way to Draw

For those that do not follow me on Instagram @illustratorinparis, I am reposting on this blog my new challenge : 

Pour ceux qui ne me suivent pas sur Instagram @illustratorinparis, je re-publie sur ce blog mon nouveau challenge :

Since the Chinese New Year started, I have been challenging to do drawing exercises from the book "The Natural Way to Draw" by Kimon Nicolaïdes. This book was given to me by our family friend Adele when I was 18 years old. Since that day, this book has a special meaning to me.

How many times I have tried to do the exercises, but failed to do?

This year I dare to try it again.

Depuis le début du Nouvel An Chinois, je tente d'effetuer les exercices de dessin du livre "The Natural Way to Draw" de Kimon Nicolaïdes. Ce livre m'a été offert lorsque j'avais 18 ans par Adèle, une amie de ma famille. Depuis ce jour, ce livre à une importance particulière à mes yeux.

Combien de fois ai-je essayé d'effectuer les exercices, mais ai échoué ?

Cette année, j'ose ré-essayer.

I love everything Nicolaïde writes about arts and drawings.

But the exercises he recommends are difficult to do.

The reason for failing is that Nicolaïdes' teaching method requires a lot of discipline.

J'aime tout ce que Nicolaïdes écrit à propos des arts et du dessin.

Mais les exercices qu'il recommande sont difficiles à effectuer.

La raison de l'échec est que la méthode d'apprentissage de Nicolaïdes requiert beaucoup de discipline.

I am using "The 90-Day Journal" as a workbook/planner to measure my progress on "The Natural Way to Draw" exercises. 

I am using its format however instead of working on it daily, I am working on my own pace. 

For this project, it is not about finishing in 90-days, but it is all about keeping account until I accomplish it.

J'emploie le "The 90-Day Journal" comme cahier de notes / "planner" pour mesurer mes progrès sur les exercices de "The Natural Way to Draw".

J'utilise son format, mais au lieu de travailler avec quotidiennement, je travaille à mon propre rythme.

Pour ce projet, il n'est pas question de finir en 90 jours, mais tout est question de conserver un compte jusqu'à ce que je l'ai accompli.

I demystified "The Natural Way to Draw".

Kimon Nicolaïdes wrote this book as you are embarking one year of art class with him.

The book is designed to follow 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 25 weeks. 

Which means if you are a diligent student, at the end of the book, you will finish 375 hours of drawing exercises. It is daunting, and really difficult to be disciplined to do this.

J'ai démystifié "The Natural Way to Draw."

Kimon Nicolaïdes a écrit ce livre alors que vous embarquiez pour un an de cours avec lui.

Le livre est conçu pour suivre 3 heures de cours par jour, 5 jours par semaine, pendant 25 semaines.

Ce qui signifie que si vous êtes un élève consciencieux, à la fin du livre vous finirez 375 heures d'exercices de dessin.

C'est intimidant et vraiment difficile de se discipliner à faire ça.

The great thing about "The 90-Day Journal" is no matter how big is a project, you can break it down to the smallest assignments. When the project is divided into manageable plans, working on them will be possible. However, you have to be tenacious and very disciplined, otherwise, it is not going to work.

I plan to take my time. What I should not do is to quit.

La grand avantage du "The 90-Day Journal", c'est que peu importe l'importance du projet, vous pouvez le diviser jusqu'aux plus petites tâches. Lorsque le projet est divisé en parties "gérables", travailler dessus sera possible. Néanmoins, vous devez rester tenace et discipliné, sinon ça ne fonctionnera pas.

J'ai prévu de prendre mon temps. Ce que je ne dois pas faire, c'est abandonner.

You start "The 90-Day Journal" with the contract with yourself.
I signed the contract on the 31st of January, the game is on. 

Vous commencez le "90-Day Journal" en signant un contrat avec vous-même.

J'ai signé le contrat le 31 janvier, le jeu a commencé.

It took me a while to study the book and how I could work on it.
Mind-mapping helps me to see the planning better, I am breaking down the program of the book.

Ça m'a pris du temps pour étudier le livre et voir comment je pourrais travailler dessus.

Le "mind-mapping" m'aide à mieux visualiser le planning, je découpe le programme du livre.

Notcha does not understand what mind-map is.

Notcha ne comprend pas ce qu'est le "mind-mapping". 

I took notes on the first chapter: The contour and gesture drawing exercises. 

J'ai pris des notes sur le premier chapitre : Exercices de dessin de contours et de mouvements

I programmed to work on the drawing exercises 30 - 60 minutes at a time.

Je prévois de travailler sur les exercices de dessin pendant 30 à 60 minutes à la fois.

Voilà, that's the first part of my drawing challenge. 

Breaking down the drawing program using my 90-Day Journal. 

The journal will help me to achieve my goal. 

Voilà, c'est la première partie de mon challenge de dessin.

Diviser le cours de dessin grace à mon 90-Day Journal.

Le journal m'aidera à atteindre mon but.

Happy Wild Pigs

"Everyone is the age of their heart."

— Guatemalan proverb

"Chacun a l'âge de son cœur."

— Proverbe guatémaltèque

Happy early Chinese New Year of the pig (wild pig)!

May you keep the young spirit in your heart all year long and forever!

Bonne année Chinoise du Cochon (cochon sauvage) avec un peu d'avance !
Puissiez-vous garder l'esprit jeune dans votre cœur, toute l'année et pour toujours !

I have been posting on Instagram on the process of making the linoleum print.

J'ai publié sur Instagram le processus d'impression par linoleum (linogravure).

Before I started, planning is important.

Avant de commencer, planifier est important.

Step 1: Preparation, tidying up the space to work.

Étape 1 : Préparation, rangement de l'espace de travail.

Step 2: Define the proverb, the illustration, sketch out color separation (including black). Trace line drawing onto the linoleum plate.

Étape 2 : Choisir le proverbe, l'illustration, esquisser la séparation des couleurs (dont le noir). Tracer les contours sur la plaque de linoleum.

Step 3: Carve the plate for black.

Étape 3 : Graver la plaque du noir.

Step 4: Print the black to validate the drawing.

Étape 4 : Imprimer le noir pour valider le dessin.

Step 5: Carve the linoleum plates for the three colors.

Étape 5 : Graver les plaques pour les trois couleurs.

Step 6: Mix primary colors to obtain each wanted color, here "cream", "pink-orange" and "brown". Print tryouts.

Étape 6 : Mélanger les couleurs primaires pour obtenir chaque couleur désirée, ici "crème", "rose-orangé" et "brun". Imprimer des essais.

Step 7: Superpose four colors one by one.

Étape 7 : Superposer les quatre couleurs une à une.

Step 8: Scan and print. Now on sale at Etsy shop.

Étape 8 : Numériser et imprimer. Maintenant en vente sur Etsy.

When you finish one project, celebrate!

Quand vous avez terminé un projet, célébrez !

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

Bonne année !

Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous year of 2019!

Je vous souhaite bonheur, santé et prospérité pour l'année 2019 !

I have been mending and perfecting my productivity planners in 2018.

Also, I started to work with a marketing/business coach Neni since the end of November. Neni coached me to post my work on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, ..., so I am following her advice. 

En 2018, j'ai amélioré et perfectionné mes plannings de productivité.

Depuis fin novembre, j'ai également commencé à travailler avec Neni, un coach en marketing. Neni m'a appris à publier mon travail sur Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, ..., alors je suis ses conseils.

This year I will post weekly on my blog about my Instagram posts — progress on my projects.

Cette année je vais publier chaque semaine sur mon blog à propos de mes publications Instagram - la progression de mes projets.

This year 2019, I will challenge to do the exercises in the book "The Natural Way to Draw" by Kimon Nicolaides, a classic book on how to learn to draw. I have been wanting to do that since the age of 18.

I love everything about this book, but the exercises Nicolaides suggests have been very difficult to follow. So I am decomposing the book, and I am transforming "the 90-Day Journal" into a workbook to go with the book.

That will be my personal drawing project of the year.

Cette année 2019, je vais tenter de faire les exercices du livre "The natural way to draw" par Kimon Nicolaides, un livre classique sur la méthode pour apprendre à dessiner. J'ai voulu faire ça depuis mes 18 ans.

J'aime tout dans ce livre, mais les exercices que Nicolaides propose sont très difficiles à suivre. Alors je décompose le livre, et je transforme le "90-Day Journal" en cahier d'exercices pour accompagner le livre.

Ce sera mon projet personnel de dessins de l'année.

I am eager to start working on my next illustrated book as well: I am still struggling to learn the genders of French nouns.

Je suis également impatiente de commencer à travailler sur mon nouveau livre d'illustrations : Je continue à me battre avec le genre des noms en Français.

I will keep you posted on my coming projects. 

Follow me now on Instagram!

Je vous tiendrai au courant des mes projets à venir.

Suivez-moi dès maintenant sur Instagram !

May you accomplish many goals in 2019.

Puissiez-vous atteindre de nombreux buts en 2019.

Sail

"To reach a port,

we must sail -

sail, not tie at anchor -

sail, not drift."

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Pour atteindre un port,

nous devons naviguer -

naviguer, ne pas rester à l'ancre -

naviguer, ne pas dériver."

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Art is...

"Art is all about starting over again."

— Quote from the book "Art & Fear"

David Bayles & Ted Orland

Randy

2 tons of stuff

2 tonnes de choses

A few years ago, I had a dream that my husband and I would move to a bigger apartment in Paris. 

Il y a quelques années, j'ai rêvé que mon mari et moi déménagions dans un appartement plus grand à Paris.

My dream came true... Well, it was not an apartment in Paris, but in September we bought a country house in Loches, and we moved 75% our stuff from our Parisian apartment to the country house in May.

Mon rêve s'est réalisé... Bon, ce n'est pas un appartement à Paris, mais en septembre nous avons acheté une maison de campagne à Loches et en mai nous avons déménagé 75% de nos affaires de notre appartement Parisien à la maison de campagne.

Right after my Beffroi art show at the end of April, I was busy with sorting out and packing to move. We had over 200 boxes full of books, tools, clothes, papers, etc. It's amazing how many things we accumulated over the years.

Juste après mon exposition au Beffroi à la fin avril, j'étais occupée à trier et emballer pour déménager. Nous avons près de 200 cartons de de livres, outils, vêtements, papiers, etc. C'est étonnant combien de choses nous avons accumulées depuis des années.

Preparing the moving was a big task, we had been packing for this for a long time, so this was the reason that I was away from blogging. We are back in Paris, and I am ready to work on my projects at last. 

Préparer le déménagement a été un gros travail, nous avons emballé pendant longtemps et c'est la raison pour laquelle j'ai été éloignée de ce blog. Nous sommes de retour à Paris et je suis enfin prête à re-travailler sur mes projets. 

Having a country house is a challenging project. There are always things to fix and clean, and it seems endless. The garden work is new to me, I hope I will be able to draw as well as working on the house.

Avoir une maison de campagne est un challenge. Il y a toujours des choses à réparer et à nettoyer, et cela semble sans fin. Le jardinage est une nouvelle activité pour moi, j'espère que je serai capable de dessiner aussi bien que de travailler pour la maison.

---

My friend Randy and his crew helped us move, and they did a fantastic job. They were efficient, reliable, and friendly to work with. They made our moving day a happy day. Thank you to Randy for the excellent job, I highly recommend hiring him if you have to move.

Mon ami Randy et son équipe nous ont aidé à déménager, et ils ont fait un travail fantastique. Ils ont été efficaces, fiables et sympathiques. Ils ont fait de notre déménagement une journée joyeuse.

Merci à Randy pour cet excellent travail, je le recommande chaleureusement si vous avez à déménager !

Randy used to have a restaurant near Panthéon, and one of his other passions is doing the BBQ.

Randy a eu un restaurant près du Panthéon, un de ses passions est de faire des barbecues !

Liana: A creature unlike any other

Illustrated book by Yukié Matsushita

“Liana: A creature unlike any other” is a children's book (4-6 years old), colorful illustrations with short texts.

The texts are written in English and French, the book can be used to learn simple vocabulary in the two languages.

"Liana : Une créature différente des autres" est un livre pour enfants de 4 à 6 ans, avec des illustrations colorées et des textes courts.
Le texte est écrit en Anglais et Français, le livre peut être utilisé pour apprendre un vocabulaire simple dans les deux langues.

It is a story of a "unique" female chameleon who overcomes difficulties because of her decision, inner strength, and positive attitude.
It is a short yet insightful story about how one's attitude changes a life and other's view.

C'est l'histoire d'une femelle caméléon "unique" qui surmonte les difficultés grâce à sa volonté, sa force intérieure et à son attitude positive.
C'est une histoire courte mais révélatrice de comment l'attitude de quelqu'un change une vie et le regard des autres.

I will be exhibiting the original illustrations of “Liana: A creature unlike any other” and my on-going project "ABC & Phonétique".

Please come visit:

from the 24th to 28th of April 2018

at Beffroi de la Mairie, 
4 Place du Louvre - 75001 Paris

Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 11 am to 5 pm

Thursday from 11 am to 7:30 pm

Saturday from 9 am to 12:30 pm

Je présenterai les illustration originales de "Liana : Une créature différentes des autres" ainsi que mon projet en cours "ABC & Phonétique".

N'hésitez pas à venir :

Du 24 au 28 avril 2018.
Au Beffroi de la Mairie, 4 Place du Louvre, 75001 Paris

Les mardi, mercredi et vendredi de 11h à 17h,
le jeudi de 11h à 19h30,
le samedi de 9h à 12h30.