Culture
Cultural facts, history, traditions, events, festivals, foods and more from a location.
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Creative Wanderlust Adventure: Favorite Holiday Foods
What are your favorite foods to bake, cook, or more importantly EAT at the holidays? We do have some family food traditions we love to make around the holidays. Cracked Dungeness crab is always a favorite. Served with San Francisco sourdough bread and a big salad… it’s definitely a crowd pleaser. Another San Francisco dish we often make around this time of year is the American/Italian fisherman’s stew, Cioppino. This stew is also very tasty with a sourdough baguette. It’s the perfect tool to to mop up the soup! On the sweeter side, I always love my mom’s steamed persimmon pudding. It’s served warm and drizzled with either cream or a side of vanilla ice cream. Delicious!…
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Creative Prompt: Draw and Tell the Stories of Your Holiday Ornaments and Decorations
Ever since I was a little girl, my mom has kept a wonderful tradition of giving my siblings and I an ornament every year. Typically the ornaments are from a trip my parents have been on or memory from that year. Some of the ornaments were even ones she and I made together (i.e., salt dough ornament in the below photo.) Once we were out on our own, my mom gave us all our ornaments so we could decorate our own tree. That first tree I had in my tiny studio apartment in San Francisco was filled with a lifetime of memories. It was magical! I knew at that moment I would carry on this…
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Wanderlust Inspiration: Old Books at Trinity College Library
The smell of old books and intriguing tales wafted through the quiet room. Some where and at some time, every page had been turned. For any book lover, a visit to Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland is a pilgrimage. The iconic Long Room in the Old Library, completed in 1732 represents the ultimate in book sanctuaries. This exceptionally long space (213 feet/65 meters) is laid out in rows of nooks, each filled with stacks of shelves lined with tightly packed old books. Some of the nooks have ladders to reach the upper shelves, and some have a beautiful iron spiral staircase leading to the second level. At the entrance…
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Creative Wanderlust Adventure: Finding Inspiration in a Recent Read – Crying in H Mart
I just finished Michelle Zauner’s book Crying in H Mart for my bookclub and although the book had a lot of sadness, as the main character processed the grief of losing her mother, I couldn’t help but be highly intrigued by the constant Korean food references that threaded throughout the book. Since H Mart grocery story is prominently featured in the title, I was also inspired to experience it for myself! Although I have tried a few Korean dishes (I do love bibimbap) I must admit, I’m pretty naive to all the dishes and foods I would find. Near me there are actually 3 H Marts relatively close by, so…
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Creative Wanderlust Adventure: Finding Stories Everywhere
Los Angeles is the city of stories. At any given moment, one has to wonder how many writers are working away crafting the next television show or movie plot. On a recent trip to LA, I too was inspired by stories. When I put my mind to it, I could start seeing them everywhere. A person would be walking in front of me down Fairfax… what was their story? I would pass a building on Sunset… what happened there? I would over hear a snippet of a conversation in Beverly Hills… what was on their minds? I soon latched on to my perfect character, in the perfect setting, with a…
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Wanderlust Patterns: Exotic India Collection
I dream of traveling to India one day to soak up the colors, landmarks, symbols, and motifs of this culturally rich and diverse country. From the Pink City of Jaipur to the Taj Mahal in Agra, the visual feast of patterns is incredible. Inspired by stories I’ve heard, I created this Exotic India collection to celebrate this beautiful place in the world. If you are interested in licensing my illustrations or patterns in this collection, please contact me for details. For more licensing information, feel free to browse my portfolio.
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At Home Creative Adventures: Learn French and Make a Doodle Word Book
Doodle your way to learning a new language by making a mini-book filled with foreign words to learn. Think of all the possibilities! You could make one of these before each trip to familiarize yourself with foreign phrases. Or if you’ve always wanted to speak french, say, make a whole collection of these doodle word books. To start, follow the Make Your Own Mini-Journal/Sketchbook lesson to create a booklet. Next, pick a topic (say, around the house like this example) and start doodling! Below is a video to show the process of drawing the doodles. Here are some pictures of the final book. I added a border around each spread…
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At Home Creative Adventures: Take Out Sushi Collage
Celebrate your favorite take out food with this creative collage exercise! This may look a lot more complicated than it actually is, but don’t panic, it’s actually quite simple! First find a take out menu (or print one out from online if you don’t have any) and lay it out on a table. Use a variety of watercolors and place color blocks around the menu. Once dry begin to cut the shapes. For instance, for the nigiri, I first cut a “white” oblong shape, then cut a colored shape (salmon, or tuna perhaps?) Lastly I placed a green “seaweed” wrapper on top. Glue the shapes down on a piece of…
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Creative Inspiration: Forget the Fish – Sketch the Signs at Pike Place Market in Seattle
There is a reason Pike Place Market is one of the top destinations when visiting Seattle. From discovering the food delicacies and handmade goods to listening to buskers and people watching, a local market is the best place to capture the feel of a locale. Pike Place Market has all that Seattle and the Pacific Northwest is known for – fresh fish (flying overhead!), ripe Rainier cherries, blooming flowers, and even Rachel the Pig. You can spend the better part of a morning just soaking it all in. But one aspect of the market that is frequently overlooked is all the incredible signage. Capture the Signs of Pike Place Market…
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Creative Inspiration: Go on a Rainbow Hunt in the Castro, San Francisco
The Castro is definitely one of the most colorful neighborhoods in all of San Francisco! The extra large rainbow flag, the defining landmark of the area, flies proudly over the intersection of Market and Castro Streets welcoming all to the inclusive neighborhood. A Rainbow Hunt Beyond the main flag, there is no shortage of more rainbows to spot in the Castro. Rainbow banners hang from light posts and there is a cross walk lined with rainbow colors. For an easy entertaining game while exploring, play “I Spy” with your friends and try to be the first to spot the rainbows you see. If you are looking for an even more…