Dessert Anyone? - 4″ x 6″ Watercolor & Ink

“There is a criterion by which you can judge whether the thoughts you are thinking and the things you are doing are right for you.
The criterion is:   Have they brought you inner peace?”

–Peace Pilgrim

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Dessert Anyone? - 4″ x 6″ Watercolor & Ink

This is the last one I painted from Lin’s photos at WetCanvas.  It was actually two different photos for this one painting.  They seem to have the yummiest desserts over in the UK.  I have painted a lot of desserts over the years from WetCanvas’ European artists’ photos.  Fun!

Peace Pilgrim

From 1953 to 1981 a silver haired woman calling herself only “Peace Pilgrim” walked more than 25,000 miles on a personal pilgrimage for peace. She vowed to “remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace, walking until given shelter and fasting until given food.” In the course of her 28 year pilgrimage she touched the hearts, minds, and lives of thousands of individuals all across North America. Her message was both simple and profound. It continues to inspire people all over the world.

“This is the way of peace:  Overcome evil with good, and falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.” ….Peace Pilgrim

Valentine’s Dessert 5 – 4.5″ x 4.5″ Watercolor

“When we let go of our battles and open our hearts to things as they are, then we come to rest in the present moment. This is the beginning and end of spiritual practice.”
–Jack Kornfield

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Valentine’s Dessert 5 – 4.5″ x 4.5″ Watercolor

Just when you thought you were too full for any more dessert…. I spring the best one on ya!  he he   This is my favorite of all the desserts.  Are you dying to see the original tray of pastries I painted these from?  Let me see….  Oh, here it is.

Photo by Mo at WetCanvas - Betty's Tea Room in York, UK

Okay… now here are my versions….

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

How fun is that?  And to answer the question that must be swimming around in your head….  My only chemical influences are coffee and pure joy! 

Jack Kornfield is one of the leading Buddhist teachers in America. A practitioner for over 40 years, he is one of the key teachers to introduce mindfulness and vipassana meditation to the West. His approach emphasizes compassion, lovingkindness and the profound path of mindful presence, all offered in simple, accessible ways in his books, CD’s, classes and retreats.  Source: www. jackkornfield.com

Valentine’s Dessert 4 – 4.5″ x 4.5″ Watercolor

“Most would not think of work as a prize. That is often due to the concept we have of work.

 Work can be that of an artist, the work of creation. Such work is not the response to a whistle or the boring activity that follows a punched time card. Creative work is the fullest human expression of being alive. It comes from the inside out and has no boss other than an inner demand to create a thing of beauty that previously did not exist.

 The primary task of human beings is to creatively work at making our lives a remarkable thing of beauty. Whether we be butcher, baker, or candlestick maker there is always the opportunity to make a truly creative effort of a life’s work by pounding out our dents and polishing that which is already beautiful. When we understand that life is the medium and we are the canvas, our efforts to improve become an exciting challenge rather than a boring task.”

–Earnie Larsen & Carol Larsen Hegarty

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Valentine’s Dessert 4 – 4.5″ x 4.5″ Watercolor

Yes, it’s another dessert.  How fun is that?  All the fun of looking without being attempted to divulge.  This was painted from that same tray of desserts by Mo at WetCanvas.

About the Authors

Earnie Larsen is the author of Stage II Recovery and Stage II Relationships, and coauthor with his sister Carol Hegarty of Days of Healing, Days of Joy.    Sorry, but that is all I could find.  While I was searching though, I ended up buying one of their books from textbooks.com.  “Believing in Myself – Daily Meditations for Healing and Building Self Esteem”.  There should be some great quotes in there for the blog! 

Valentine’s Dessert 3 – 4.5″ x 4.5″ Watercolor

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order,
confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast,
a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace
for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
–Melody Beattie

Yeah!!!  I love that!!

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Valentine’s Dessert 3 – 4.5″ x 4.5″ Watercolor

Yummmm.  Now I’m hungry.  Not a good way to start the day.  Yesterday, I was surprised with a dozen red roses from my hubby.  He doesn’t normally do flowers and I was thrilled!!  The last time he sent flowers was to mark my first Valentine’s day as a married lady.  That was 9 years ago.  He’s pretty wonderful and I’m a lucky girl!

This painting was done from a photo reference of a tray of desserts by Mo at WetCanvas.

Melody Beattie

Melody Beattie is one of America’s most beloved self-help authors and a household name in addiction and recovery circles. Her international bestselling book, Codependent No More, introduced the world to the term “codependency” in 1986. Millions of readers have trusted Melody’s words of wisdom and guidance because she knows firsthand what they’re going through. In her lifetime, she has survived abandonment, kidnapping, sexual abuse, drug and alcohol addiction, divorce, and the death of a child. “Beattie understands being overboard, which helps her throw bestselling lifelines to those still adrift,” said Time Magazine.  Source: melodybeattie.com

Valentine’s Dessert 2 – 4.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor & Sharpie

The more you love, the more love you are given to love with.
–Lucien Price

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Valentine’s Dessert 2 – 4.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor & Sharpie


Happy Valentine’s Day!  Here is your second calorie free dessert for Valentine’s week.  The pastry was from a reference photo by Mo at WetCanvas.  The plate and doily are  all me! 
Sophie at Just4Crafters has a cool tutorial for a Valentine’s Day card.  I may try my hand at it today.  It looks like so much fun.  She had a cool birdhouse (The Love Shack)  tutorial before that, if you have a little more time on your hands.  Thanks Sophie!

Junius Lucien Price (January 6, 1883 – March 30, 1964), who also published under the name Seymour Deming, was the author of more than a dozen books and a writer for publications such as The Boston Evening Transcript and The Atlantic Monthly. At the time of his death at age 81 he was still writing for the Boston Globe.  Source:  Wikipedia

With love comes promises of sentiment as rapturous as fall’s splendor of color and as delicate as a crystal of snow. Love empowers us to handle the struggles that bind us, the struggles that stretch us to grow. The familiar sights and muffled sounds of each moment vibrate with greater intensity when we’re giving and receiving love.
We’re deluded to think the love of others will complete us, so we strive for it; we long for it. But we receive love only when we’re unselfishly offering it. It is one of life’s wonderful mysteries that we must first give love away if we hope to get it.
Loving another tests our patience, strength, and security. Love spurned is dreaded and perhaps too familiar, but we must risk it once again if we are to find the love we deserve. 
The gifts of love are many and guaranteed when the act of love is honest, unselfish, whole, and unconditionally offered.
– Karen Casey

Karen Casey

Millions of people around the world spend a few moments in quiet reflection with Karen Casey every day. Karen is the best-selling author of Each Day a New Beginning, the first daily meditation book written expressly for women in recovery from addiction. Published in 1981, Each Day a New Beginning has sold more than three million copies and has been translated into ten different languages. Over the years, readers around the world have come to regard Karen as a trusted companion on the recovery journey. Among her other best-selling inspirational books are Keepers of the Wisdom, A Woman’s Spirit, Fearless Relationships, and A Life of My Own. In her newest book, Serenity (Hazelden, 2007), Karen shares favorite passages that gently convey simple lessons for living with greater peace, hope, and trust. Karen enjoys golfing and riding her Harley with her husband. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Naples, Florida.

Valentines Dessert Art 1

“We each need to let our intuition guide us, and then be willing to follow that guidance directly and fearlessly.”
– Shakti Gawain

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2012

Valentines Dessert Art 1 – 4.5″ x 4.5″ Watercolor

It’s Valentines week, so I made you sweet treats that won’t put a single inch on your waistline.  There’s one for each day of the week.  Mo from WetCanvas posted a tray full of yummy treats from York, in the UK.  Rumor over at WetCanvas has it that these treats came from Betty’s Tea Room.

About Shakti Gawain

American New Age author Shakti Gawain was born in 1948. Raised by atheists who taught her to question everything, she went through an existential crisis after a romantic breakup, which led her on a pilgrimage to India. Her experiences inspired the book Creative Visualization, which became an international best seller. She has been featured in Time magazine and has appeared on such shows as Oprah, Good Morning Americav and The Larry King Show. She currently lives in California with her husband Jim Burns.

Tasty Tidbits

“Dreams come true. Without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them.”
– John Updike



Tasty Tidbits – 7″ x 8″ Watercolor

This was painted from a photo by Astrid at WetCanvas.  Astrid and her hubby like to go on cruises and this is some of the desserts found on one of their trips.   I have never been on a cruise.  I’m not sure I’d like it.  I sure did have fun painting the desserts, though!

Power was out all morning, here in Eufaula again.  Another bad storm came through last night and downed some power lines.  They had a water main break, too.  This time, I stuck it out, since I already had a fire truck in my shop, ready to be lettered.  Thank goodness I had all the graphics ready.  No electricity or water needed.  At noon, they had it all back on.  Now I’m waiting on the storm that’s due to hit this afternoon.  Let’s hope our brand new mayor doesn’t have to deal with a third outage this week.  (fingers crossed)  

About John Updike

John Updike, the Pulitzer Prize–winning American novelist known for his careful craftsmanship and small-town settings, published more than 60 books before his death in 2009. Born in Pennsylvania in 1932, he suffered from stammering as a child and was encouraged by his mother to write. After college, he joined The New Yorker as a regular contributor. He is best known for his series of novels about a fictional alter ego, including Rabbit, Run and Rabbit at Rest.