jebana

My most recent painting of the "jebana", an Ethiopian coffee pot, at the traditional coffee ceremony in Ethiopia.

below is excerpt from an article from Epicurean.com written by Emily Doyle:
Epicurean Ethiopian coffee article

Ethiopia's coffee ceremony is an integral part of their social and cultural life. An invitation to attend a coffee ceremony is considered a mark of friendship or respect and is an excellent example of Ethiopian hospitality. Performing the ceremony is almost obligatory in the presence of a visitor, whatever the time of day. Don't be in a hurry though - this special ceremony can take a few hours. So sit back and enjoy because it is most definitely not instant.Ethiopian homage to coffee is sometimes ornate, and always beautifully ceremonial. The ceremony is usually conducted by one young woman, dressed in the traditional Ethiopian costume of a white dress with coloured woven borders. The long involved process starts with the ceremonial apparatus being arranged upon a bed of long scented grasses. The roasting of the coffee beans is done in a flat pan over a tiny charcoal stove, the pungent smell mingling with the heady scent of incense that is always burned during the ceremony. The lady who is conducting the ceremony gently washes a handful of coffee beans on the heated pan, then stirs and shakes the husks away. When the coffee beans have turned black and shining and the aromatic oil is coaxed out of them, they are ground by a pestle and a long handled mortar. Theground coffee is slowly stirred into the black clay coffee pot locally known as 'jebena', which is round at the bottom with a straw lid. Due to the archaic method used by Ethiopians, the ground result can be called anything but even, so the coffee is strained through a fine sieve several times. The youngest child is then sent out to announce when it is to be served and stands ready to bring a cup of coffee first to the eldest in the room and then to the others, connecting all the generations. The lady finally serves the coffee in tiny china cups to her family, friends and neighbours who have waited and watched the procedure for the past half-hour. Gracefully pouring a thin golden stream of coffee into each little cup from a height of one foot without an interruption requires years of practice

new painting

I just finished this new painting recently....and I adore it.   It isn't every day I finish a painting these days....and not everyday I absolutely fall in love with it.


It is from the sacred coffee ceremony in Hosanna, Ethiopia during our journey to adopt Tessa.  On this day, we went to met Tessa's angel, Amarech.  In fact, our entire group traveled to Hosanna  to meet a birth family representative/member....which I really don't have the words for right now, it wouldn't do it justice.   I can say it was entirely beautiful, sacred and one of the most important, emotional days of my life.  To see the post on Hossana go to:     This is Big Love   from our journey to ET in Feb/March 2010.  That says it all.


I knew the moment I took the photograph that I wanted to paint the moment.  That doesn't happen everyday.  I love how it came together and hope Tessa will treasure it in the years to come....

Not sure what its name is yet.   "Coffee Ceremony" seems far to mundane, not special enough.  Maybe I will go back and read my post to see what its name is....perhaps its name is "sacred".

I Heart Faces: Dramatic Black & White

This week's photo challenge is about Dramatic black and white!  Love that!  
This photo was taken on our recent journey to Ethiopia to bring our daughter home.  Not only was this apart of the most emotionally dramatic moment in my life (early March-Hosanna), it is made even more powerful and dramatic in black and white with the way the shadows fall on her face as she prepares the coffee ceremony.  It was a beautiful moment and I hope you enjoy it too.

This is Big Love

-Hosanna is my daughter's birth place located about 4 hours drive south of the capital city, Addis Ababa. Today we left at 6 a.m. to make the trip to Hosanna to have a meeting like no other. Today was the meeting with birth parents or the person that discovered your child. I can tell you that it is more emotional and heart wrenching than anything I have ever experienced. We have 9 families in our travel group and each of us were so fortunate to have a meeting. We were so hopeful that Amarech would decide to come meet us and she did.

Our meeting with Amarech was beautiful. We were able to ask her questions about Tessa's first days. She gave us so much in this meeting. A connection to Tessa's first chapter in life. We will be able to tell Tessa about Amarech, who she is in her life and her love for her. I won't share the details of this meeting because it is absolutely sacred and for Tessa. But I can tell you it was quite literally one of the most memorable, emotional and beautiful moments of our lives. Amarech (pronounce Ah-ma-resh) has the most amazing gentle, loving presence. God sent her into Tessa's life, I am absolutely certain of it and so is Amarech.

After all the meetings were complete we had a candle lighting ceremony. All the birth parents on one side of the room, all the adoptive parents on the other. The birth parents said a prayer for us and their children in Amharic and we said a prayer for them and dedication to their children for a lifetime. The birth parents passed over the lit candle representing the child to us. Both adoptive and birth parents kissed cheeks and embraced. There were no words, none necessary. In the birth parents eyes was sadness, pain, love and hope. In my eyes and heart was sadness, pain, love and hope.

This ceremony was beautiful, rare and full of love....all this love on both sides of the room for the very same children.

It was the greatest love I have ever witnessed. This is Big Love.

Today was a day that helped my heart grow stronger even more full of love.