whole lotta bakin goin on

I baked two loaves of whole wheat bread for the first time! I used outdated yeast which did proof (albeit not heartily), but it didn't rise a ton. I was sweating it, but it turned out wonderfully - nice and dense. As H put it, you don't feel like you're being cheated :)


It really has been a delicious treat. I've been craving toast for a long time, and I never could find a consistent source of organic bread. So I did what I tend to do - made my own. How satisfying! I used Martha Stewart's multigrain bread recipe and altered it a bit. I left out the rye flour (since I don't particularly love rye) and used more whole wheat flour instead. I also left out the sunflower seeds since I forgot to buy them - heh. I'm telling you, it really is good bread. Even with old yeast :)

Craving satisfied.

Next, H and I got on a blueberry muffin craze. I was trying to use up some fresh blueberries before they went to mush, and they turned out to be a tasty and healthy dessert. It's been nice to reach for a muffin instead of, say, cake (which *cough* we actually baked yesterday - organic, yummy, and yet...evil). For the muffins, I used this recipe from Williams Sonoma. The cinnamon is great in these.

As you can see in the picture above, I used wax paper liners - I just cut squares from a roll of paper. Cheap, handy and fancy.

This is before I tried that trick, and it was H-E-double-hockey-sticks to get them out of the friggin tin, even though I greased it with butter. Sigh. For my aforementioned evil cake, I tried using wax paper to line the pan, and it was glorious to simply lift the cake out. No sticking, no mess. I used this brand of organic mix, and a separate box of icing mix from the same company. Very good. Very evil.

Next I plan to try apple wheat bran muffins. I must get back to healthy desserts.

Sold!

Yesterday I made my first sale on Etsy! Yay! I sold three potholders :) I've definitely got to stock my shop soon, so stay tuned!

Painting Again

This painting was fun from first inspiration to final glaze. I got sudden inspiration to sew a funnel in a canvas and tack it to the back of the frame - this way I would get a mysterious receding hole. Then somehow I felt like I had to have something funky growing out of this orifice. Then I thought about how I needed a Christmas gift for my brother and his wife - bingo!

I knew based on their tastes that the colors had to be dark and rich, plus I had gotten my SIL to give me her defective pottery to smash up for paintings - enter the lovely shards you see in the painting.

They are glued down, which was not my first pick on how to attach them. I had first tried "sewing" them down with some nylon thread, but it kept snapping against the sharp edges. I do want to try sewing chunky things to paintings in the future, but I have to make sure they're not sharp. I've been thinking about doing something like this since 2001 when I saw the huge chunks of colored glass (grapefruit sized) wrapped up in wire to form the garden gate at Peggy Guggenheim's museum in Venice. I really must figure out a way to wrap up cool treasures in ropes to form a loose painting surface...

I made the frame for this little painting out of the top bar of the bead curtain my sister gave me in college (I love having power tools handy). It gives a funky shape to the edges which adds to the assemblage feel.

I even signed this one. I usually don't like signing for some reason. I know a lot of artists have a problem viewing their work as a commodity to be sold, and that somehow money is unwelcome in the true creative process. I feel somewhat this way about signing my paintings. In a way, I feel like they are independent creations that transcend the need to be claimed. It seems to me that it would detract from thet piece - tie it down somehow to slap my name on them. What do you think? Does it lessen a work of contemporary art to have a signature? I get a self conscious feeling when I imagine people in museums looking at my painting and noticing my signature on the piece. I would MUCH rather have my name on a little white card next to it on the wall. Perhaps I'm still flenching after seeing so many cathedrals in Italy plastered names of the sponsors and artists. Doesn't the greatest art go beyond all that? But I digress.

The reason I signed this one is because it felt right and special when giving to my brother and SIL. I might feel more like signing my work generally if I can come up with a really cool way to do it. Albrecht Durer's signature is very cool - same initials as me...mmm....

The tree in this painting was really fun to sketch out and paint. I really allowed myself not to care so much about how this painting came together. When I allow myself to incorporate chance as part of the process, and to not worry so much that I overly control the work as it progresses, I find that the result is more satisfying and usually more visually stimulating. I like being surprised as I go - for example, I first painted in the tree with raw sienna because it was the first tube of paint I reached. Once I did the over painting with a dark mixture of blues and reds, I left a few slivers of the sienna to show giving an interesting detail when you look closely. I have some progress shots somewhere that I might post soon so you can see how it looked at various stages.

As much as I love oil paint, it is difficult to beat the instant gratification of acrylic. This is painted entirely with acrylic. It's fun to play with thinned down layers of color over texture. It was especially important to use in this piece because I had to travel with it very soon after I finished it :)

I like to think of this as a collaboration of sorts with my SIL. The pottery is so integral that it would be hard to imagine without it. I never thought of a title for this painting - that's another weakness of mine. I always feel REALLY self conscious about my titles. They either sound way too corny or they don't actually communicate anything important. I hope I can improve on this.

More to come soon!

Teacup Potholder Set

I am so thrilled to share this fun project. I made this set of potholders for my eldest sister for Christmas. I have a similar set I bought ages ago and still use all the time. The little teacups are especially useful for getting hot bowls of soup out of the microwave.


All the fabric is recycled from old clothes, and the flowers were embroidered using this wonderful embroidery blog for guidance. The multicolor yarn was a Christmas gift from my SIL, and the leaves are from recycled yarn from an old scarf.

Isn't it just so fun? I think I might make a few more of these to put in the shop.

I have more to share still, so stay tuned!

Two Knitted Hats

I bought this brown wool/mohair yarn in 2004 when I first moved to NYC. I was thinking of knitting a hat for my sister. FIVE years later I finally get around to it! I really kinda made up this pattern - I call it the February Beret.

I cast on (long tail) and ribbed for a few rounds. I used EZ's gull pattern from the February baby sweater pattern (Knitter's Almanac) to knit the next 10 rounds or so until I needed to start decreasing. At this point, I began stockinette - the decreases left a lovely star pattern on the top.

It looks awfully dramatic in front of the painting doesn't it? I look like an "artist" - hehe.

This next hat is for my sister's husband. I remembered that he liked the fishtrap pattern from my mom's sweater, so I figured I'd try a fishtrap hat. This is made from my freebie yarn, which honestly I value more than paid for yarn. Go figure. This yarn is so soft and lovely - I do need to add an inch or two as a border since that hat falls a little short. Gotta keep them ears toasty!

I worked on this hat in the car all day long in Columbia when H was doing his mediation training.

It was alternately cozy/nice and cramped/frustrating. Anyway, I hope I won't be doing it again anytime soon. At least I had EZ's fishtrap pattern to keep me alive and entertained :)

More to come!

New Kitty

Say hello to Pipsqueak, our new cat! He has been hanging around our apartment building for over a year now, and we finally got permission to bring him inside :) He's already been neutered and declawed, so all we had to do was get his shots and flea/heart worm treatment. It has been quite an adjustment having a new member of the family, but it keeps getting better. Here's a video of him attacking a pom pom:

Christmas Place Mats

I finally get to share the Christmas presents I made! My mother is crazy about place mats, so it seemed like great fun to sew her a patchwork set. These are made using the salvaged fabric from wallpaper sample books and other hand-me-down fabric from family members. The whole idea started with a way to make the most of that beautiful cardinal


I started with the patch above - I was so thrilled to work with festive, Christmasy patterns. It was ridiculously fun. It was also much harder than I anticipated picking out fabrics from such a limited supply, and working around very limited sizes. It made me realize what quilters in the 30's were going through - the origins of patchwork coming out a scarcity of materials. When that is actually the case, it really makes each patch so much more valuable (and mistakes that much worse!!!) The place mat below, you can see some squares of fabric with a log cabin and bears - that was from the extra special wrapping around a bar of soap! Mom gave me that a few years ago and thankfully I hung on to it :)


This squirrel place mat changes up the overall patchwork pattern because I was running out of stuff to make my stars. This way though, I was able to use the scraps from the other mats and have two odd mats in the group of six - helps to keep it exciting :) This bird was the other odd mat:


For the backs, I decided to use a beautiful green woven fabric from Belgium my mother has had for years and years. She recently gave it to me to do something with - and here it is:


With lovely fabric on both sides, these are reversible. Here's a shot of the place mats in their natural habitat - they match her Christmas table theme so well!

I also made some place mats for H's mom - pictures of those plus other gifts coming soon :) It's like Christmas all over again!