Grandma Krumm's Vanilla Strips

Grandma made these every Christmas, but you could make them for New Year's Eve. As I remember, hers weren't this good. They were kind of flat. Must be my Kitchen Aid. Could be our Serenity Farm eggs ... I do remember an awful-smelling henhouse out back, so Grandma had natural eggs too. But that was a long time ago. This is half of Grandma (Josephine Krumm)'s recipe. It's German.

Vanilla Strips

4 egg whites at room temperature
1 lb. confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 C. toasted walnuts, ground fine (I use the Muehli mill that is a gift from Dale, but a food processor should work too. Or just chop them like crazy.)
3/4 C. fine, sifted bread crumbs (I had some in the freezer, made from leftover stale bread.)

Start beating the egg whites. Gradually add sugar, while beating them for about 15 minutes. (The old recipe says this, but Grandma's mixer was different. I've done it in less time. This year, though, I followed the directions, dribbling sugar in slowly.) It should be fluffy and stiff and almost intolerably sweet.

Divide the mixture into two equal parts (says Grandma -- I do 1/3 to 2/3.) Add crumbs and nuts to the small part and vanilla to the other. Roll out the crumb/nut mixture on a floured board to about 1/8." Cut in trips 1" x 2." Put them on a cookie sheet covered in parchment. They don't spread, so you can put them pretty close together. Cover with the vanilla mixture. I just use a spoon, but you could use one of those press things for a professional look. Bake at 325° about 7 minutes, or until just lightly brown.

Note: This year I ended up beating another couple of whites with more vanilla and sugar.  I must have been extra generous with the topping; I needed more. Also, I forgot the bread crumbs, but added more nuts. It was delicious, maybe a little crisper than usual.  It made three nicely crowded cookie sheets.

Anniversary

My heart is a house
where you live in a room
close
under the eaves.
I feel you at night
fingering secrets
in rooms down the hall. Strange -- 
I don't stop you.
Soon you will touch
from attic to cellar,
knowing baubles I have forgotten
in my own house
you are at home.

I wrote this for Clark for our wedding, 37 years ago today.

Autumn at Phipps

This looks so much like Fall that I'm going to make three more -- one for each of the seasons, inspired by Phipps Park wildlife. These are simplified oak leaves, and the others are from a red-leafed spray I can't name. The yellow branches are from an element Marsha designed. I cut it down the middle into two narrower curves. It's 16 1/8" x 14 1/2".

Quilters Unlimited, the Tallahassee quilt guild, is dynamic, recently sponsoring 2 days of classes with internationally famous artist Jane Sassaman. Jane juggles shapes on her dramatic, Art Deco-influenced pieces. She suggested that for practice we play with 3 contrasting shapes. Here's a trial of mine, inspired by Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park north of Tallahassee, where I often jog. "Don't think too much," Jane said. "This is just a start. This is not your masterpiece." Clearly.

Pumpkin pi

I saw a man wearing this Pumpkin pi T-shirt. He said he's a biologist, not a mathematician.

Pumpkin Pie

This year I discovered heavenly little pumpkins with green and white stripes. But I'm making our Thanksgiving pie from a can. I remember copying this recipe from a magazine in the Miami Shores library a long time ago. It remains delicious.

Pumpkin Pie

2 C. pumpkin (I use a 15 oz. can -- a little less than 2 C.)
3/4 C. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ginger
1/2 t. nutmeg (or more -- preferably fresh-grated)
3 eggs
1/2 C milk
1/4 C. bourbon (or more milk)
1 t. vanilla if you don't use bourbon
3/4 C. whipping cream.

Make pastry. Line a 9-inch pie pan with it. Make the ridges along the sides high and strong.
Put a thin layer of apricot jam n the bottom as a glaze. Mix all the above ingredients. (I use a mixer, but not necessary.) Fill the pie crust. I put the pie pan on a foil-lined cookie sheet because this fills the pie pan to the top and usually drips some. Bake 15 minutes at 425° and then 30-40 min. at 350°. Cool the pie.

Topping

Melt 3 T. butter in a small saucepan. Add  2/3 C. brown sugar, 1 T. whipping cream, and 1/8 t. salt. Cook it gently until the sugar melts and a tiny bit after that.  Spread it on the cooled pie. Put foil over the pastry edges so they don't burn, and broil until the topping bubbles.

Pecan pie: It just gets better

After several fine meals out this weekend, we had a crazy-delicious dinner at home: rosemary-roasted potatoes and brussels sprouts, and pecan pie. Clark said the pie is the best he's ever had, which is odd, since I've been making the same recipe for more than 20 years. This year, though, I froze the butter before cutting it into the flour, and I roasted the pecans (325° for 5-10 minutes or maybe more, just until lightly browned) before putting them in the pie. And nothing is better than the fresh Georgia pecans we get at the farmers' market. Also, we've been buying eggs at the farmers' market too.

Pecan Pie

First, make the crust.  Line a 9-inch pie pan with it. Be sure to prick the pastry with fork tines (not too much!). Then make the filling:

3 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 C. dark corn syrup
1 C. sugar
pinch salt
2 T. butter, melted
1 C. - plus as many more as you like-- pecans, about half of them chopped and half whole

Mix all ingredients. Pour into pastry-lined 9-inch pie pan. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes, then at 350° for 35-45 minutes longer. A knife in the center should come out clean. The pie begins to get a set, shiny look. Cool. It is good with whipped cream.

The Judgment of Paris

The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade that Gave the World Impressionism by Ross King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

1. I listened to half on my way home from Ohio, and now I'm going to actually READ the second half. I like to see events coincide: the Civil War and the birth of Impressionism and the downfall is it? of Napoleon III of France. I like to learn about art history this way, with new facts tossed in as part of the larger story: : Impasto is paint layered thickly. Chiaroscuro is paint getting gradually lighter, with a dark background, to show volume. Painting for Paris of mid-nineteenth century was like the high-tech world today: exciting! scandalous! picky! The French liked their paintings smooth, detailed, and classically grand. Impressionists tried a new way, with thick paint and not so much care for foreground and background. Everything shifts. Sex happens on the canvas. Crowds are aghast, uppity. Meissonier the classicist is idolized and rich, Manet is poor, but not now, now that he is dead.

2. I've decided to keep on listening. Narrator Tristan Layton pronounces those Parisian place names with aplomb, where I stumble, like they are cobblestones in my mind. As I drove between home and Publix yesterday,  Layton told me about the Franco-Prussian War, in which the Parisians were starved, humiliated, and driven to eating cats. Finally I understand why my Parisian great-great-grandfather disowned his beautiful daughter (my great-grandmother, the mother of Caroline Lily Frey) when she married a German.

3. Now it's over, and I understand this: It took 10 decisive years and more before that for the Impressionists to be respected.  Paris was in political flux at the time. The word Impressionism comes from someone who said it's like painting an impression of a horse, something you'd see from the window of a passing train.




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How many heads of pins can dance on Angel?

Angel's wing has so many tiny white heads of pins that I can barely see the "feathers" they're holding in place. So I'm going to switch to glue -- as little as possible. I think I like the colors, but won't be sure until those pesky pinheads disappear. To make the "feathers" I got in kind of a hypnotic state for several days and snipped and moved color and shape ... like those gold flecks: now I see that they make too straight a line …

Do you see an angel?

My angel is gold, her wings are purple, and she's in the center of it all. Now I'm going to decorate her wing with small, bright feather-ish snips.

Joan Mitchell: Lady Painter

Joan Mitchell: Lady Painter by Patricia Albers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

1. So far it's a tedious review of family history. Interesting that Mitchell's grandfather was an engineer who built bridges, including the original Van Buren Street drawbridge in Chicago.

2. Now I'm in her NY days. I do not like her, which is good. It means the book is honest. It portrays Mitchell as fastidiously self-serving. OK, she's also deeply troubled. And bent on being an artist. I'm at the part where she despises her wealthy parents, while living off their $$, of course. Once her father told a lover that she couldn't possibly marry another artist, unless he was of Picasso stature.

3. Now she's in Paris, where we'd all like to go to forget our troubles. She's trying to moderate her drinking, lose weight, & forget her man. Oh, & paint with French oils that challenge her with their new names & qualities. Her mother is paying, &  I don't resent her for that -- not her fault she was born rich. Who knows if she'd have developed her talents without the time & experiences that provided.

4. I'm writing this months later: What I'll remember about Joan Mitchell is what I loved about her paintings (which I now can see as landscapes) even before reading this -- the color, sweep, and abandon of her work.


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Art Media: Ink

The Grief quilt turned into Angel, and that name gives me new energy. A purple shape in it resembles a wing; puzzling over how to emphasize this, I started layering feathery pieces. For some, yesterday I dyed snips of lace and silk with purple ink. I forgot to wear gloves; when I glanced at my hands they were deltas of color, so I sat in the sun watching rivulets of ink flow down the creases from palm to wrist. It scrubbed off, but my fingernails are still colored. I love it!

April started this, with her Le Moyne class on ink. Here are the facts:

You cannot completely depend on ink to stay where you drew the line. It's like watercolor -- if there's water adjacent, the ink will follow it. Also, you should spend enough;  don't buy cheap ink because -- I can't remember! -- maybe it is not as color-saturated. I bought a little jar of India Ink at Utrecht. April has a bigger bottle, which she decants into a little ink bottle for convenience.

Which leads to pens: We're not talking ballpoint, and not even fountain pen. An art pen is essentially a point on a stick. Or a pointed stick. Or a stick (handle) with a little circle at the tip, for fat marks. You could use a sharp twig.

Dip the pen into a tiny bit of ink. Don't waste the ink! It's amazingly concentrated.

I will try this on stabilized cotton. Hope I remember to pre-wash it because sizing is an impediment. Who knows what that means? Maybe it's harder to write on. I don't intend to wash the fabric after I mark it up, which would introduce new considerations.

This is peripheral to the purple ink I used yesterday. That was for my old fountain pen. Today I read that ink is for paper and dye is for fabric, but the ink seems to like my fabric. I suppose it could wash out or bleed, so I'm not going to wash it! To heat-set the color  I ironed it. It's an experiment; other people know the answers. I'm having purple fun.

Poet at a loss for words

My Dyslexia by Philip Schultz


Philip Schultz is telling me what it's like to be one of the students I tutor. He was a terrible student, often in trouble in school. He couldn't read until he was in fifth grade.  No one thought he'd end up a poet -- let alone a Pulitzer Prize winner. He'd been led to think of his predicament as a mix of stupidity and cussedness, with a tinge of insanity.  I've always been the opposite -- what my mom called a "bookworm." I naturally turned to writing and then teaching. Reading teachers are often people like me --  and we can't get inside the skin of people like Schultz. But he found the name for his predicament -- dyslexia -- not long ago. When he decided to start this book he got depressed. Dyslexia had woven itself into his life in deep and painful ways. Reading still gives him pain. But words give him pleasure. I am glad he finally wrote about how this can be.


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Owl-erina

Owl-erina

14 3/4" x 13"

cotton, silk, tulle, velvet

machine pieced & machine quilted

Untitled

I finally got moving on this piece -- I am NOT calling it Grief, although the image began with a summer news photo in a graveyard; it had lovely swirling lines like scarves in the wind. When the idea was germinating I privately called it Grief. Then I told people.

"If you have some grief you need to work out, then go ahead," one prominent quilter said to me at the Quilt Surface Design Symposium in June.  Yes, I do grieve ...  but her words didn't sit well. I don't make things for psychological relief. So I paused.

But I kept having dreams and conversations. "Grief is a part of life," said a friend who has lost her brother. "I know that by now. .. The first grief, that one surprises you. After that, it hurts, but you know you'll get through."

I do want to make this quilt. I love it already. Last week Agnes Martin surprised me with the answer: don't think. Trust inspiration. Thanks, Agnes!

Art media: pencil

April's class on art media at the LeMoyne Gallery is perfect for me: an overview of many ways to (pardon the art talk ) "make marks." Wednesday was pencils, plain black graphite sticks sheathed in wood. I have a long and intimate relationship with pencils; as I tend to do with everything I love, I have held my pencils too tight. The middle finger on my right hand is misshapen because I gripped so hard as a child. I still feel most myself when I'm carrying a pencil. All these years, for me a pencil has been to write. Now it is also to draw.

I thought drawing was making lines -- defining the perimeter of things.  April said you can also do this with dots and/ or dashes. If you clump them tight you make dark space. You can also crosshatch, which is slanting lines, first one way and then the other. Since Wednesday I've been looking differently at art online. I wasn't surprised to discover that my favorite artist, Agnes Martin, really used her pencil. So that's what graphite meant, describing her gray squares that I love so much. And then there's Drawings from the Louvre, coming Sept. 23 to the Morgan Library. Wow! Those artists are like God, giving life with just a humble pencil. . .  Well, OK, God didn't even need a pencil.

Wikipedia told me that pencils are graphite, not lead. We just say lead pencil because it looks like lead. HB is the European designation for our number 2 pencil. H means hard and B is soft, or black. You can see a chart here. When the number gets bigger, the graphite is harder or blacker, but not both, going all the way to 9 for each, with HB in the middle. And of course Cedar Key, Florida, was a world producer of pencil cedar until the town was destroyed by hurricane in 1896.

We are supposed to practice drawing. But first I sewed a pencil carrier because my pencils kept banging against each other in the bag. And, of course, I need to keep one out -- just to hold.

Dean Mitchell Speaks

Dean Mitchell after his gallery talk in Quincy Wednesday

When Susan left for vacation she made me promise to go to Quincy and take notes when the artist Dean Mitchell spoke at the Gadsden Arts Center (13 N. Madison St, Quincy, FL). It was part of the Dean Mitchell: Rich in Spirit show there until Oct. 29. So Wednesday I went .

Susan and another friend, Pete, both honor Mitchell's work; because of their enthusiasm, I'd already viewed the exhibit. Mitchell paints mostly the imperfect -- people, houses, barns that may be past prime; he conveys their nobility.

Mitchell seemed light and happy, and he often referred to his childhood in Quincy, acknowledging those present who had encouraged him. He said the Quincy and New Orleans scenes (and one mixed-media piece in the same mood) at Gadsden are only a glimpse of his work. He said he's driven to paint, often has 10 pieces going at a time, then sends them out to galleries across the country. "It's never finished if it stays in my studio," he joked. He said  family life in Tampa with young children helps balance his intensity.

Here are some Mitchell quotes:
"I don't feel a painter creates a style."
He said the basis of a good painting is strong, abstract composition: "I see shapes before I see anything else."
"We have to feed our souls … We live in a world now where there is so much emphasis on materialism and not character-building."
"I remember the dime store catty-corner from here, where my grandmother bought me my first paint-by-numbers set."
"A great artist is in touch with his emotions …"
"When I paint those structures, it's more than just a building. My work is to pinpoint certain moments in time … We are all just here for a very fleeting moment … We're all in some way interconnected."
On how he chooses his subjects: "They have a certain richness of character."
"I love being creative. It's a fun thing, being an artist."

"For people to be moved by your work, it has to come from your soul."

Mom's Peach Pie

When I told Mom I was making her peach pie for Labor Day, she said, "That's not my recipe -- I got it from Betty McGlone. All the good recipes come from somewhere, and that one's Betty's." Thanks, Betty! I hardly ever make pie any more, but this is so good I make it every summer. 

First, make the crust. Put it in a 9" pie pan.

Peel and slice peaches (good ones -- so many are tasteless) to make a mound on the unbaked crust.

Mix this and pour it over:

Sauce for Peach Pie

1/3 C. melted butter

1/4 C. and 1 T. flour (5 T. in all) mixed with 1 1/4 C. sugar

1 beaten egg

cinnamon to taste (I use a lot.)

1 t. vanilla

This is for an 8" pan. Mom uses 1 1/2 recipe for 9".  The sauce will bubble over, so put a foil-lined cookie sheet on the shelf below to catch the drips. 

Bake at 375° until the center bubbles, about 1 1/2 hr. 

Words failed him -- until they didn't

I'd like to ask adults how they learned to read, especially if they had some initial difficulty. I want to know what made it happen for them. Philip Schultz's essay in today's NYTimes is a start. Schultz is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry and he has a book coming out: My Dyslexia. 


As I continue tutoring, I get more awed by the mystery of reading. If you have a reading story, please let me know.

Grief 1

I spent game time yesterday playing with scraps. Football was in the other room ... FSU played some team ... Louisiana Monroe ... Colors are more intense than they look here; it's not sad, but I'm calling it "Grief." It's inspired by a graveyard photo.  9" x 8 1/2".  FSU won.

Dancing owl

She's a ballerina. Her wings & legs/feet will be in the first position. Her feathers are felted silk & threads. I'm using Maureen's baby lock felting machine.

Suspend thought

B

Made without thinking

11 3/4" x 7 1/2 "

cotton, silk, paper, paint

Life of a Collage Artist: Joseph Cornell

Utopia Parkway: The Life And Work Of Joseph Cornell by Deborah Solomon

Not quite finished (p. 364) -- Cornell made art out of things he collected, & I am beginning to do the same. We talked about him briefly in April's collage class at LeMoyne Gallery (class ended Sunday). Kurt Schwitters is considered the essential modern collagist, with Cornell right behind. Reading this makes me aware of the definitions (does anybody care?): Collage is two-dimensional pasting & maybe layering of cut-out images, either drawn or found. Decoupage gets three-dimensional, things sticking out from the surface -- like seashells or forks. Assemblage uses things, unaltered. It is related to sculpture but it's not shaped by the artist in the way sculpture is. Assemblage shapes come from the connecting of things. (I'm writing this to clarify for myself.)

Cornell made collages & assemblages. He is famous for his boxes with things glued inside. A long time ago I was drawn to Cornell, when I saw pictures of his assemblages. I just liked them. But in my 20's I saw some of his boxes at the Chicago Art Institute. I found them gloomy. Now that I've read Cornell's life, I know why: he had a gloomy, airless personal life. He was in his own box, unable to break through & relate to people. He had an intense family life, boxed into a plain house in Queens with his handicapped brother & smothering mom. (Two sisters escaped through marriage. The father died early.) Cornell sold wool in the city, then quit to spend more time in the basement making things. I identify! But he kept going to New York to attend the Christian Science services & to pick up stuff from sidewalks. Again, I identify! At home in the middle of the night he took a cup of tea to the basement & cut things out & glued them down, juxtaposing the unlikely. After a time he presented them to galleries, & some were shown. He got really famous only after he was 60, shortly after both his mother & brother had died. By then he was annoyed by the demands of fame.

Cornell was a Surrealist when they were on top; then an Abstract-Expressionist. Then a Pop artist. All the while he was himself, morphing through his stuff. Now people call him a genius. I like that he wasn't a reckless egomaniac. But he was wrapped up in himself, often depressed & inhospitable ... and maybe just as often elated by the miraculous interconnection of things & the holiness of scraps.

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Collage 5: Just the beginning

April tries Inktense pencils

I'm learning--better video to come!

What is collage? I asked April. She thought about it: "Getting two images (found or made) & putting them together in a 2-D way."

With another moment for consideration & checking her sources, she went on:

3-D is decoupage.

3-D with found objects, combined in an artistic way is assemblage.

She said Kurt Schwitters was a major collage influence. There's an overview of his work at Berkeley until Nov. 27.

Definitions are a jumping-off point. This LeMoyne class has taught me collage = timeless + useless. I love it.

Collage 4: inspiration

Here's April, my collage inspiration, at LeMoyne.

This week April shared inspiration -- books & names of artists she loves. Her favorite is Vik Muniz.; he's from Brazil, lives in New York. She also loves Takashi Murakami, a Japanese artist who plays with images, enlarging toys into sculptures & miniaturizing sculptures into toys. Kind of God-like. He calls the toys super flat. I guess that's a contemporary art idea. I think it tries to explain the Japanese psyche. April's eyes light up when she talks about German artists from the 1920's, whose work was shown in Glitter and Doom, a 2006-2007 exhibit of portraits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. April also shared a fat book of contemporary women artists, including Tracey Emin and Shirin Neshat. My favorite (not in the book) is Agnes Martin.

3-D collage: Thomas Hirschhorn

Collage 3: tape transfer

Last Sunday April taught us how to transfer ink to packing tape. You take an image that's on paper -- photo, newspaper, a magazine page -- & whoosh! do what April says, & it becomes one with the packing tape.

It's simple.

1. Find an image you like.

2. Tear it out or cut it out.

3. Cover the image with packing tape. Leave a little tape around the edges. If the image is big, cover it with two or more strips of tape. When you do this, make sure to overlap it. Don't put the tapes side by side. They have to be on top of each other (as in the photo here).

4. Put the whole thing in water. I used a plastic container for pineapple from Fresh Market.

5. Soak the image. In my notes I wrote 2 days, but it is more like 2 minutes. Or maybe 5 at most. You want to soak it long enough so the paper rolls right off. At first I didn't soak it long enough. I had to scrape the paper roughly. But with a little longer soak (sorry -- I didn't time it!) the back paper rolled right off. Experiment.

6. Take the image out & look at the back. The white stuff (paper!) on the back is not necessary anymore. Scrape it off with your fingernail. Gently.

7. You end up with tape that has your image on it-- a shiny, durable single-layer image. Stick it somewhere.

*If you use an image from a printer, make sure it's a laser. Ink-jet ink does not stick onto the tape. I used a printer at Staples, thinking all their printers must be laser. But when I scratched the back off, the front, colored side came off too. Back I went to Staples, & asked specifically for a laser print job. That one worked.

Experiment. I tried a color photo of sunflowers from the front page of an old Tallahassee Democrat. They turned out faint, not the vivid look I expected. But I like it. It's shiny. Like packing tape.

I taped photo transfers of favorite dogs to the covers of tiny Moleskin notebooks. Next, I think I'll applique tape transfers to fabric.

Mom's Nut Rolls

When we lived in Steubenville, Ohio, we had many Polish friends, & they made nut rolls. Mom tried lots of their recipes. I remember large ones sliced into pinwheels. Some were heavy & bread-y, & some were less than sweet. Then Mom found these.

Mom's Nut Rolls

(I usually make half this recipe.)

1. Cut 5 C. flour into 1/2 pound sweet butter. (I use the food processor.)

2. Add 1 tsp. salt.

3. Mound this on wax paper. Shape a hole in the center. Into this break 3 eggs. Mix with your hands.

4. Soften 1 1/2 envelopes dry yeast (or 1 1/2 cake) in 1 C. canned milk or heavy cream. (I prefer the cream .) Add this to the flour, half at a time. Mix with your hands.

5. Then roll into a big ball & wrap in wax paper. Keep overnight in the refrigerator.

6. The next day, make the filling. Mix 1 1/4 C. toasted walnuts, ground. I use the Mouli mill -- I like doing it by hand; think this makes a better texture than grinding in the food processor. Mix the ground nuts with 1/2 C. sugar.

7. Roll out the dough on wax paper heavily covered with granulated sugar. Cut into squares.

8. Add 1 tsp. or more of the filling, press it down into the dough, & roll up, shaping into crescents. Place on parchment-covered cookie sheet. (Cookies can be frozen at this point.)

9. Sprinkle generously with sparkling sugar crystals. Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes, or until light brown at edges.

River wrap-up

L-hook with bumper

The River quilt is hanging so that it looks like art -- I've got to pinch myself and when I do, I say, "You're pinching an artist!"

This is how George and Sue hung the piece:

1. They asked me to make the casing in 3 separate pieces, so I made two outside casings of about 7" each. I sewed them about 1" in from the sides and 1/2" from the top. The center casing takes up the rest, about 20".

2.They hung two L-hooks where the casings meet, 8" in from the edges. In addition to being out of sight, hooks placed this way offer more support to the center, to avoid possible sagging.

3. They put little black foam doughnuts, from the plumbing department, over the hooks. They ensure there's space between quilt and wall.

4. The quilt, with a flat board in the casing, rests on the hooks. It looks great. I'm going to re-hang all my quilts this way.

Here are some other things I learned while making this piece:

I followed Judy Perez' tutorial on how to make a faced binding. 

River inspiration.

Joan Mitchell painter: River and Sides of a River

Poetry

John O'Donahue, For the Pilgrim a Kiss: the Caha River

Music

XTC, River of Orchids

Myth

Lethe, River of Forgetfulness--Drink from it and forget earthly life

Bible:

Amos 5, 24. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness a never-failing stream!

Collage 2

Mixed media by Mike Brennan, at LeMoyne Center for the Visual Arts, Tallahassee

Big lesson 1: Water causes wrinkles & warping.

Big lesson 2: Have several pieces going at once.

Part 1

I don't know the difference between mixed media & collage. April discussed it in our first class -- but I forget. Seems to me the line is thin: what you make is whatever you call it. Mike Brennan calls his horses mixed media, & I'm lucky I heard him talk at the LeMoyne last Saturday. His work is big. Here's how he described the process:

First he makes a supporting frame, a kind of shallow box from glue & boards, for a piece of Masonite. He dries this overnight. Then he brushes a layer of Elmer's glue & a little water on the Masonite. He takes a piece of paper -- maybe a page of an Asian newspaper; he doesn't ponder much -- & dips it into a bucket of water. He lets most of the water drip off. Then he lays the paper grid-like on the glued surface & leaves it overnight. By morning it's dry & smooth. Then he sands & paints over it with several layers of acrylics. He might project a horse image onto it, or draw one freehand. It could be something else (a fish maybe), but people appreciate horses. Brennan seems to do his art after work & on weekends. I missed the introduction, so all I know is that he has also worked hard developing his art, like his discovery that using water & paper in this way eliminates wrinkles, & his building of Masonite boxes so the water won't warp the board.

Part 2

In Sunday's class April showed us a way to use ordinary paper napkins as a collage element: You spread the napkin over something that has a pleasing texture. April used a big scallop shell. Rub it with charcoal. Move the things around. Rub again & again -- maybe using several colors -- until your napkin looks great. Then dampen the napkin & slowly pull the layers of paper apart. There will be at least two layers, or plies. Take the pretty one & glue it onto your collage. We also learned that white paper turns transparent when applied with glue. And here's April's bonus tip: set up stations in your studio so you can work on several pieces at the same time. I have projects on three separate corners of the table. Now to make them!

No class 31 July, but two sessions next weekend.

Five Salads

We're on a mental "vacation" this week. I'm not cooking much. Last night I boiled potatoes & opened this can of tuna. I put it on a plate with some (not all) the ingredients below, plus the prepared olive salad you see here, from La Lanterna deli. It was good. During the week I made all but one of these salads. The farro is for tomorrow. To any of these salads, you could add bread, broiled fish or meat or shrimp. I think I will start over again next week.

Mediterranean Salad

Olive oil, Salt, Lemon juice

Tomatoes, Italian tuna, or Green pepper, Croutons, Olives, Garbanzos, boiled little potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, sliced red onions

Cucumber, Tomato, & Feta Salad (from Bon Appetit)
(These ingredients go together well, no matter what proportion you have.)

About 2 pounds cucumbers, peeled (I peel in strips, leaving strips on too) & chopped
1 pound tomatoes, chopped
1 bunch scallions, chopped
1 C. Greek olives, chopped
7 oz. feta cheese, crumbled (I bought the good kind, in water. It tastes milder & better)
½ C mint, chopped
6 T. olive oil
¼ C. lemon juice
Salt & pepper

Mix everything, except for last ingredients. Salt lightly. Mix oil & lemon juice, s & p. with a fork. Toss. Save some cheese for the top.

TABBOULEH WITH DRIED FRUIT AND WALNUTS (from Splendid Table)

Serves 4

Sweet bits of dried fruit and crunchy nuts add a delightful twist to this Middle Eastern salad that is traditionally made with tomatoes and parsley. Use an individual dried fruit such as apricot or cranberry or a combination of your favorites. Serve on lettuce leaves.

1 cup bulgur

1 cup chopped dried fruit

1 cup walnut pieces

1 bunch scallions, chopped

1/2 cup chopped fresh mint

1/4 cup walnut oil or extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Add the bulgur to 2 cups of salted boiling water. Decrease the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Drain any remaining water and blot the bulgur to remove the excess moisture.

2. Place the bulgur in a bowl and add the dried fruit. Toss to combine. Add the walnuts, scallions, and mint.

3. Pour on the walnut oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss well to combine.

Tabouli with Farro (from Splendid Table)

Reprinted with permission from Ancient Grains for Modern Meals: Mediterranean Whole Grain Recipes for Barley, Farro, Kamut, Polenta, Wheat Berries, and More by Maria Speck (Ten Speed Press, 2011). Copyright © 2011 by Maria Speck.

Serves 4 to 6

Farro:

2 cups water

1 cup farro

2-inch sprig rosemary, or 1/2 teaspoon dried (optional)

Tabouli and to Finish:

2 cups coarsely chopped tomatoes (3/4 pound)

1 cup loosely packed chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

3/4 teaspoon minced hot green chile (optional)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. To prepare the farro, bring the water, farro, and rosemary to a boil in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan. Decrease the heat to maintain a simmer, cover, and cook until the farro is tender but still slightly chewy, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the rosemary sprig, drain any remaining liquid, and transfer the farro to a large serving bowl to cool.

2. Once the farro has cooled, make the tabouli by adding the tomatoes, parsley, onion, and chile to the serving bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

3. To finish, pour the dressing over the tabouli and toss to combine. Set aside for 10 minutes for the flavors to mingle, and serve.

Gretchen’s GUACAMOLE SALAD

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

l yellow pepper - seeded and diced

1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup diced red onion

2 tbls. minced jalapeno pepper, seeded

1/2 t. grated lime zest

1/4 cup lime juice

1/4 cup olive oil

1 t. kosher salt

1/2 t. black pepper

1/2 t minced garlic

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

2 ripe hass avacados, seeded, peeled and diced

Mix veggies together (minus avacado) in large bowl. Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and cayenne pepper and pour over vesgetables. Toss well. Just before ready to serve - add avacados.

Gretchen adds cilantro & a little hot sauce (she likes things very spicy).

CHICKPEA-COUSCOUS SALAD WITH LEMON AND FRESH MINT (from Splendid Table)

Serves 4 and doubles easily

15 minutes prep time; 3 minutes microwave time
The salad holds in the refrigerator for about 4 days. Serve it with sliced tomatoes and spoonfuls of whole milk yogurt.

Juice of one large lemon

1/2 medium red onion, cut in 1/4-inch dice

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon salt, divided

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

3/4 cup whole-wheat couscous

1-1/2 cups warm water

1 small, sweet bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1 stalk celery, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1/4 cup chopped pitted Kalamata olives

1/4 cup raisins

One 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1/4 to 1/3 tightly-packed cup fresh mint leaves, torn

More lemon if needed

1. In a large bowl, combine the lemon juice, onion, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and let stand while you pull together the rest of the dish.

2. In a microwave-proof glass bowl, combine the couscous, water, and the remaining salt and pepper. Microwave, covered, on high for 2 minutes. Carefully check couscous for tenderness (be careful because it will be steaming and hot). If needed, give it another 30 seconds to 1 minute. You want it slightly firmer than usual because it will finish cooking as it sits.

3. Add the red pepper to the onion mixture along with the celery, olives and raisins. Toss everything with the chickpeas and couscous. Taste for lemon and salt and pepper. Serve the salad cool or at room temperature, but not stone cold.

River quilt, finished

River, 36" x 36"

(I think the quilting made it shrink.)

I am happy with this River quilt. I like the design, the colors, & the quilting. I wondered if it would be hard to work with friends who had asked me to make them a quilt. It turned out fine.

Collage 1

I got so wrapped up in April Saler's collage class at LeMoyne Sunday that I forgot to take notes or even a photo. So, quick, before I forget, here's my "collage" & a couple of Aprilisms. She is clear & opinionated. You don't misunderstand this artist!

1. Don't be stingy. Buy good paper (Arches cold press watercolor) & acrylic medium; brushes don't have to be expensive, just not too hard & not too soft. . .

2. April hates Mod Podge. Expensive, not flexible, just plain unprofessional. Ditto Liquitex medium. Watered-down. Don't use it. Use acrylic medium from a real art store, like Utrecht brand. Dick Blick & Jerry's Artarama are good online art sources. Oh -- medium is paint minus pigment. (When you're a beginner it's all a mystery.)

3. How to adhere stuff to paper: First, dip your brush into water. Then get rid of most of the water--no dripping, just a wet brush. Then dip it --go ahead, dip it deep, don't dab it -- into the medium. Don't be stingy.

4. "Paint" the medium on the area of paper you will be using. Use enough, not too much.

5. Lay down the picture or other collage goodie.

6. "Paint" medium over the top, starting in the center & going around in a circle like a clock.

7. Then "paint" lengthwise.

We practiced sticking papers to the base. I used too much water, so the paper warped & the picture wrinkled. I'll get the feel soon enough.

Garnet & Gold Quilt

"Just another part of the adventure"

Patrick's FSU graduation quilt, 55" square

River quilt, step 7

Cautious at first, I didn't want to disturb the edges of the pieces because I love the design. But water does ripple & run, so I let the thread go in waves of color around the edges. At QSDS I learned "mistakes" don't last; I can fix them. Of course, I did look at pictures, sketch out lines & practice on scraps first! Bobby McFerrin's free improvisation made inspiring sounds around me.

River quilt, step 6

I committed one of my own pet peeves: not telling the size of the quilt. When Mona saw this in my studio, she was shocked -- from blog photos she'd deduced it was 10" or so. I hate to see art online (& in print too) for which you have to guess the size. Lesson learned! This is 38" square.

Another blog problem: color, intensity, all that ... Photos (mine, anyway) don't convey reality. Sue & George thought I'd changed color plans from the model in step 1. Well ... yes & no. The blues ARE less rosy, but the piece is pretty much like the original idea. My photo doesn't tell the story.

Now I'm edging the pieces in same-color thread. I started with monofilament (recommended by Barbara Olson in Journey of an Art Quilter), but that gave the fabric a punctured look -- all needle holes & no connectors. It's slow work because I'm not adept. Today's gloomy -- too wet to run but perfect for stitching.

Sweet biscuits for peach cobbler

We celebrated the Fourth with peaches--they are so delicious. I was going to make Mom's sublime peach pie, but cobbler is easier & also scrumptious.

Fruit cobbler

Slice peaches--enough to generously fill the pan. (Great also with blueberries + raspberries) Mix with finely grated lemon rind & sugar. Top with:

Sweet biscuits

Mix:

1 C. flour

1/8 C. sugar

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

Cut in 1/4 C. cold butter.

Add 3/8 C. heavy cream

Flatten pieces of dough on a floured surface. Place them over the top of the fruit. Sprinkle with sugar, the fancy kind with large crystals. In a pinch you can use regular sugar, but you won't get that sweet crunch. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes.

For shortcake, bake the biscuits 15-20 minutes. Serve with fresh fruit, sliced & sweetened, & shipped cream.

For regular dinner biscuits, eliminate the sugar & use milk instead of cream.

Tomato + Blue

As I drove away Monday evening, I waved to Kit & Ana, who were heading up our walk. Ana was carrying a big blue bowl. They gave Clark these tomatoes from their garden. Yesterday I had tomato salad for lunch; Clark made a tomato sandwich for dinner.

River quilt, step 5

When I woke up I realized I had the wrong blues -- too rosy. The river is supposed to slice through, but it should look like it belongs in the same quilt. My river was a little off, so I moved toward green-blue. Now it all flows.

It took several days of trial & error to get this far. I wonder & cut & then reject several fabrics for each little part. I was fussing over how long it takes me. Picasso would have had this done already! "What's the hurry?" Clark asked. He's right--especially since I love the process.

River quilt, step 4

It's been a week since I started back on the river quilt, & I thought it would take a day or two to get all the pieces in place, but I was wrong. Tuesday I loved it, but when I saw it Wednesday, as it is here, I could see that something was wrong. I didn't know what.