every-single-day

Crackers and Mail Art!

A few posts ago, I wrote about food reading. And in this post, I let drop that I wanted some food magazines. For my birthday my mom and pop got me a subscription to Gourmet magazine (thank you both!)!! And these crackers are my first recipe made from the pages of that illustrous magazine. They are awesome, salty, peppery, buttery, even though it calls for shortening, I used margerine. Same thing, sorta. Right?
Will every-single-day become a food blog?
I just got off the phone with my pal Angie, and we talked about my wanting to make and have this recipe... (which looks all washed out on the internet, in the magazine it looks SOO MUCH better, isn't that the way of life? As David would say, "f*ckin' internet!"

Put your speakers on!

Hey, can you guess who actually stamped a cloth, hand-made postcard and dropped it in the mail for me? Telling me of her new studio? Um, well. here is the link to that particular post.

And hey. Wednesday is my birthday, I will be 38. If you want to email me or take the address off the above video clip and mail me a card, I would L-O-V-E to hear from you. I fear feeling lonely on that day, 2500 miles from all those people whose hugs would touch deep into my soul.

A rave, and a beauty to marvel.

The Rave:
Thank the goddess and all my ancestors for giving me the ability to teach, for making me a decent artist, for providing the opportunity to teach 15 women about the surface design techniques that I know and love.

This is a picture of all of us with our beautiful cloth all around us. This is a close up of half the image. Clockwise from the lower right is Bea, president of our local guild, and my Birding Basics instructor, Myself, Lynnae, my Mountainaire and quilt buddy, Ruth Garrison (whose work can be seen here), Notorious Sue, Barb, Geneen, Karen and Joan.
And this is the other half of the photo. From the upper left going clockwise, Judy, Kate, Heather, Nora and Alice, owner of the cottage we rented when we first got here.
Click over to my Flickr account (at right) to see more photos. Looking at the happy smiling faces standing before thier cloth is a wonder to enjoy.

And then of course, I need to celebrate the downpour that occured yesterday afternoon. When you live in a desert, rain is a sought after event. It rained so hard, there was such loud thunder and of course ligtening, I had to take the camera outside.

Just call me Professor.

My class at the community college is moving right along!

I think there are 15 people in total. A feat if you ask me, because I am new to the area. Also a reflection of the artistic community I live in.

This is a photo of Kate, an artsit and botanist with a great sense of play.

This is a stitched photo of our clothesline. Yesterday we made stamps, and used bleach (outdoors of course). It was a hit because it is an instant result technique.
I can't take much time to blog right now. I have a half hour to get ready and out the door.

A photo of myself.

I don't have much to say, but I wanted up upload a current photo of myself and say hello. So...
Hello.
I just finished reading Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl and have borrowed Comfort me with Apples. I am in love with food writing, right now.
I got a recent hankerin' for my Mom's stuffed mushrooms. And can I say, I love deviled eggs (which Ruth wrote a recipe for in the last chapter of that book [do you need a recipe for deviled eggs?])?
Hm.

food....

I am addicted.
I have been reading Michael Ruhlman's books (two different links in this sentence). I am off and running on a jag of food reading, now I am starting Ruth Reichl's, Tender at the Bone.
So you might imagine I was ripe for the laughter provided by Ratatouille!

If you have the time, watch the trailer. Oh hell, make the time!
The fun part is that the depiction of the atmosphere of working in a kitchen could have been taken from the pages of Michael Ruhlman's books. The French Laundry consulted on the movie in some manner (so say the credits). Lots of top chefs consulted. It was such fun.
I am so addicted to all this food reading that I wish I could afford subscriptions to Gourmet Magazine and Bon Appetit and Vegetarian Times! I just want to read and learn! I hate being house poor!!!
Today was our second time going to our local Farmers Market. We got some salmon Molly's Tamali's, just to try them. And then we bought 6 ears of corn, carrots of many colors, onions and a big bag of little plums, all for 7$. We also found hand made soap and a lip balm for me, I love lip balm.
They had Arizona grown pecans too, Next week, prolly.
Now I am going to have to listen to Good Food in earnest. My favorite part of that show is the market report where they go shopping and share recipes at thier local farmers market. Am I crazy?

Shrike!

I got my newest issue of Birder's World Magazine, which for me is akin to bird porn. I opened to an article about Shrikes, the only meat eating passerine we've got. They use tools to help kill thier prey and are small bundles of energy. I have yet to see one in person. When I opened to the second page of the article it showed photographically, the difference between a Shrike and a Mockingbird. The photograph of the shrike captured me, so I sat down to draw it.
I love drawing (birds). :)
Everything is about drawing right now. I guess because I know how to draw and really love it, I get really suprised when people quickly pass off on thier ability to draw. My artist friends sometimes say things like, well you can draw, anyway. Well. I practice. Almost every-single-day.
So I found a nude photo of myself, very modest, but still. I was about 21 and the only piece of clothing I am wearing is a hat. I have this impish half smile. And I came across it and thought... this is my next piece! So I started drawing it. I am going to have to draw it again because I didn't get the face, the most important part. I already want to call it Lola. We will see. I am already thinking up methods to the madness. Which is good, because the man is 90% finished, well, maybe 85%.

Finishment

I am making up my own words to describe finishness. Done-d.
So last week I started the floor and this week I finished it. It even has a few coats of satin polyacrylic stuffity-stuff.
I like the whole idea of words (permanently on the floor) reminding you of the function of a room.
My studio is almost even (spankin, nothing anywhere it isn't supposed to be, everything has a place) clean. I have been trying to organize and get the room to the very comfortable state. The why-leave-the-room-at-all, when-everything-you-could-possibily-think-to-create-is-in-that-room, sort of feeling.
The cleanliness, comfort level is now at 3.75 out of 5. Normally, it is OK for the room to be messy, while in the middle of a project. But since we moved the room has been that way far too often for my liking. So it is ALMOST there.
It feels good.
I have also been doing really well on creating a creative practice, as I had talked about a few posts ago. Today, I started cleaning and working in the studio at 7 a.m. and stopped around 4, with coffee and lunch breaks. Yum-yum-yum. I am a good artist, with good studio practice. evry-single-day, like.
Yesterday we painted David's room and are getting him ready to be settled and ready to play music!
I am off to a sewing pot-luck. The computer is groaning from the heat!
Hey! Please gimmee a comment. I love 'um. I promise to write back to everybody who leaves one. I will even tell you what my favorite color of the moment is.