Day 75 - my still life is finally finished!

My fifth still life is finally finished!!!!

 It's funny - the first still life I did was so intimidating, but I see that this time around, I had a better instinct for what colors to mix, where to add shadows, light, and bright white sparkles.  It's funny though - no color on that canvas is straight from the tube.  Every color is mixed.  It makes the process pretty labor-intensive, but it just makes the colors dance right off of the canvas.  I love doing reflections.  I think that just came out so neat.

My palette after all of that mixing!

 I'm on a food kick now, so I think my sixth still life will be food-related as well.  Some beautiful ideas to paint that might turn out pretty cool:  corn on the cob, candy, cereal boxes, a mexican recipe with chile peppers, beans, salsa jar, olive oil bottle, dried pasta in various shapes with bottle of tomato sauce and parmesan rind...the possibilities are endless!

 Then I played around with my own artistic process and glued various magazine images to a canvas, covered that with layers of napkins and matte medium, and added acrylics and fabric to it.

"Slow and steady wins the race."

I never know exactly what I am going to put on each canvas until I am actually in the process.  I just follow the flow and go from tree to flower to girl...or whatever pops into my imagination.  It does't have to make sense.  It just has to feel right.

Days 71, 72, 73, 74 - Summer is approaching!

Dinner tonight:  Chicken Cacciatore

Saute the onions, bell pepper, and garlic.

Dredge the chicken in flour and brown it.

Add wine, stock, and tomatoes.

Chicken Cacciatore!

Butternut Squash

Wild Rice Bread - whole wheat bread with cooked wild rice in it.

 English Muffins...on the griddle - how easy is that?!

Then I made a Spinach Souffle - I didn't realize how easy souffles were to make!

Whip the egg whites. 

Boil the potatoes.

Make a bechamel sauce (sort of) with milk, egg yolks, onions, garlic, and flour.

Process the sauce with melted cheddar cheese and 10oz of spinach, and fold the egg whites in.

Top with grated parmesan cheese

Bake at 375F for 30 minutes.

Serve immediately.  (It drops pretty quickly)

Quinoa, Mango, and Black Bean Salad

 My mom and I did an exercise where we pick any word and then pick 3-5 colors to express it.  We picked frustration.  Quite appropriate for this time.  This is what we came up with:

Mine

Mom's

I did a little more on my still life - I think the reflection in the colander is pretty cool.

 Then my mom and I did another exercise where we picked a word and tried to portray it the best we could in any way we felt like.  We just got this great set of Copic Markers,  So we chose the word patience (very appropriate too) and gave the markers a try.

seeds take time...patience...

Day 70. Pie Day.

Dinner tonight?  Shepherd's Pie and Pumpkin Pie.

Saute the onions, carrots, and celery.

Add the turkey and spices.

Simmer with chicken stock and tomato paste, add peas and corn.

Boil the potatoes.

Mash with milk, egg yolk, and butter.

Assemble, and you've got shepherd's pie!

For the pumpkin pie, grind the gingersnaps with more ginger, butter and sugar.

Press into a pie tin.

Simmer the pumpkin with half-and-half, sugar, eggs and nutmeg. 

Pour and bake!

 My family better be VERY grateful that they are getting gourmet meals every night, because when I can finally eat, the only one I am going to be cooking for is ME ME ME!

I finished my inchies piece...

It's going to look very nice with all nine pieces hung up together.

Day 69 - manicotti night!

Okay, now I'm in an impatiently positive mood.  The fistula is looking dryer and dryer...but I am getting hungrier and hungrier!!!  Tonight I made sausage and cheese manicotti - with hand made manicotti shells!

Brown the sausages and onion.

Simmer with white wine. 

Add crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, and spices.  Simmer for one hour.

Combine ricotta cheese, spices, parmesan, and provolone cheeses,

I made the manicotti shells on the crepe-maker - they smelled delicious and came out so authentic! 

Coat the pan with half the sauce.  Fill each manicotti with the cheese mixture.

Cover with the remaining sauce and extra parmesan cheese.

YUM!!!!!

 I also experimented a bit with gouache just for fun - I'm not the best at watercolors, but it's a good way for me to challenge myself and experiment with something different.

 I have a set of 9 miniature square canvases - I am going to paint each one a solid color and put four inchies each on it.  I think it will be a very nice way to display them.

I can't' believe that it's almost June...will I be eating this summer?  Will I get off of TPN in time for college in the fall?  Only time will tell.  I just have to trust that God DOES have a plan for me, this IS a road I am meant to follow, and things WILL happen as they are supposed to.  (Right?)