Just Stuff

I have been pretty busy since the last time I blogged here.  January always brings with it the really well intentioned plan that I will actually get my tax information together early for a change…NOT.  Here it is February 13 and it hasn’t happened yet.  And now I’m in the throes of…wait for it…spring cleaning (yeh, I know it’s early, but…) and getting ready for two shows in a couple of weeks.  So there you have it…I do not have time to pull those tax records together.

I have been…pulling down my solo show on Jan. 29, then determining which pieces would go into a juried show (if I get in).  All that paperwork has to be turned in.  The Illinois Artisan shop always has a big quilt event during the Paducah quilt show…sometimes I get stuff in to them and sometimes I don’t. This year I filled out their paperwork and decided what will go there, along with a couple of scarves for their wearable exhibit.  There has been online work too getting photos and info onto websites of groups I belong to.  Check out missourifiberartists.com.  I recently got some of my work catalogued on that site.

Fading Glory, deconstructed screen printing, photo transfer

I did some work with rusting…I layered a few layers of cloth on both sides of a rusted piece of metal and wet it with vinegar.  It doesn’t take long to get an image.

I am going to start working on small pieces of art and these will be part of a series.

Someone has been giving us fresh potatoes and I am having a hard time keeping up with using them.  I found a recipe for Hasselback potatoes online and I thought they looked pretty yummy.

Hasselback potatoes before cooking...

They are sliced not quite all the way through, sliced garlic clove is inserted between the slices, then add some salt and butter and drizzle olive oil over the top.  Bake in the oven.  I can think of some other herbs that would be good on them too.

after cooking....yum!

Birthday party to attend this past weekend and a fund raiser on Sunday afternoon, I was privileged to be invited to set up a small table to sell items.

Tomorrow I am shampooing the carpet. ;=)

Peanut Butter and Chocolate

Before the holidays, someone was telling me about a delicious treat that was easy to make:  take two Ritz crackers and make a peanut butter sandwich with them, then dip and coat in chocolate.  I have been making them and I think they are now our new favorite.

From this…

…to this…

Try them…you WILL like them!

Curry

I love curry powder…actually I love lemon curry powder the best.  It has a little lighter taste than regular curry.  I buy it at the Green Earth health food store when I get to Edwardsville.  I don’t know where else to buy it, but you can get it in the bulk section there.  I don’t use it in a lot of things, but when I want  it, I like having it on hand.  I was filling a small spice jar with it the other day and decided the color was so yummy I had to take a photo.

Now, compare that with this piece of cloth dyed with Curry dye.  Are they close to the same color?  It’s yummy too.  There is also Amethyst on this cloth.  I bought the Curry dye powder this year and now it’s at the top of my favorite list.

I am going to have to do something awesome with this piece of cotton.  As for the lemon curry powder (the stuff you can eat), try it in your chicken salad the next time you make it, along with dried cranberries or fresh grapes and slivered almonds. It makes a delicious salad.

Photo of The Week

We’ve been enjoying the cherries!

Lunch

Last Saturday I had to deliver some work for jurying for a show in Evansville.  After that I met up with my friend Julia.  We had planned to try making our own silk screens using stretcher bars and some sheer fabrics. Julia had already gathered everything together so that we could do this project.

But first we had to eat lunch.  She made popovers and I prepared a salad with romaine, grilled chicken, dried cranberries, pecans, onions, feta cheese,  and a sweet balsamic vinegar dressing.  yumm.

We did get the screens made too.  And now this week I am trying mine out.

Today…

I had to go to town today to pick up election supplies.  I am an election judge and will be serving Illinois voters tomorrow all day for the primary elections in.  It’s a long day, but worth it being part of the process and seeing how it works.

I made a pot of chili for tomorrow.  This recipe is from the CrockPot Blog that I joined on FB.  It’s excellent with cumin, garlic, chili powder, oregano, and a bit of red pepper.  The weather has warmed up here to about 35 degrees and the snow is melting…all that wonderful 3-5 inches we got this past weekend.  Now I have to get some handwork ready to take with me…it will be a long day and probably slow since it is a primary, so to stay awake, I must have something to do and reading makes me sleepy!

To everyone living in Illinois:

Vote February 2

It’s a privilege AND a duty.

I guess the only picture I have for today is FOOD!

Ham And Bean Soup

This is my favorite bean soup recipe.  It has turnips (substituted for the parsnips the recipe calls for), onions, carrots, great northern beans, garlic and some hot pepper. I put a ham bone in it as well as some chunked ham.  Tomorrow I will fix some cornbread to go with it…too tired tonight.

Yum, we like it.

About Food…And Right Brain Thoughts

Warning!  If you don’t want to read about food, skip this post!

I am home today!  I don’t think I have been home on a Saturday for the last two months!  So today I am making our “weekend meal”.  Yesterday my husband brought home some fresh picked turnips from the farm, dirt and all.  I cooked a small pan of those and mashed them with butter, salt and pepper, and sugar.  Yumm.  I am also fixing “Deviled Baked Steak”…how appropriate for the season! (I just thought of that while I write. :=)  Round steak dredged in a seasoned flour blend, then browned in oil.  Topped with sliced onions and a tomato-brown sugar mixture, this steak dish bakes for 2 hours into melt-in-your-mouth wonderfood. I will be serving it with mashed potatoes.

I am also trying out a new bread pudding recipe called Caramel Bread Pudding. The caramel sauce prepares in the bottom of the dish while the bread pudding is baking on top. (I’m so domestic today! :=) Actually, I’m probably avoiding cleaning the garage, a task I really need to get around to!)

Since I haven’t been home on Saturdays for so long…we have been just grabbing whatever is in the house to eat on Saturday nights and Sundays (that gets boring), so this will be a treat.

So…what have I been up to this week?  One of my goals was to get my Etsy shop loaded up with my ArtFul Cloth bags since I am having a showcase on Tuesday, October 27th.  I needed to have at least 10 of them listed just to be ready.  Since I have recently gone through a hard drive crash with SOME of the bag pictures on the desktop, I had to do the photography and editing all over again. :=(  This is my first showcase and I have no clue how it will all go, but I am ready.

I have had a textile piece on the wall for a long time that I felt inspired to work on yesterday.  By that I mean, I had some ideas on how to proceed!  So I spent some time with it.  Why is it, when the urge and inspiration hit (and it’s been awhile since I’ve had time or the frame of mind for it), the phone rings.  I could have not answered it, but felt I needed to.  But the whole time I’m finding myself irritated and wanting to get off the phone, which I finally did.  I didn’t want to “lose the moment” or the time.  These times are precious when they come and with the weekend coming and the prospect of my husband being home, I wanted that hour and I wanted it uninterrupted and my mind free to create.  I’m beginning to see that in the left brain world that we live in, no one (except artists, of course) understands the right brain world. The society we live in is not extremely willing to give it place, to give it time or attention.  We are a left brain society for the most part and give honor to the left brain achievers with regularity.

I believe to be successful, an artist needs time to think, really think, to dream, to ponder, to meditate, to notice, to scrutinize.  Coming from the work oriented background that I do, I find it difficult to even give myself that time.  It seems “wasteful” somehow.  When I was growing up, I remember being accused of “daydreaming”, but now I know what that is…it is the right brain wanting to create something.

I read about all these artists creating in their journals every day and it seems totally unreachable to me.  I do spend time online every day “enriching my mind” mostly with news articles and some artists’ articles as well as picking up email and taking care of business.  Perhaps I spend too much time there? I’m a one woman show…with marketing and office work and all promotion on my shoulders as well as creating new work and trying to earn an income to pay for my business expenses. The time may yet come when I will let some things go…I don’t know yet.  All I know right now is that I have an art fair coming up in December that I would like to have some new work for, but I have no ideas.  I think I must be taking a breather after being so busy for the last two months. Perhaps my brain needs a rest…zzzzzzzzzz.

Farm Progress Show

Here, reporting to you  (almost) live from the Farm Progress Show in cool Decatur, IL…there have been TONS of people come through the booths yesterday and today.  My ArtfulCloth Bags have been selling well, scarves not so well.  I’m pleased with my sales and hope to do even better tomorrow, the last day.  There has been interest in a particularly large wallhanging (Southwest Impressions can be seen on my website) and I am interested to see if there will be any followup in the form of cash or charge!

I have forgotten to take pictures of our extremely wonderful breakfasts we are being served at the B & B where I am staying.  Ah…there is one more morning…perhaps I will remember the camera tomorrow!  Fit for a king…this a.m. it was scrambled eggs with sauteed onions and green pepper and cheese gravy (or sauce), sausage patties, homemade biscuits, fresh peaches, juice and coffee. Mmmm…wonderful.  This B & B is situated in an historical part of town and the homes are very old here…like over 100 years old. I should get a picture of it too.

Signing off now…gotta get cleaned up and head up to my room…there aren’t very many three pronged outlets in a 100 year old house, so I am in the kitchen catching up on emails, blogs, and writing this.

Low Temps, Hot Soup, and Homemade Bread…

The temperature was in the teens yesterday, so I found it necessary to make another pot of hot soup.  This time is was hamburger-vegetable (with a bit of leftover chili thrown in for good measure).

Cold weather tends to make me very domestic at times, so….to round out the evening meal, I made some garlic cheese rolls and, since I had a hankering for some french bread,  I made that too, with the breadmaker’s help.  A pan of hot water in the bottom of the oven makes a nice chewy crust on the loaf.

As for art, I am piddling around thinking about things.  I have scheduled my first solo show at a gallery in New Harmony, IN.  It’s set for late 2011.  My theme is already decided, so now I know what I’m doing.  I am preparing for March quilt shows (what to order, how much, etc.) and a lecture and workshop.  I hear the weather will be warming the end of this week, so maybe I will get some dyeing done; that would be nice since it has been awhile.  I need to keep working on silk scarves since they seem to be selling well.  My sewing room is a wreck right now and there is nowhere to work; I had to clear out a table of stuff so my husband can get to the window…he is finishing and putting the trim back up.  These are jobs he does in the winter when his work is slow.  Ah well, spring is coming and it won’t be long.