Genre Cookshop

The Township had someone out power-cleaning the swings at our local park a few days ago. Adults hastened away from the noise and drenching mist but the children were enchanted: "Magic Rain! Magic Rain!" one little girl kept chanting.

Labels: children, neighborhood, summer

Strange but true. I wanted to paint a lobster, partly because I was invited to participate in a Lobster themed show at gWatson Gallery this summer. I was delighted to be invited, and actually, the idea of painting a lobster had been in my head for some time. Not surprising as I am a food painter, and I also paint in Maine! Kind of an "Oh yeah, duh!" equation. It was just a question of when I was going to get around to it, and this invitation proved the catalyst.

But the obstacle: killing a lobster so I could paint her. Hmm. Lobsters go bad pretty quickly after they're cooked so I'd probably have to work fast and then end up finishing the painting from a photo: unappealing! I only paint still life from life. Plus, in any case very likely the lobster would spoil and have to be trashed, uneaten. What a waste! For all kinds of reasons I was balking.

Then a friend who is a set designer for commercials told me about props rentals! Wow, what a revelation! She took me to an amazing warehouse stuffed floor to ceiling with all kinds of props: furniture, musical instruments, stuffed animals and of course, fake food! My lobster is extremely realistic and comes from the Japanese faux food industry..verisimilitude is paramount! He costs 10 cents a day to rent, and I have become very fond of him. I am feeling reluctant to "throw him back" althought the painting is not only finished and framed but I delivered it by hand to the gallery in Maine on Friday! (I put the trip pictures in an album on Facebook: email me if you want an invitation to view!)



Lobster with Brioche, oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches

Labels: animals, exhibits, Maine, oil painting

Last night was the last day of an Intro to Oil Painting class I was teaching at the Main Line Art Center. It was a talented and dedicated class and as a goodbye treat I decided we would have a *gasp* live model! We'd been working from still life set ups the rest of the class. People were nervous but intrigued by the idea! An artist friend of mine, Eliza Auth, kindly offered to sit for us: payment in chocolate and a little sketch or painting of herself.

Well, so I was pretty busy helping out my students and only had time to start a very quick oil sketch of Eliza. I was a little disappointed with it and was not even sure it looked remotely like her: some payment! I told her I'd finish it up at home, and after class I brought my painting bag into the house and left it in the hall. I was pretty beat, and that's where it stayed overnight.

Well, this morning I was in the kitchen when Paul called out to me from the hallway "Hey, great painting of your friend Eliza!" He had not even known I was planning to paint her (in fact, she was substituting last minute for another friend!) I was absolutely thrilled that there was enough of a likeness for verification by an independent source...you just never know! Of course, about three seconds later young H chimed in with "No, that's not Eliza, that's her daughter Emily!" So, okay, I got to enjoy the pleasure of a big head for about three seconds, and at least I am in the same family likeness-wise! ;-)

Labels: friends, oil painting, teaching art

After Dinner
my lovely mother-in-law Darian and my son H on the nineteenth floor of the old Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia. H in a button-down shirt and dress slacks, a rare and beautiful sight indeed!

Labels: family, Philadelphia

CHOMPED and then CAGED
Okay, I think I finally figured out what was happening to my sunflowers! Back story: I have tried growing sunflowers for the past few years to no avail. Yeah, I know, sunflowers are easy! However, some creature in my neighborhood has a taste for sunflower seedlings and routinely chomps my babies down to nubs. (The above photo is uncharacteristic: the chomper was obviously disturbed mid-massacre and left one on the ground.) This year I started several sunflowers inside, only planting them when they reached a good hearty size. I hoped this would deter the critters if the critters were bugs (this super-sizing approach does help with slugs for instance.) My newly planted babies were untouched for a few days, lulling me into a sense of false security. Then the chompster struck. And struck again the next night, leaving me with just one transplant still going. Nothing else in the garden was touched, including lettuce and radishes, but after consulting on Facebook and in person with gardening friends (thanks Linda!) I decided it must be rabbits (of which we have plenty!)

So, I wrapped the survivor in a coil of chicken wire and sticks. When I went out this morning it was still standing! Keep your fingers crossed for me please!



I really hope this lone Autumn Beauty sunflower makes it to the Autumn! I've been waiting to paint one for years now.

Labels: garden, spring

Community Gardening

A couple of months ago I sent out an email appeal to several of my local seed-starting friends, asking if anyone would be interested in a seedling exchange. I got several replies and here are some of my seedlings boxed up and ready to go to new homes. One friend very astutely commented as she took her box "This is REAL grass roots community organizing!" I guess that's right but on a very small scale!

Labels: friends, garden, spring

Tolerance

how well she understands
all my little doggy ways,
this tall hoofed snorter

Labels: animals, dogs, haiku

FOODIE FRIDAY
A post in which I share what's on the real life menu at Genre Cookshop!

It was a perfect late spring day and I clearly heard the siren call of the grill. I'd recently picked up a copy of The Vegetarian Grill by Andrea Chesman and riffling through it my eye fell on the recipe for Grilled Tofu. This is the Grilled Marinated Tofu variation. The recipe suggested using a vegetable grill rack on top of the regular grill, so that the tofu would not break up and fall through. I started off the tofu on a vegetable grill rack but then realized break up was not actually going to be a problem, and transferred the tofu directly onto the grill wanting to get those delicious looking sear marks! I used Extra Firm Tofu and drained/pressed it for an hour before marinading it. This seemed to make it springy enough to defy the predicted break up.

The vegetable kebobs are an old stand by...skewered, sprayed with olive oil and very parsimoniously sprinkled with Kosher salt. I grilled Broccoli (briefly steamed, molto al dente, before skewering) and onions and red peppers and (not shown) portabella mushrooms. All were scarfed up in an instant (I admit I deliberately kept back a few strips of grilled pepper for my breakfast omelet tomorrow.) Served with rice, and salad (although since we'd already demolished a big pile of veggies there was only one taker for the salad.) Simple but superb!

Labels: food, spring

Happy Mother's Day!

Labels: flowers, spring

Reflective

watching the spring sky
gradually sweeping away
the cold winter dust

(My friend Mary posing for my Figure in the Landscape class on Tuesday)

Labels: spring, teaching art