Inspiration, motivation, procrastination

painting by Joe Sorren

Part One
I was looking through the blog Artfulife this week and happily clicked through her link to Joe Sorren's web site. I really enjoyed seeing his latest paintings. They are so refined and quiet. I love the progression from his older work. I haven't looked at his paintings in a long time, but I was happily reminded of a conversation I haven't thought about in a long time.

Some time in the mid-90s I was given one of the best art school assignments ever. You had to give a presentation on one of your favorite illustrators. This may sound bland enough—a glorified book report—except that you had to contact the illustrator directly. This was way before the widespread use of email, so this meant calling the person up on the phone. I was painfully shy then, so I was horrified. But I loved Joe Sorren's paintings and knew that he was the one I had to call. I did. I called him up in Flagstaff, Arizona and he was the nicest, most encouraging fellow ever. I'm sure I asked all kinds of mundane things, but he heard me out and asked me thoughtful questions in return. He sent me samples by FedEx to include in my report and asked me to send him a few samples of my work. I have to smile when I think about it—I can't imagine what I sent.

The one question I remember asking him was: Do you think you have to live in NYC to make it as an illustrator? Now here I was calling a successful guy working out of a little hippy town in AZ—why would I ask that? Of course, he said no and gave me some very good reasons. I moved to NYC anyway and went to art school. I am now 3 1/2 years gone from there and am just now finding a place where I am able to make some art here and there — certainly not making a living from it, but still finding the time and inspiration to do it. I think there are a lot of factors involved that I may write about in this space (hence the part one subtitle above), but for now, I just wanted to reflect on a fond memory of a conversation with Joe Sorren and ponder what I might ask him nowadays.

The painting above was from one of the samples he sent — I found it in my "inspiration book" from that period. It is so much fun to look through it again after so long.

As seen on …

It's so easy to become just completely overwhelmed by all of the blogs, pictures and terrific content out there in the world. So it's particularly reassuring and gives my ego a little boost when I find out that my pictures are in fact making their way out into the world and being seen despite the sheer quantity of rabbit holes one can stumble down. I was reminded of this by two different occasions this week.

1. Kuma Sakuzo was nice enough to include the print above from my Etsy shop in her treasury selection. She's chosen a lovely cheerful collection of balloons. Here is a screenshot of it:
2. Last week Off the Hooks featured my squirrel postcard on her craftyash blog.

This makes me very happy and I thank them both!

From the sketchbook

Here are some of the strange scenes and flower-type things have been showing up in my sketchbooks lately. Not sure what will come of them.

Pad Thai at home

I've never made pad thai at home, but I love it. So after the trip to the Asian market last week, I had all the ingredients and knew it was time. We've had rice noodles sitting in the back of the cabinet for months and I decided to use the recipe on the back of the bag:

Pad Thai
7 oz rice stick noodles
1 Tb Tamarind paste (this was hard to find, but it was in the refrigerated section at Huaxing)
1 tsp brown sugar, packed
1/4 c. peanut oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 c. small shrimp (I used much more: 1 lb med)
3 scallions, sliced
4 oz. firm tofu, rinsed, drained and choppped
2 eggs, beaten lightly
2 Tb fish sauce
1 c bean sprouts
1 tsp crushed chili pepper
2 Tb roasted peanuts, chopped
1/4 c cilantro, chopped
lime wedges to garnish

1. Soak noodles in cold water for 30 minutes. Drain. (I was worried they weren't soft enough at this point, but they soften more over the heat)
2. In a small bowl, mix 1/4 c hot water with tamarind. Let stand, then push through sieve and discard solids. Stir in brown sugar.
3. Heat half oil in large skillet. Stir fry garlic for a few seconds, then add shrimp, scallions and tofu and cook 3 minutes.
4. Add eggs and cook 30 seconds or until well incorporated. Add noodles, tamarind, remaining oil and fish sauce. Cook about 5 minutes, then add bean sprouts and chili pepper.
5. Garnish with peanuts, cilantro and lime wedges and serve.

Delicious! The flavor was terrific with just the right amount of heat. I think next time I will increase liquids a little bit (not oil), to have a little more of a sauce. Try it!

Asian market adventure

I have been on a hunt for tamarind paste for a few weeks now. Not a kitchen essential, but there are a couple of recipes I have that use it, including Pad Thai. So last night I had the chance to explore one of the best Asian markets I've ever been to: Huaxing Asia Market in Ypsilanti. I love all the bright colors! I had no idea there would be so many great markets like this here. I looked online and can't wait to check out the others. There were MANY things I had never seen before -- and without being snotty, I used to live not far from NY's Chinatown so I thought I had seen some unusual Asian produce and products.

They have a whole row of fish ball freezer cases:


I did not buy these. There is a separate room for produce with a lot of veggies I've never seen before, including this one:


And one that looks like grass that I've seen before, but still don't know what it is:


Lucky for me, most of the labels have an English translation on them, but this was missing one. They also have all kinds of tanks with live fish, turtles and eels. Here's a box of blue claws being unloaded:
What a great find — I can't wait to go back. Look for a post with the pad thai recipe if it's good!

Two for you, one for me

After quite a frenzy of holiday knitting, I had to put down the needles cuz I'd had enough. But after a month's hiatus (other than some sweater finishing), I'm back at it and happy to say that I'm knitting something for myself. It feels like it's been a while since I did that — not through great acts of selflessness, but rather budget-conscious gift-giving efforts! My mom gave me some beautiful blue Blue Sky Alpaca yarn for Christmas that I'm finally putting to use to make a 78" (yes, that's right!) leaf pattern scarf on big ole size 15 needles. You can see the start of it above.

Back on track

Hi all,
Just started a part-time job at an outdoor gear shop, hence the lack of posts this week. Jumped right into it without a clear schedule, but now I'm getting back on track and figuring out a routine. Look for more later today…
Cheers!

Made with love

The only thing missing from my completed sweater (see post below) is a label! Just found this post and know now that it must be added!

6 days to knit, 60 to finish

For those of you following along at home and wondering whatever happened with that lovely Morehouse wool I posted about back in December, here is the answer: In my frenzy to finish the sweater for the boy by Christmas (the Berkshire sweater from Weekend Knitting), I did the knitting in 6 days flat. It's such thick beautiful wool that it went really fast. But then I had so many other gifts to finish, that I never did the real "finishing." I wrapped it up under the tree with loose ends hanging everywhere (shameful, I know!) And then, sadly, yet predictably, it took over a full month (ok, not 60 days) to get back to it. But yesterday -- I finally wove in all those ends, fixed the sleeve that was too long and voila! It's done. My first sweater!

AADL rocks

I can't get over how great the Ann Arbor District library system is. They have figured out every modern convenience. The hours are great. You can track everything online, due dates, holds, etc. All your notifications come by email—they send reminders when your materials are due. You can reserve anything on the web site and it will be waiting for you in easily accessible shelves near the door. They have terrific new material that I wouldn't expect to find, like Mason-Dixon Knitting and the Alabama Stitch Book. There are multiple self-checkout kiosks. You can even check out framed artwork — and not just dorm room Monets. They have all kinds of unusual prints and original art. Amazing! I am used to libraries that can't even afford to be open on Sundays, have barely moved beyond the card catalog and have little new material. What a great resource! There. That's my two sense.

The best shrimp ever!

This is a recipe we keep going back to -- probably once a week even! And it just keeps getting better. It's adapted from a recipe at epicurious from Ken Hom's Foolproof Chinese Cooking. I've doubled the sauce, added snow peas and changed out black bean paste for chili-garlic paste.

Spicy Sichuan-Style Shrimp

• 1 1/2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 2 Tb finely chopped fresh ginger
• 1-2 tablespoon coarsely chopped garlic
• 2-3 tablespoon finely chopped scallions
• 1 lb raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
• snow or snap peas
  

For the sauce:

• 2 tablespoon tomato paste
• 3-4 teaspoons chili-garlic paste/sauce
  
• 4 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 4 teaspoons sesame oil
• Cilantro sprigs, to garnish (optional)

1. Heat a wok/large heavy saute pan over high heat. Add the oil, and when it is very hot and slightly smoking, add the ginger, garlic, and scallions.

2. Stir-fry for 20 seconds, then add the shrimp and snow peas. Stir-fry the shrimp for about 1 minute.

3. Add the sauce ingredients and continue to stir-fry for another 3 minutes over a high heat. Garnish with cilantro and serve at once.

The best!!

Comparing apples to oranges

I am posting this lovely tangerine because it brought some cheer to my otherwise cheerless afternoon. I made the rounds at the local temp agencies today and could hear the crickets chirping. It was a rather demoralizing effort. Thankfully, I went to the busiest agency first: there was one man with me in the waiting area. He had been laid off from GM after 30 years. In the second agency I visited, the lights were literally turned off in the front office as one woman worked in a back corner. My only other experience with temping was in New York. Manhattan will always have actors and newbies, and my temping was during prosperous times. You can imagine the contrast. I know I shouldn't compare, but …
So here's to comparing lovely bright tangerines with stems intact to the Big Apple.

A Yeti saved my Gocco!

Today I spent the whole morning working on hand-printing cards of a little house in snow. I cut out shapes from cardboard, which didn't work — I kept getting the corrugated lines which I didn't like. Then I moved on to styrofoam. Pretty easy to cut. The result was okay. But then, as I was applying the final touches of hand-painting the snow, I realized something awful. The freakin' houses didn't look like houses. They looked like Yetis! Some like King Kong. Only one kinda resembled a house. Bummer. Well, not a total bummer. Everybody likes a Yeti. But I felt like I wasted a whole morning. I added eyes to this one to really show off the Yeti-ness:

My little disaster turned into an afternoon of pure bliss! I dusted of the cover of my highly-prized, yet never touched Gocco printer. I had gotten the full B-6 kit for Christmas a couple of years ago, but it only came with 5 screens and 10 bulbs. Since Gocco has discontinued production of their printers, I have been saving my Gocco for THE BEST DESIGN EVER for it to be worthy of using my limited supply. I've had the darn thing for over two years. What good is it if I'm afraid to use it. So, today was the day. I love it! I'm totally hooked. I immediately ordered more screens and bulbs despite being jobless (oops!I couldn't resist!) Have a look:

Low-tech printing methods

I've been having difficulty with printing methods. I want to make art that I can easily share with others. But I don't have a decent printer. My drawing style has a lot of line work with thin, delicate details that reproduce well on high-quality digital prints, but this is pricey if you are not doing it at home (and to purchase that kind of printer is REALLY pricey!) So, that said, I've been exploring/rediscovering more basic hand-printing techniques. This means a very different way of thinking about the design. In some ways, the limits will be good for my work and will let me focus on other things. So… here's my latest experiment with the good old-fashioned potato stamp:

Gocco-worthy?

I've been trying to come up with a Valentine card that's not too schmaltzy. I picked up a huge stack of old Martha Stewart mags that someone had left in the free area at the library the other day and this image is inspired by an article on collecting old hooks. It was a beautiful layout, but I think maybe my card is too obscure. I can't decide. I have a Gocco printer that I have yet to use. Because the supplies are so hard to come by, I'm hesitant to use it unless I'm really happy and sure about a design — I don't think I'm there yet. I'll keep working on it!

Do-It-Yourself Valance

When we moved into our apartment in September, the first thing I wanted to do was get rid of the vertical blinds. Every room had them. They make me think of 1970s offices—so ugly. The boy and I brainstormed many elaborate systems to replace them, but many months passed and we did nothing. Finally, a few weeks ago we made the bold move of taking down the individual blinds in the living room (leaving the track). We then hung those cheap temporary painters blinds (we splurged on the extra $2 for cloth ones over the paper). I had put them up in my last house and they are a fast, easy, cheap solution. But then the track was glaringly ugly looming over top of them. This weekend, I tackled covering the track and made a do-it-yourself valance. I had been saving all sorts of cardboard scraps with this in mind. I glued and taped together four layers of cardboard 6.25" wide and 110" long, making sure that the seams fell in different places on all layers (Sorry I didn't taken any pix of this part of the process — I was quite proud!) I then covered the cardboard with some leftover fabric I had (stapled onto the back). I made cardboard loops, stapled them to the back of the whole thing and then fastened those over the track. The pattern on the fabric covers any imperfections and voila! Cheap, recycled valance. Now I just have to work on the other rooms!

I Knead Bread

2008 was the year of bread-baking for me. I had always wanted to try it, but it seemed like a huge time commitment and mucho planning. It took me until last spring to get there. It all started with the No-Knead Bread recipe from the NY Times. Mix up the ingredients and then just let it all sit. What could be easier? It came out so great and looked professional, I think it may have been the first food item I felt compelled to be document with a photo (though I wish I had taken a photo of the inside—next time):

With the move to Ann Arbor, I have had some time on my hands while job-searching, and have delved whole-heartedly into the bread-baking world. The boy really wanted to try making bagels (No, not some clever euphemism. Really, making bagels)—so we did. It was a trial of nerves as I am one to follow the recipe to a T on the first go round; he is not.
I had also been reading what we have come to call the Nazi bread book. I complete guide to whole wheat bread making that is uber-strict to say the least. You MUST do this, and heaven-forbid you do NOT do this… etc etc. I took it all a little too much to heart and was whipped into a perfectionist frenzy. That soon passed. What the heck do I care if the coloration of the bread isn't exactly even over the whole loaf — it tastes good? Great. That's enough for me. Regardless, the bagels turned out pretty rockin' in the end — I wish I had taken a few pix. Next time.

Then, on to baguettes. Yum. Much easier than I thought they would be (perhaps it was my overzealous book training) though I don't think my subsequent efforts have been quite as good as that very first one (you know what they say…).




I had been buying King Arthur flour and started noticing the recipes on the back of the bags. I tried their Oatmeal Bread and loved it so much that I've gone on to try a bunch of their recipes. This bread smells so good with the best ting of sweetness and perfect density for toast or a super-hearty sandwich. Yum!!



What shall I try next…

Trial and error

I've been working on needlepoint bracelets. After much trial and error, I'm not sure if it's right. I can't seem to get the edges sewn so that they look clean/professional. Bits of the canvas show through. The last sample I made (the brown one below) has a better form to it thanks to a special insert, and I hand-stitched the edges, but still not sure… I am having fun with the colors and experimenting with different stitches. Maybe I'll post them soon…

Crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside!

Here's another recipe I had tried last spring and had been meaning to make again. They were part of a Food & Wine Easter menu. I had remembered them as being a ton of work, but I cut recipe in half and it took no time at all. Well worth the effort — even on a weeknight. Yummy crispy on the outside, soft and creamy on the inside! The gourmet answer to tater tots. Try it!

What's in a name?

If I had known when I set up this blog that I would actually use it as a place to write, I might have called it the Bashful Blogger or the Reluctant Blogger. I set it up so that I would have a place to post my Illustration Friday drawings. It didn't cross my mind for a minute that I might actually one day want to use it for anything else, and yet here we are.

At the time, I was constantly listening to Loretta Lynn's album, Van Lear Rose — in particular the song "Portland Oregon." It's a duet with Jack White of White Stripes fame (he produced the album, too). The whole album has such a great sound, but I loved this song in particular and while I hadn't had a sloe gin fizz yet, I loved the expression. Sloe(w) makes me think of the south in a great Loretta Lynn kinda way, gin is my drink of choice and fizz just sounds celebratory. Put it all together, what's not to love?

Loretta Lynn and Jack White sing:

Well Portland Oregon and sloe gin fizz
If that ain't love then tell me what is…
… Well sloe gin fizz works mighty fast
When you drink it by the pitcher and not by the glass
Hey bartender before you close
Pour us one more drink and a pitcher to go
And a pitcher to go