The Whole point of Summer

After weeks of rain followed by days of intense heat and humidity, plus a lot of weeding, watering, and some random doses of Miracle Gro, we have finally arrived at the WHOLE POINT OF SUMMER.

Drum roll please!!

Here’s the latest harvest from my salsa garden

And here’s what to do with the goods:

Take some juicy ripe tomatoes and chop them up.

Add chopped cilantro, garlic, onion, jalepeno pepper, juice from 1/2 a lemon, a bit of olive oil, a sprinkle of sugar, some salt. (Don’t expect me to tell you exact measurements. I’m not a food blog after all.)

Now throw it all in a processor and give it a quick whirl.

Now, enjoy the WHOLE POINT OF SUMMER.

Is your mouth watering yet in anticipation?

Comments

Paint and Palettes

I’ve always been a lover of paint and paint palettes. I vividly remember the excitement I felt opening that rectangular tin filled with round cakes of watercolor paint in elementary school. I was hooked! From that point on, I have wanted to explore and express within the inviting purity of paint. In 1988 I had a beach side shop where I hand painted women's clothing. I was using acrylic paint in abundance. One morning I had cleaned my palette off, and had peeled a large colorful piece of variegated and textured acrylic paint from it. Some friends of mine came into the shop (actually it was my minister and his wife). During our brief conversation, I showed them the peeled up paint and said, “This is too pretty to throw away, but I don’t know what to do with it.” The husband said, “Oh, you should cut it up and make it into jewelry!” We all laughed about it. It was like "Yeah right, I should try it!” After they left I thought "Wow, that could have been

Winter Work

Now that my show season is over, it's time for what I lovingly call winter work. Winter work is studio time. It's when I light the fire in the wood stove and sit down at the drawing table and/or easel, both of which are pulled close to the wood stove. It's winter work because when the weather cools off and the leaves fall, the studio is the most inviting place in my life. The warmth of the fire and the smell of the wood and the blank slate on the easel are what inspire and motivate me to work. At one of my shows I bought this glorious coffee mug from Paige @rockbottomceramics. It sits on top of the woodstove and keeps the coffee warm for hours. It's a studio staple. There is purposely a blank canvas on the easel, or in this case, a smooth panel which will eventually be gessoed and painted with an expression of light through leaves. The blank canvas is self care. It's a sign of hope for my future. What will go on that canvas in my future? It'

The Clearing, Revisited

I've been talking a lot about the importance of having a muted palette, meaning very little color. But lately, I've wanted to add color to some of the paintings that I did over the last few years. So that's what I've been doing. I just added color to this piece. It was called The Clearing, and it was a very monotone palette. It was actually one of the favorite paintings at my shows. But you know, it just didn't sell. So I decided to take a breath, (a couple of breaths actually), and re-work this painting, add color, and actually change the path of light in the painting. So what do you think now? I kind of like it! I like the new light coming through, and I like the blues that are in here now, that didn't used to be, and the light browns and yellows. And I like this little trunk, that gives you a place to sit when you're at the clearing of the woods. A limited edition print of the original Clearing is available here. As a reminder, if you dec

Parts of Art

Search This Blog