…another head:
There's something intense about this guy's face, almost sinister. Maybe part of it is that wonky eye that I didn't notice until I was painting him. I can't decide whether to try to fix it or just leave it as is.
Still pondering the many options for what to do next, so for now I think I'll just keep making these heads.
I started another sculpture the other day. Finally.
I'm not really sure where it's going yet. It'll be a full figure, in the round (as opposed to the half-round mounted torsos I've been doing lately), and I'm contemplating making it poseable, with real clothes instead of all sculpted. But beyond that I'm not sure yet. I'm hoping to turn it into another small series, so I'm trying to come up with ideas that I could use for other sculptures too. A few thoughts:
* party people, like these, because I friggin' loved those little hats. Or maybe people with different hats? Or masks?
* circus & sideshow people, because the last novel I read was Water for Elephants, Mimi Kirchner made some inspiring tattooed men, and the circus is just cool. This could make for a large and very involved series (maybe more involved than I have time for right now?): ringmaster, lion tamer, unicyclist, clowns, sword swallower, trapeze artists, Siamese twins, bearded lady…
* people in animal costumes. totally trendy right now and probably overdone, but also fun to do and might look pretty cool.
* characters from nursery rhymes or children's stories…Jack Sprat and his tubby wife, Goldilocks (and people in bear costumes, as above?), little red riding hood
* a chess set? would have to switch back to just torsos, but could be pretty awesome. or maybe just a little person with a crown. crowns are cool.
* something with nature, 'cause I like it…moss, rocks, trees…I have no idea what this means or would look like
* members of an imaginary band. It could be fun to sculpt little guitars etc. Or totally infuriating.
* no theme, no clothes. just little naked people. maybe this would be more "fine art"-ish, less crafty (something I've been struggling with lately)…something about fragility and vulnerability, blah blah blah
So, that's kinda what my thought process looks like right now. Votes for any of the above, or other suggestions, are welcome!
So, I cooked lentils for the first time the other night. I like to think that Ryan and I eat pretty well, but unfortunately that doesn't necessarily mean we eat healthfully (what can I say, I like butter. and cheese. and potatoes. and pasta. mmmmmm). I was a picky eater and notorious vegetable hater for much of my life (which made the seven years I was a vegetarian a bit tricky!), and over the past few years I've been trying to make a conscious effort to eat more and a greater variety of vegetables. So Wednesday night, in a fit of adventurous optimism, I decided to make this recipe for Sausage and Lentils with Fennel. The lentils smelled a little healthy as I was cooking them, but I pressed on. It looked okay when I was done with it:
And the flavors were a good, interesting mix. But I only made it through a few bites before I had to admit defeat. I think there were just too many different textures for my delicate palate: the oily, crumbly sausage, the soft sauteed vegetables, the tender-but-not-mushy lentils…but I think what really did it were the dry, feathery fennel fronds sprinkled on top. They were just too much for me.
But I was still hungry. So, I did the only logical thing—I made brownies.
Brownies
4 oz. semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp instant espresso powder (optional)
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 Tbs cocoa powder
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour an 8x8inch pan. Break the chocolate up and put in a medium-sized microwave safe bowl. Cut butter into pieces and add to chocolate. Microwave in thirty-second increments, stirring between each, for about a minute and a half. The butter should be completely melted, but there should still be visible pieces of chocolate; stir until the hot butter has melted all the chocolate and the mixture is uniform. Add espresso powder, vanilla, and brown sugar and stir well. Add eggs and mix until incorporated. Add cocoa powder (you might want to sift it), flour, salt, and baking powder and stir gently until all are incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. Pour into pan and bake for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting. Or, if you're like me, allow to cool for about three minutes and then scoop hot brownie over a bowl of vanilla ice cream. Mmmmmm.
Last night it snowed a little bit and this morning all the tree branches were encased in a layer of ice. Now it's forty degrees and sunny and all of the trees are raining. It's beautiful.
acrylic on birch-veneer ply, 6x8.5 inches
So, here's the product of my recent painting experiments. I've been wanting to paint on wood for a while now and decided to finally give it a go with one of my favorite pictures of Ryan as a kid*. I used thin washes of acrylic; between acrylic's fast-drying tendencies and the way it seeped into the wood, it felt similar to watercolor. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, and am hoping to do some more painting on wood over the next few weeks.
*How great is that rainbow belt??
I've been playing around with mixing colored clays…
cooking nice breakfasts…
doing a little bit of painting…
And sleeping a lot (no photos of that!) Not feeling so good with words these days…
There used to be a restaurant in Northampton called ChaChaCha! that served awesome Thai chicken burritos that were the perfect spicy-sweet-tangy-crunchy-soft-peanutty mix (so perfect, in fact, I'm not sure I ever tried anything else from there). We tried for a while to replicate them at home and got pretty close, though of course I never wrote down the recipe. A few years ago ChaChaCha! changed ownership and then eventually closed, and we kind of forgot about Thai chicken burritos, so I was excited to resurrect the recipe when Ryan requested them for his birthday meal last Friday.
The recipe that follows is rather imprecise and probably completely inauthentic to actual Thai food, but it is pretty tasty. It's also a little labor intensive due to the various components, so it's not really a last-minute weeknight meal. If you try it, let me know what you think!
Thai Chicken Burritos
components:
rice (I like jasmine rice, but long-grain white or brown rice would probably be fine)
chicken (I used boneless skinless breasts and sauteed them; I think thighs would work fine as well)
red onion
peanut sauce, recipe below
ginger slaw, recipe below
large tortillas
You're completely on your own for rice and chicken quantities and directions. The peanut sauce recipe made enough for four burritos but could pretty easily be halved or doubled. The ginger slaw recipe makes enough for at least 6-8 burritos. Both will keep in the fridge for a few days (reheat the peanut sauce if you make it ahead of time). Assembly is pretty self explanatory—put a mound of rice in the middle of the tortilla, spoon on a generous amount of sauce, put chicken on, maybe a little more sauce on top of that, lay a strip of ginger slaw down the middle, lay thinly sliced red onion on top of that, roll up burrito style (edge in front of you folded up, both sides tucked toward the middle, rolled up to cover the top edge).
Spicy Peanut Sauce
1/2 cup peanut butter, preferably smooth & natural
1 7oz can coconut milk
2 tsp red curry paste*
1 tsp sriracha hot sauce*
2 tsp soy sauce
2 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 cup water
Combine ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat and whisk until smooth. Simmer for a few minutes, stirring frequently, until sauce is thickened.
*In the past I used just sriracha; I thought the red curry paste would make it more authentic, but in hindsight I think it was fine with just sriracha; you could also just use cayenne. As with anything spicy, I'd recommend starting with a smaller quantity and adjusting it to your taste. It'll work best with the other burrito components if it starts off a little sweet and builds into a decent "kick", but doesn't leave your mouth on fire afterward.
Ginger slaw
1/2 small red cabbage, finely shredded (about 5 cups)*
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs sugar
3 Tbs fresh ginger, grated or very finely minced
1 Tbs toasted sesame oil
2 Tbs rice vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp mirin
Sprinkle cabbage with salt and sugar in a colander, toss to coat, and allow to wilt for at least one hour (or up to three). Press cabbage against colander to drain. Whisk remaining ingredients together in a medium bowl, add cabbage, and toss to combine.
*why are cabbages so huge?? sorry, you're on your own in figuring out what to do with the rest of it.
Well, I'm a day late, but here's the latest sculpture, as promised.
I've been trying to set some small art goals to get myself back in the swing of things; right now I'm hoping to spend thirty minutes every day working on art of some sort. Of course, with the amount of time these sculptures take I'll only be able to finish one every two weeks at that rate! But, it's a start.
New sculpture up later today or tomorrow, I promise. I'm still recovering from the holidays, trying to catch up on everything.
I feel like I simultaneously have a ton to post about (visit from my aunt Maureen and the awesome Christmas present she gave me! Ryan's birthday and the delicious meal I made for him! new camera lens! thoughts on art!) and also nothing to say. Still trying to figure out this blogging business and what I want to say or do with it. Sometimes reading all the blogs I do (I have over 200 subscriptions in my reader. yes, I know it's ridiculous) makes things difficult; there are so many amazing writers, wonderful photographers, inspiring artists…it's easy to get a little overwhelmed and intimidated. But I'll just keep on keepin' on…
The big project for the past day has been reorganizing all my files. I'm a bit of a nerd for organization, so I've actually been enjoying it…clearing out the old stuff, making new labels, color coding and alphabetizing. A big file overhaul has been a long time coming, so it'll be nice to be done with it. Then, maybe, I can focus on dreaming up a new set-up for my "studio". I just don't have enough room to spread out right now, but it'll take some creative rearranging to try to get more space.
Happy new year!
