Modeling for Life Drawing this week

Oh man, are my muscles sore! I modeled for 4 life drawing classes this week, and I think I over did it. There were just a few too many poses with an arched and/or twisted back. But there was some really neat artwork that came out of it!

Here are a couple of the 1-3 minute gesture warm-up poses. The half hour and 45 minute poses were not quite this strenuous to hold...but they still worked the body.



In addition to the back twisting poses, a few of the teachers were working on hands and face studies. Many of the students shy away from hands, feet, and heads when they're doing their drawings. You'd be amazed how many anonymous floating torso pictures I've seen come out of these classes. So by the middle of the semester, the teachers tend to do some focused sessions to try to take the mystery out of those body parts.



One of the teachers set up three drawing stations for head studies. There was the skeleton at one, a plastic head showing the planes of the face at another, and I was the third one. Hint: This picture is not my drawing station.



Oh, remember those gesture poses? One of the more advanced class participants took two of the poses I did a few weeks back, and worked them up into a more finished piece of artwork. Doesn't this remind you a bit of Matisse's style? It is fascinating to see what folks come up with.



And now, I think it is time for a nice hot shower. My back muscles will appreciate it.

Kind of speechless--Mirrix Looms

I am honored to be the featured artist on the Mirrix Looms web site. I'm still not entirely sure what to say about that! Mirrix is the Cadillac of bead looms, and I've been so pleased with mine. So I'm kind of awed (and grinning ear to ear) that they chose me to start off their rotating 'featured artist' spot on their web page.

http://www.mirrixlooms.com/yourwork.html

Leather and being the go-between

I love it when things just fall into place! I was browsing Craigslist recently, and came across a guy who was giving away a huge box of leather scraps. I contacted him, and didn't hear back until this morning. The other people who had spoken for the box hadn't shown up, was I still interested?

Now, I didn't really have a plan in mind for these. I don't work much in leather, these scraps were too small for shoe making, and they were backed with a vinyl or something. But...something told me to go get them anyway. So I did, and it was a good thing I brought the van because the box stuffed full of scraps would not have fit in my little commuter car!

Upon closer inspection, it looked like these were the left over bits from a book binding project of some sort. I put out a call on my FaceBook...and it turns out that one of my local friends has been repairing books for her kids' library. The kids' library just didn't have the money to replace the books as they wore out, so her services were keeping the library functional. And she recently had a brainstorm of making a non-profit group, to keep repairing kids books and teach others how to do it too. And yes, she could definitely use this leather!

So I'm going to save out enough scraps to play with in my own studio, just because. The rest are going into just the right hands, for a great cause. Sometimes being the go-between is a great thing, you know?

Bead Tapestry up on the Mirrix web site

Ok, I've got to brag just a little bit, because I'm so tickled about this.

If you want a small, sturdy tapestry or bead loom, one of the top of the line looms is made by Mirrix. http://www.mirrixlooms.com/

If you go to their website there, and click on 'Galleries' and 'Your Work', a piece I did several years ago is picture #23. The piece is 'Bamboo Dragonfly'.

This is actually a continuation of an exercise I did in color theory class. We had to make an image, and paint it in a couple of different color combinations. One was analogous colors--colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. I used yellow, green, and green-blue.



And one used one of the same colors, but paired it with colors across from it on the color wheel. I used yellow and purple. I liked that one so much, that when I got my Mirrix loom and wanted to try my hand at bead tapestry, I pulled that image out again. I put it behind the warp threads on the loom, to be a pattern/cartoon. Then I matched beads to the picture as I went along. This is how it turned out, and is the image up on the Mirrix page:




Yes, each pixel in the picture is a separate Delica seed bead. The wings are made of the Delica beads that are coated with actual gold, so they shimmer in the light.

Now that I'm reminded of this piece, maybe it is time to pull out the Mirrix again. Hmmmm....what subject should I use this time around?

Armor maker

I have some extremely talented friends! For instance, a gentleman I knew years ago through the historical recreation group that I'm part of (the SCA) is passing through my town this week. He's staying with us for a few days, and set up his shop in my garage for the duration. What does he make?



Extraordinarily spiffy and quite functional armor. He's in mid move right now, so I can't tell you where to find him. But if you're ever lucky enough to run across Sir Seoinin Irontree, take a moment and ask to see his work. It is even more impressive in person.

Recipe: Apple Sauce

My husband and I went apple picking last weekend. It brought back all sorts of childhood memories of going to the orchard in the fall, but that was in the Midwest US. I didn't think we had apple orchards here in the middle of the Arizona desert, but it turns out I was wrong. A little ways north of the town of Wickenburg is Date Creek Ranch, where you can go and pick your own fruit. http://www.datecreekranch.com/

So, I've been processing apples this week. I cut and peeled and sliced, and made a batch of dried apple chips on the food dehydrator. And then, one of my son's favorites is apple sauce. I'd never made it from scratch before, but I was willing to give it a try. The first batch turned out so well that when I found apples on sale at the grocery store, I bought more so I could do it again. Here's what I did:

The apples from the orchard were small enough that I had to peel and core them by hand, but store bought apples are big enough to use my cool apple slicer/corer/peeler gadget. (Similar to this one: http://www.amazon.com/Industries-5920-Apple-Peeler-Slicer/dp/B001A6E91E , but a different model.)



Here's the apples, all cored and spiral sliced. I removed the rest of the peel bits, and cut each apple in half.







I put the slices in a sauce pan, and added a half inch or so of water in the bottom of the pan. Then I covered it, and simmered the apples for 15 minutes or so, until they became mushy.






I added 1 tsp of cinnamon.










And then added 1/4 C sugar. Cinnamon and sugar is to taste, but that is a good starting point.








Then I took a potato masher, and started squishing away. You could use a food processor, but this gadget was handy. And I like the slightly chunky texture that it gives.






After several minutes of squishing and splashing, I had applesauce! Very very tasty stuff. It is in the refrigerator now, chilling for tomorrow's eating.







So, why didn't I realize that apple sauce was this easy before???

Recipe: Oat Cakes

My daughter went off to college recently, so it is time to think about making stuff to go into care packages. I usually make these oatcakes for extended camping trips, because they keep well and are great for grab and go breakfasts. So I decided to make up a batch today, half for quick breakfasts before work, half to send north to Michelle.

I don't recall where I got the recipe originally, but I know I did add more sugar to meet my family's tastes. I've made this with bits of dried apple added to the batter, and that was quite good too. I've seen it made with raisins, but they tended to fall out of the finished product. Try it, and then experiment away!

Oatcakes

6 C rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 C flour
2 C Crisco
1 1/2 C Sugar
1 tsp Salt
about 1 C cold water, as needed
extra flour to flour the board/counter when you roll out the dough

Preheat your oven to 375F. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Cut in the Crisco until mealy. Add the cold water a little at a time, until the dough forms a ball. Flour a board, and roll out your dough in batches, to about 1/4" thick. Cut into 2-3" squares. Bake on a baking sheet until lightly brown, around 20 min.