2nd Annual Mini Gems Show, Society of American Graphic Artists
I have two small prints that were juried into the Society of American Graphic Artists' Mini Gems show at Union Station in New York. The show will be viewable online, I believe, starting 9/9/2023.
Baking Cannelé
First time baking cannelé. I had never tasted these until last year, from @dominiqueansellasvegas. I've been wanting to try them for a while, got molds a couple of weeks ago, and just got around to it this weekend. I'm happy with them overall and they taste really good. I used Kraken rum and vanilla bean paste, rather than a whole vanilla bean.
I think the butter/beeswax mix was too thick on the copper molds, which caused the wax to spill out all over the baking sheet (this is after I first exploded wax and butter in my microwave, before switching over to melting the mixture in a jar in a saucepan of water). The shapes are also wonky, and I don't know if that's because I unmolded them too quickly. I have leftover batter as I only have 6 molds, so I will try it again.
Frisch's Big Boy and Onion Rings
Big Boy and Onion Rings. Daniel Smith watercolor on 9x12 Fabriano Artistico Hot Press. Jon and I recently had lunch with my mom at Frisch's Big Boy. I LOVED this restaurant as a kid, especially because the one near my house (not there anymore) was a really fun Drive-In. We took lots of reference photos, and I will likely do a pastel or print of a hot fudge cake at some point.
English Muffins
English Muffins, made using a recipe from King Arthur Flour. These turned out really great. I used my West Bend bread machine on the dough cycle, timed for the first rise to be done just when I woke up. I shaped them, griddled them in a cast iron skillet and finished them in the oven.
Polyester Plate Lithograph
I purchased a new printer to print pronto plates to use as matrices for polyester plate lithography. To prepare the plates, I print the pronto plates on a laser printer, then heat set the plate with a hair dryer. I use gum arabic in water and traditional oil-based etching ink to ink the plate and then print onto soaked paper, using my Bira die cutting machine as a printing press.
I have found that it is important to use a monochrome printer as color laser printers often deposit yellow ink as a security/ID measure that, unfortunately, will show up on your impressions when you ink your plates.
Three Chocolate Red White & Blues
"Three Chocolate Red, White, & Blues" watercolor still life. It's Little Debbie Red, White, and Blue season (there are chocolate and vanilla snack cake, nutty buddy, and brownie versions)!
Although I really like to bake from scratch, I enjoy creating still life pieces about snack/junk food and food packaging. I especially like seasonal and limited edition versions of nostalgic and iconic childhood snacks (like Peeps-flavored Pepsi and Neopolitan Oreos).
9 x 12 Fabriano Artistico Hot Press paper. I used 3 Daniel Smith hues--permanent alizarin crimson, cerulean blue, and burnt umber.
I'm really happy with the way this one turned out. White subjects on white paper are challenging for me.
Happy Fourth of July!
Lemon Loaf
Lemon loaf made with a recipe from lilluna.com. The cake was good, but not great. I couldn’t find my normal (good) 9x5 loaf pan, and instead used the bottom of my double-layered meatloaf pan. The loaf baked unevenly, I had to add about 8 minutes onto the cooking time because, despite getting too dark in some areas, it took a long time to set in others. It had a really nice flavor overall, especially the frosting, but not the best texture. Definitely worth trying again.
Playing with Gouache
I tried working in gouache for the first time. I wasn’t 100% happy with the results. I’ve seen loads of beautiful gouache pieces on Instagram, and have watched a few Skillshare courses. I had trouble predicting the opacity and transparency of my paint to water mixtures, and it did not stay workable and liftable in the same manner as watercolor. I will give it another go at some point!
Sketching on the Wonder of the Seas
I spent a week on Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas with Jon and my parents. It was a really great time spent enjoying board games, swimming and watercolor sketching beautiful food.
New watercolor still life
I have been trying to improve my watercolors lately. I have used watercolor for years to do quick travel sketches, but haven’t taken the time to learn to work in layers. Much harder for me to control than colored pencil, but I’m enjoying my results so far!
Knife making at IAC
I recently finished the Blacksmith Blademaking class at the Indianapolis Art Center. I learned a lot, had lots of fun and finished with 5 really nice knives that I will enjoy for many years.
Baking Profiteroles
I baked cream puffs, using the Sugar Spun Run recipe, including the pastry cream, and covered the cream puffs with a very easy ganache made of cream, milk chocolate and 60% chocolate. These were very fun to bake. The puffs came out wonky-looking after they baked, but otherwise turned out great.
Learning vector graphics
Jon usually turns all my drawings into vector graphics for our various projects. But, this weekend I bought a Cricut Maker 3 and decided to take the leap to learn Affinity to make my own vectors. My first attempt was clunky and time-consuming, but I think I’ll get the hang of it. The Cricut has lots of potential for quilting and printmaking!
Cinnamon Rolls
I made cinnamon rolls using the New Artisan Bread in Five's brioche recipe as a base, with a very simple icing made with vanilla, almond, and orange extract.
Lots of Christmas Baking
I’ve had a lot of fun baking leading up to Christmas. Neapolitan Cookies, Gingerbread Cookies, Nestlé Truffle Cookies with Lava Cake morsels (I’m a sucker for any new baking chip!), and a Caribbean-style rum cake for my dad.
Merry Christmas!
Colored Pencil piece created for our Christmas cards. Everyone enjoyed a batch of Christmas cookies in October for the reference photo!
Chalk Wall Mural
Chalk Wall Mural completed with Richeson Street Stix and a little bit of PanPastel.
Spice Cake and Cinnamon Ice Cream
Spice Cake w/Sally’s Baking Addiction recipe. Cinnamon Ice Cream made in Cuisinart Compressor Ice Cream Machine.
