Remembering those who lost their lives, who battled to save others, and for those who are still struggling today after that fateful attack on 9/11/2001. It’s hard to believe twelve years have gone by since that day that we were all glued to the radio/television. Thank you to those of you who have served or are now serving to keep this country safe. God Bless YOU!
This painting, by Gary Bodner, is entitled “A New American Flag” – hoping that peace becomes the new norm… at least one day soon! Maybe a flag with hearts isn’t such a bad idea? For anyone who may be interested, this painting is available at Anne Irwin Fine Art!
Be thankful for what you have, help someone out, make someones day… it will make yours too! Essentially… do unto others as you would want them to do unto you. The world would be a much better place!
We try to plan a few meat free days throughout the week… this recipe for Black Beans and Saffron Rice is a perfect substitute for meat. High in protein and fiber it fills you up and keeps you full! With that being said… I also make this as a side dish to accompany a nice grilled pork tenderloin! It’s a great combination of flavors!
BLACK BEANS AND SAFFRON RICE
I N G R E D I E N T S
Mahatma Yellow Saffron Rice (or made from scratch… which is an upcoming post!)
1 container of Black Beans (my favorite brand is FIG, Food Is Good, they are so tasty! But any brand will do!)
1 onion, chopped
Little olive oil (1 Tablespoon or less)
Jalapeño’s (I buy the already diced in the jar, near the pickles at the grocery store) 1 Tablespoon, more or less to taste
D I R E C T I O N S
Cook rice according to package directions.
Drizzle a little olive oil in saucepan, sauté the chopped onion until soft.
Add a tablespoon (more or less depending upon how hot you like it) of chopped jalapeño , stir for a few seconds
Add container of Black Beans (I buy black beans that have water only or water and sea salt)
Bring to a simmer… add a little water if necessary, put a lid and leave it just cracked.
I cook about 15-20 minutes… test a few, are they wonderful? Or are they a little crunchy? If they aren’t done, let them cook a little longer…
Scoop some rice into a dish, top with the black beans.
Are you looking to take a workshop from a well known, award winning, super nice, patient artist? Well look no further, if you’re going to be in the Newnan, GA area (about 30 miles SW of Atlanta) October 24-27, 2013 then this workshop is for you!
“A Waterman’s Life” by Ken DeWaard – won ARTISTS CHOICE AWARD at Plein Air Easton!
Ken is a cool guy, very down to earth, knows his stuff AND he is willing to share what he knows… It doesn’t matter what the painting is of, Ken can tackle it and create a TO. DIE. FOR. painting… He has a way of capturing a scene that makes it so special! I love this guys work!
“Acacia, Night on the Town” by Ken DeWaard – Won Best Architectural painting at Easels of Frederick, MD!
Ken captures the feeling of all the places that he paints! He has a great website, be sure to check it out, blog too! ! He lists all the plein air events that he participates in and includes images of all his work! Impressive!
Here is the information on the plein air workshop “Essence and Design”… it’s not until next month, so here’s a heads up…
CONTACT MILLIE GOSCH at milliegosch@gmail.com to make your reservation (or if you have any questions)!
This is a cool bridal gown shop located in Charleston, SC – it’s high class isn’t it? To me, it looks like a painting… a painting perhaps by Hai-Ou Hou who has been popping out some pretty spectacular paintings in her “window shopping” series
FABULOUS FROCKS OF CHARLESTON – This shop is different than all the others… this is a bridal consignment shop! How smart is that? You wear a dress one day and then you have it cleaned and stored in a box… unless you have children who may want to wear it, why not pass it along, collect some money and put it towards something that you can use now? Fabulous Frocks doesn’t take any wedding dress… it has to be less than 5 years old, accompanied by the actual receipt and has to have cost at least $2000. – check out their website for more info.
When you see this image don’t you just want to plop yourself into these woods and walk around… I do! I’m not sure if this was taken in Cathedral Woods or another area on the island, but it is heaven to meander through the woods without a care in the world. The silence is something you won’t forget. Good, sweet silence. You just don’t hear silence too often… Over the river and through the woods… but no river. When you reach the end of the trail you do hear and see the crashing surf and that is such a treat! It makes you happy… here’s proof… this is my mom, she was thrilled, just look at that smile!
Go out and be happy! Catch you back here tomorrow!
“One Last Time” by Ali Cavanaugh [image]Amazing painting, right? It’s even more incredible when you learn that this is a watercolor! This painting is by Ali Cavanaugh and will be shown along with her other work at Robert Lange Studios. The show is entitled ODYSSEY and it opens tonight!
“Saturday Night in Honfleur” by Kim English [image]And at Anglin Smith Fine Art some new work by Kim English just arrived and they are stunning! The way this man paints light is out of this world. It’s what makes him the highly sought after artist that he is. He has the uncanny ability to take an everyday subject and give it pizazz! Kim’s show opens tonight at Anglin Smith Fine Art, if you’re in the area, don’t miss it!
Three examples of art you can see tonight… realistic, abstract and something in between… It should be a great night for an art walk… hope to see you there!
The Sylvan Gallery on King Street in Charleston, SC is having a Paris Preview with artist Rhett Thurman. If you’re in the area you won’t want to miss this!
Visit Rhett in her studio tonight (September 5, 2013) at 241 King Street from 5 – 6PM for a preview and sale of her latest work… and then…
Meet at the Sylvan Gallery at 171 King Street for a reception, preview and sale from 6 – 8 PM!
It’s always nice to see where artists paint, what their space is like… and of course to see Rhett’s new work!
This is an amazing painting, by artist Alexandra Tyng. It’s entitled “Docksiders”… looks like a great Maine vacation, doesn’t it? Boats, easels, artists, dogs, family, swimming…. a cool cottage with wet beach towels drying in the sun. I love happy paintings, and this is definitely one of them! Alexandra has a show coming up at Dowling Walsh Gallery, located in Rockland, Maine – this from the gallery: Openings are 5-8pm Friday in conjunction with Rockland’s First Friday Art Walk unless otherwise specified. So look for Alexandra’s work if you’re in the Rockland, ME area… beginning this coming Friday through September 30, 2013. It’s going to be a fabulous show!
Alexandra Tyng is a realist painter whose work combines traditional methods with a contemporary viewpoint. Alex was born in Rome, Italy, and has lived in Philadelphia most of her life. Primarily self-taught, Alex chose an academic education over art school. She learned traditional oil painting techniques by examining the work of the old masters, reading about the methods and materials of other artists, and watching artists paint.
Alex’s portraits incorporate descriptive backgrounds and a uniquely figurative sensibility. Her non-commissioned figurative work focuses on people in the process of living and interacting in their own environments, rather than in formal poses. In other paintings the figures become distant focal points while the setting predominates. Alex’s landscapes range from intimate views of particular places to mountaintop panoramas to large-scale aerial views of the glacially carved land formations of coastal Maine.
Alex has had solo shows in New York, Maine, and Philadelphia. Her work is included in many public, corporate and private collections in the U.S. and abroad. Her figurative paintings and portraits have garnered awards from the Portrait Society of America, the Allied Artists of America, the Woodmere Art Museum, The Artist’s Magazine, and American Artist. In 2008 Alex was selected as one of Maine’s outstanding artists by Maine Home +Design; in 2009 an article on her landscape work appeared in that same publication. Her Maine landscapes have also been featured in The Art of Monhegan by Carl Little, and in art magazines including Fine Art Connoisseur, American Art Collector, The Artist’s Magazine, International Artist, and O&S (Poets and Artists). Alex leads workshops in Maine and Philadelphia, and teaches portraiture in the Philadelphia area. Alex is a member of the Maine Landscape Guild, and the founder of Portraits For the Arts, an ongoing philanthropic project that uses the power of portraiture to raise money for the arts in the Philadelphia area.
Rhubarb. You either love it or you hate it. I happen to love it. Rhubarb makes the best pie ever. Some people mix it with strawberries… hmmmm, not me, I like it with just rhubarb. I’m funny that way…
Last month was my birthday, and my mother-in-law surprised me with a rhubarb pie, and it was delicious! I swore I was going to freeze some of it, but it was gone before I got around to doing it… Oops!
I was a weird kid… never wanted cake for my birthday, always wanted pie. So my mom would bake me a pie. I love a good pie! I showed you how to make an APPLE PIE on an earlier post… Easy as… you guessed it! Fruit pies are easy as pie to make. Sometimes they may be a bit juicy and make the bottom crust soggy, other times they won’t. Go with it, don’t worry about it, it’s good no matter how it ends up! My favorite are fruit pies (I refer to blueberry pie as ‘antioxidant pie’, hee… hmmm, sounding good right now!).
As I mentioned, I didn’t make the pie above… but I have made this pie before. I don’t usually put a lattice crust, just because it’s quicker to have a top crust and make a pretty design with a knife to let the steam escape. But if you have the time, the lattice really makes it pretty!
I use Pillsbury pie crust (red box in the refrigerator section of the grocery store). I never use any other. I’ve picked up a well known brand and it was horrible… that’s a lot of money down the drain if the crust is bad. So unless you know for a fact that the crust is good, either make one, or buy Pillsbury pie crust…
Here is the link to the RHUBARB PIE recipe on the AllRecipe.com website, from that location you can click to print!
Best Rhubarb Pie Ever!
FRESH RHUBARB PIE(recipe by Carol via AllRecipes.com)
INGREDIENTS
4 cups cut rhubarb
1 1/3 cups sugar (recipe says 1 1/3-2 cups sugar… I’ve never needed more than 1 1/3 cups, and it could probably be lowered to 1 cup)
6 Tablespoons flour
1 Tablespoon butter
1 recipe pastry for 2 pie crusts (or Pillsbury pie crust in the red package located in the refrigerated section of your grocery store).
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Open the pie crust package, it contains two crusts (follow directions on box).
Place one crust in the pie dish (roll it out if you need to). A regular pie dish works great, you don’t have to use a deep dish pie dish (like for an apple pie), although you can… I don’t have a regular pie dish, so I use a deep dish for everything…
Then mix up the filling… this takes a lot of skill… kidding! I said it’s easy as pie, right? Here’s what you do…
Combine the sugar and flour. Sprinkle 1/4 of it over the pastry in the pie plate. Then add the rhubarb to the pie dish, even it out with your hands. Sprinkle the remaining sugar/flour mixture over the rhubarb. Dot the rhubarb with small pieces of butter. Cover with a top crust and seal. Cut a few small vents in the center of the crust to allow steam to escape.
Place pie dish on cookie sheet and put in the oven. Bake at 450 for 15 MINUTES. Then REDUCE OVEN TEMPERATURE to 350 degrees, and continue to bake for 40-45 minutes.
This pie is fabulous warm or cold. It’s best served with vanilla ice cream!
Let me know how you like it! I’ve had this recipe since 2008… my dad found it online… good going dad!
First of all, let me start by saying HAPPY LABOR DAY! Hope you enjoy the day off, and if you have to work, hope you don’t have to work too hard!
Years ago we invested in a good grill, a Vermont Castings grill… and its still going strong many years later. Ours has a little side burner, which we’ve only used a few times. If this grill ever poops out we’ll get a two burner model, that’s all we need. This grill has porcelain covered cast iron grates, which they say creates an even cooking temperature… I would have to agree! Ours is much like this model, but we don’t have backlit controls… the easy flame ignition is awesome as is the fact that it’s made in the good ole US of A… yep, right here in the states! Buy American and help keep the country strong! The 323 Tribute Series Grill is the one pictured above…
They have some great grilling recipes on their site… check it out! We bought ours at Home Depot years ago, but they don’t carry them anymore… check out their store locator to see if they sell them near you!
Wouldn’t you like to be sitting on a rock, here, in this fabulous place called Monhegan? Located about 10 miles off the coast of Maine sits this pristine little island called Monhegan. It’s a dream come true to spend a few days listening to the ocean, watching the waves, not answering a phone or checking messages. Hell to some I guess, but heavenly to us!
If you’re the type of person who loves the outdoors, doesn’t need to dress up to be happy and loves the sounds and sights of a beautiful rocky coast, this is your place! If you ever get the chance to visit… do! It’s a classy place, full of amazingly talented individuals. You won’t believe the number of famous artists that have painted on this tiny island.
Robert Abele was born in Bronxville, NY in 1969. He has spent his life making images of the New England landscape. Connecticut, New York and Cape Cod are a few of the places close to Robert’s heart. His paintings are done from life, plein air, in the tradition of Corot and Monet. Responding to the changing effects of light and atmosphere, he captures quick nuances and shifts in line and color. Robert studied art in New York at the School of Visual Arts, graduating in 1993 with a B.F.A. in fine art. Marilyn Minter, Juan Gonzalez and James McMullan were a few of the professors that affected Robert’s early development as an artist. Robert’s work has appeared in the New York Times and The Washington Post. Often regarded as a painter’s painter, many of his works have won national awards.Robert is inspired to paint what he calls a vanishing history of America’s past. This ongoing passion to preserve the gentle New England coast is his muse, and his dialog with this subject matter continues to challenge him.
This painting by Marcia Burtt caught my eye right away. The still, glassy water with those amazing reflections and the orangey color against the dark colors just screams WHOA! What a treat it was to run across Marcia’s work! She has a fabulous website… here is a list of galleries she’s in, scroll through to see if there is one near you! The Marcia Burtt Studio is located in Santa Barbara, CA…
“Slack Tide, Haze” by Marcia Burtt
How serene is this painting? Can’t you just feel yourself sitting on the edge of America listening to the waves, feeling the cool water, smelling the salt air… it makes my neck relax and my shoulders lower away from my ears, ha ha… Everyone should have a painting like this to look at every day!
“Making a painting, for me, is a process of studying a subject over a period of hours or days. Creating meaning from a random collection of natural objects requires receptively seeing in a sensual way while at the same time imposing structure. This dance between perception and intellect to create an object that holds a unique communication is the great joy of being a painter.”
Starting college at the University of Chicago, Burtt graduated from UC Berkeley with majors in pre-med, psychology, and art, earning her master’s degree in art from the University of Montana.
Her paintings have been included in a number of exhibitions in regional museums, including recently “California Art Club Paints Malibu” at the Weisman Museum at Pepperdine and “Saving Paradise,” traveling to the east coast.
Burtt’s large commissioned paintings hang in major healing centers, including MD Anderson in Houston and Cedars-Sinai Outpatient Cancer Center in Los Angeles.
Marcia and her husband Dave live on 1200 acres in southern San Luis Obispo County. Their ranch has been granted a wildlife easement and will never be developed, thanks to efforts by The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County.
Also check out the WORKSHOP section… sounds amazing!
This is the Brightbuilt Barn… it can be configured as a studio/office space, or as a 1 or 2 bedroom home. This plan ranges from 670-960 square feet. Small. Efficient. These homes consume 50% less energy, are easier to maintain and can be built in approximately four months. 960 square feet seems pretty small, but if the plan is efficient then it could work!
Note that there is a loft space above Bedroom 2, the bath and the kitchen (in the two bedroom plan). See the stairs situated between bedroom one and two? This loft space could be for storage or even an extra guest… who knows!
There are options available to make this home a net zero (pay no electricity) option… from the Brightbuilt website:
Energy efficiency features available
Super-insulated construction R-60 roof
R-40 walls
R-20 basement, R-10 slab Photovoltaic solar panels
High-efficiency heat and air conditioning • Energy-efficient, triple-glazed windows Airtight construction Low-flow showerheads and faucets
Add to that the low VOC paint, high efficiency heat/AC, low flow fixtures… it just gets better and better.
This gives yet another option to the very well built homes that are net zero, or as close as possible. Wouldn’t that be nice?
Check out their website for the other (larger) plans!
Monique Lazard shows her work at Camden Falls Gallery located in Camden, Maine. Nice work! Oils and watercolor and a variety of subjects. I enjoy the feel her paintings give… water… a sense of calm, a treasured location and nice light = a great painting!
“Leaving Rockland” by Monique Lazard
This is a sweet painting. The light hitting the tip of the building is fabulous as is the water. Nice deliberate brush strokes. I love the story about how Monique got started… I think we should all give art supplies to kids… imagine how many would be fabulous artists like Monique one day!? Check out Monique’s website, it’s full of fabulous paintings!
Monique recognized her calling as an artist on her 10th birthday when she received her first set of watercolors from her uncle, Ray Bertrand, a WPA Muralists and art teacher at the San Francisco Art Institute. Her formal studies began as an undergraduate at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. She received a BA degree from the California College of Art, and pursued graduate studies at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.
She began her career as Fashion Illustrator for Liberty House department store chain in Oakland, California. She became Art Director in 1979 for the Nob Hill Gazette in San Francisco, and in 1984 moved to NYC becoming Art Director for numerous fashion publications within Fairchild Publications. While living in NYC, she also enjoyed teaching fashion illustration at the Parson School of Design.
In 1992, depleted from the fast pace of NYC, she made a fresh start in the quaint mining town of Telluride, Colorado, working as Art Director for the Telluride Magazine. While in Telluride, Monique also taught figure painting in watercolor at the Ah Ha School. It was during this period that she began to shift her emphasis to painting, spending hundreds of hours hiking the Rocky Mountains with watercolors in tow.
Monique continues to learn and grow as an artist. She is continuously painting with other artist and attends workshops and classes at the local Art Centers on the Main Line and in Philadelphia. She lives with her husband and daughter in Brynn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
!["One Last Time" by Ali Cavanaugh [image]](https://artfoodhome.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/alicavanaugh-onelasttime-rlfb.jpg)
!["Heart of the Matter" by Karen Weihs [image]](https://artfoodhome.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/karen-weihs-heart-of-the-matter-ellarichardson.jpg)
!["Saturday Night in Honfleur" by Kim English [image]](https://artfoodhome.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ke-saturday-night-in-honfleur-as.jpg)
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