color

I have almost always loved color as an element in both art & life. The only exception to this was the years that I focused on the magic of etching and lithography -which , for me was all about black and white and veils of gray.

Yesterday I was sorting through my flat files full of art, looking for pieces to submit for an upcoming show. As I put them up on the wall to better to see, I began playing around with my new favorite tool: photo booth. It has it's limits but those limits somehow also help to make using it irresistibly challenging.

I only wish there were a way for me to take it out & about. I would love to photograph the sky , birds, trees, snowfall and oh so many other images-just to see how it would or might not turn out.

New

I was in an Apple store recently and noticed "Photo Booth" on the tool bar and the artist in me began to play . It sure has a way of making a simple sheet of postage stamps look rather spectacular!

NEW years resolutions

Can it be too soon to be mulling over one's New Years resolutions? I think not. Especially not this year.

2010 was not the greatest of years. Too much medical goings on for my taste. But maybe that was meant to be. Maybe things have to happen in order to propel us on to other things. With that in mind I am going to begin thinking about what I would love to have 2011 be about.

Henna , before and after

I was lucky enough to have a real artist do one last display of henna on my left hand today. The first photo is of the henna paste drawing-thus the dark and even color. The paste is very 3 dimensional and the process of application is reminiscent of cake icing. (Any lighter areas show where the paste has already dried and flaked off)

The second photograph shows the stain left behind once the paste is removed-shades of reddish brown and very uneven. Seemingly, different parts of the body stain differently-the palm being one of the areas that shows the color most deeply.

Fascinating.

henna and L.A.F.

Still not much new here. Some excitement though: Clients at the hospital I work at were wonderful enough to bring in some henna and they created lovely designs on the hands of the nurses & I. (I happen to love henna and explored it's use years ago-perhaps it is time to return to this "medium" as it is all about pattern & design...)

And on the same day, Mr. Lance Armstrong came to visit at the hospital. Thus the LIVESTRONG bracelet. Quite exciting.

Nothing new here...

There is very little that is new going on these days here.

I did try acupuncture for the very first time last Saturday as past of a mind body lecture . Much as I believe in alternative and complimentary approaches I am sorry to report I noticed nothing during the 30 minutes I sat with 5 needles in each ear and felt no impact afterward either. Very disappointing!

Summer feels as if it has gotten off to a very slow start. Everything interesting seems far off-on the horizon. One thing I am looking forward to is a collection of all different types of Volkswagens that will congregate on Governors Island this August. Should be very interesting-my parents always loved their Volkswagens and I have lots of childhood memories that revolve around them...

Baking

I usually do not bake. The kitchen is the size of a closet. The oven no longer works. The cats get in the way. The music on NPR/WQXR is never right for baking.

This Sunday I baked-because I had to.

I had read about a poppyseed and lemon rind pancake w/ ricotta cheese and actually bought ricotta cheese and poppy seeds several weeks ago and I now knew the ricotta was going to start to go if I kept it any longer. So I had to make it now. Underwhelming.

A whole bunch of bananas was turning ripe over night, simultaneously. That meant banana bread was the next project. Burned the top in an effort to cook the middle. Hate that burning thing that sometimes happens. Then you have to say "Want some banana bread?You'll just have to cut off the burned part...." . I made sure to feed it to people who had not eaten home made anything in weeks. They loved it. Thanks Mom & Dad!

Next up cookies and cake for a good bye party Tuesday evening. I mixed up batches of things only to realize I had run out of chocolate and vanilla. Hate that running out of key ingredients thing. Back from 2 stores I battled with the new convection oven -cookies seemed to do O.K. but cake iffy. This might not be the oven for cakes. Good bye cakes!

Made mocha whipped cream to cover any sins visible on the cake top surface.

I like baking because it makes everything smell wonderful. I also like that home made anything is probably better for you that store bought stuff. And I do try , more and more, to cook with organic and healthy versions of ingredients (did you know maple sugar -supposidly better that regular sugar-costs an arm and a leg!)

But here's the odd thing: I am never floored by food. It always falls short when I make it.

This could be one of 2 things: maybe it is like my love of the smell of coffee: it almost always smells delicious but that taste of coffee never matches up to the aroma.

Or maybe it is the artist/creator in me-that high standards ,perfection ,expectation thing that never gets me where I want to go. Cookies were good though...