Luna Moth

Also back in January, I started working on what I hope will turn into a larger series of colored pencil drawings of a few of the many amazing varieties of moths that live in North America.  I suspect it might also digress into native butterflies at some point.

 Here's the wikipedia link to the Luna moth article.  And here's another great site for information on these (and other!) moth and butterfly species.

So far this month I have tried twice to create a satisfactory drawing of an Io moth.  In a few days I'll try again.  Here, at least, is a zoom on a part of the Io moth that I think I got right, (on my second attempt...)

Those eye spots are all right, but those upper wings?  Seriously people.  Bah!

Have a great week!

More January Art

The smalls and I went sledding after school earlier in January, and while Moo and I waited our turn I got to look around and enjoy the artistry of the late afternoon sun on the snowy slope.  Our side-by-side shadows stuck in my head until I had a chance to sit down and draw.

I seem to be endlessly fascinated by the colors of shadows as they fall on the snow.  Or maybe, being from Western Washington, I am just still bewitched by the novelty of a climate where sun and snow can coexist.

In any case, right now it is brilliantly sunny and -1 degrees Fahrenheit out, so sledding is out of the question.  I know, because we tried it yesterday when it was 7 degrees out, and we lasted about 10 minutes.  It is much more comfortable to just think pleasantly about it while sitting in the warm sunshine at my drawing table.

Wintertime is going much better for me this year, probably due in part to the wonderfully kind response I've been getting to my recent studio output.  Thank you!  It really means a lot to me, and has kept me happily occupied through these quiet, cold days.

Remember the Mushrooms?

Back at the beginning of the month I picked up my brushes and started a little watercolor.  And I was really not sure where I was going to take it.  After the excitement of the Chickens, I came back at it with my colored pencils, to see what sort of interesting texture I could add.

And I decided it needed a moth.  So I put one in.  And there, once again, it languished, as I started another drawing.

I felt like I was taking it in all the wrong directions.  I had an idea in my head, and this was not it.  This happens a lot in the creative process.  In fact, I think the most inspiring part of making things is how you keep trying, even when things never quite seem to work out the way you intend them to.

So, in the end I went back to my watercolors and added a few more lines and this is where I am going to let it sit.  Until I decide that I like it after all, or I have another brilliant idea to subject it to.

Maybe it's not so bad, and I've just been staring at it too closely.  But also, ever the artist's conundrum, when is a finished piece done?

Many Hats

Well!
Since I posted last, I've gone to my first artists' reception as a featured artist, made my first gallery sale, and celebrated with Stam chocolates and an e-mail to my mom. Her reply?  "Atta girl!  Love, your first cheerleader, M"  That makes a whole lot of smile in my heart.

 Time to resolve that this year will be my year to learn how to be an Artist.  Another hat to add to my collection of varied occupations, interests, and activities.  Still, I am encouragingly reminded that being Mama to my family is my top priority right now.  The littles are my best creative output and my deepest source of inspiration, and I get so much loving support from them and Todd; it's going to be a great year for all of us to grow into.

Since the juried show is now up at Outside the Lines, I thought I would post all the art I worked on for it.

(After attempted repairs... but you can still see the purple 'tornado trumpet' in the background.)

 After smaller small got into the studio and added his creative contribution to my first drawing, I switched gears and style and ended up creating two sketches that I felt enough confidence in to submit to the gallery.

They accepted one of them, the hen, named Mildred.  Henry, the rooster, is still up on the wall here.

And I ended up drawing one more piece, but besides liking the background, we all felt that the hen as a central focus fell rather flat.

 And those're the ups and downs of it, huh?  There isn't a lot of studio time, and sometimes things just don't work out.  And that is why it is so good to have the smalls, and family life, and the violin, and knitting, and baking and cooking and gardening and hiking and canoeing and reading and dreaming to keep everything balanced.

And on that note, it's time to go make some bread.

Beginning Again

It's back to school for Roo, and back to the studio for me during Moo's naptimes!

We had a grand winter break, with a big snowstorm at the beginning and lots of sunny, cold days at the end.  Perfect for sledding and snowshoeing and playing boardgames the whole lazy week between Christmas and New Years.








































Among other knitted gifts that I managed to finish in time for holiday gifting were these mitts for Roo's kindergarten teacher.  (I really like how they turned out, and want to crank out another eight pairs or so to give to various friends and relatives...  So much knitting, so little time...)

Apparently, I'm still thinking about mushrooms.  I gave my mushroom-varieties watercolor to my Mom for her birthday, back in October, and despite carving a new mushroom stamp for our Christmas cards this year, my first project back in my studio was starting this small painting this afternoon.

Not entirely sure where I am going with it, but I am enjoying creating in the studio again.

Also, a very happy and exciting note to all my local friends - I had a piece selected for a juried show running at Outside the Lines Art Gallery for Jan/Feb.  The artists' reception is this Friday, the 4th, from 7-9pm, if you want to stop by.  'Cause I'll be there!

Hope you all had a wonderful holidays and wishing you a grand start to 2013!

A Poem for Halloween

hist wist


ee cummings


hist whist
little ghostthings
tip-toe
twinkle-toe


little twitchy
witches and tingling
goblins
hob-a-nob hob-a-nob


little hoppy happy
toad in tweeds
tweeds
little itchy mousies


with scuttling
eyes rustle and run and
hidehidehide
whisk


whisk look out for the old woman
with the wart on her nose
what she’ll do to yer
nobody knows


for she knows the devil ooch
the devil ouch
the devil
ach the great


green
dancing
devil
devil


devil
devil


wheeEEE


(I love ee cummings. Good stuff.)

Todd and the smalls carved pumpkins last night while I was at a Messiah rehearsal.

Roo wants to dress up as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Moo just announced a few days ago that he would like to be a spider. Hope we can come up with something clever for that today... Stuffing a couple of pairs of my knee-high socks for spider legs seems like a good start...

'Grammmie,' as Roo recently dubbed her, came out for a week's visit and had to head back home yesterday. Boo. (And not of the happy Halloween kind.) Moo is climbing all over me for attention this morning.

This weekend I have a dress rehearsal and an orchestra concert on Saturday and a performance of the Messiah on Sunday afternoon, and I am also hoping to put together a submission for a juried art show at a local gallery that's due in late November. Moo got into the art studio and secretly added his own artistic contribution to the one piece on which I had spent several weeks' worth of precious naptime productivity. Repairs have not yet been attempted, and November starts tomorrow! I seem to have a full plate right now!

Happy Halloween, all!

Alphabet Soup

Moo has a cold this week.  I am keeping a sharp eye on him in case it develops into something more worrisome.  Pneumonia paranoia.  He has been cooking up alphabet soup for us.

Moths and Mushrooms

I am feeling a bit lost this week as my youngest and I adjust to big sister being away at Kindergarten all day, but I'm trying to focus on the positive aspects of our changing routines, and I was able to sit down yesterday afternoon during nap time and finally finish another piece of artwork.

I started this watercolor study away back in late March or early April, and as the spring weather beckoned more and more strongly each week, we moved our daily routines outdoors and studio time was passed by in favor of planting the garden and playing in the yard.

I had a few moments to sit down long enough to paint another layer or two, but progress was slow and not particularly steady.  I had a lot of fun trying to capture the various colors and textures of the different mushrooms, and I enjoyed the light-heartedness of including both common and scientific names and even a little cluster of knitted mushrooms near the bottom.

But I felt like there was still something missing so I painted in a pair of Io moths to add one more bit of color and focus to the piece.

And brightly colored edging around most of the mushroom caps, to define their shapes just a little more.  I think I like it.

Next up - more moths?  Butterflies?  Prairie wildflowers?  Apples?  I like the idea of these pages of flora or fauna that have captured my interest and piqued my curiosity.  Has anyone ever seen a Luna moth, for example?

Roo's been busy in the studio, too.  We were having fun learning about butterflies.

Worn...

It is very nearly back-to-school time, or rather for us, the beginning-of-school time and my mind is partially occupied by outfitting the smalls for a new season and new adventures.  And that has made me reflect on my own wardrobe-wearing habits, especially this morning as I pulled out a much-loved and a bit worn-out old long-sleeved tee and surveyed its constellation of tiny holes right about where my belly button goes.  Why my shirt even has a constellation of belly-button holes is unknown to me, but it might have to do with Moo's predilection for Mama-identification via finger in the belly.  I'm just guessing here.  It might also be where my belt buckle rubs when I'm carrying Moo on my hip, which I still do on a fairly frequent basis.  He is the baby of the family, and like I said, it is an old shirt.  When I look at my wardrobe, I realize that most of my clothes have survived (and carried me through) at least one, if not two, pregnancies and delightful, messy, cuddly, tumbly baby- and toddlerhoods.  Others have been on pregnant- or nursing-mama hiatus, and are finally beginning to get some use again, but gee, they're 8-10 years old now.  Faithful old friends.  My big question here is when do you finally say goodbye to beloved old clothing?  The smalls outgrow things, and we move on regardless of its worn state, but how about us grown-ups?  My velveteen rabbit of a wardrobe is getting pretty threadbare, but has been loved enough to be Real.

Simple Joys

Just a list for today:

dusk -
slender crescent moons
the vespers of robins and cicadas
bats swooping overhead

morning -
library storytime with friends
peaches on sale for a dollar a pound - pie?! cobbler?! crisp?!
donuts from the grocery store bakery because everyone cooperated

afternoon -
finishing a drawing during naptime
team dishwashing
the smell of borscht steaming on the stove

Kitchen water play from a hot afternoon several weeks ago...

It really, really, really needs to rain here.  Actually, I don't know if it is already too late for the Iowa corn crops or not.

Surface Tension

We're big fans of kitchen table science around here: building circuits with play dough, and messing about with oobleck, and soda and vinegar volcanoes, and laser microscopes, and the like...

This was a little science experiment that the smalls and I did way back one sunny February afternoon, investigating the surface tension of milk and how that changes when the fat molecules are bound up by dish detergent.

While ours was not as spectacular as it might have been, I've since heard a detail that might make it more impressive the next time we try.

It still made a nice rainbow in our milk, and we had fun drinking our afternoon tea and watching the colors swirl, as you can see.

 Here is a how-to that I just stumbled across, including the tip about using a toothpick or q-tip.

Making Home-Made Yogurt

I've heard rumblings of interest lately in the process of making yogurt at home, and as it is actually a fairly easy and economical and delicious endeavor, I thought I'd type up my recipe and throw it out there for whoever wants to give it a try.  I make my yogurt in quart jars, and often make and incubate two or three quarts together at a time, which lasts our family about a week.  We eat a lot of yogurt, with granola or fruit for breakfast, and with Indian food, and as an alternative to sour cream or mayonnaise in other recipes.  You can drain the finished yogurt in cheesecloth for a few hours to get Greek yogurt, or for several hours to make home-made cream cheese.  I'm pretty sure that the recipe is scalable, and also open to tweaking, so be fearless and experiment!  If your yogurt doesn't set the first time you try, don't fret and don't throw it out, you can use it for baking (coffee cake, muffins) just fine.  And always save a few tablespoonfuls of your last batch to use as starter for your next.

YOGURT:
makes 1 quart

Materials:
4C Pyrex glass measuring cup
An accurate thermometer - and if you have a digital one with alerts then you don't have to babysit the cooling process!
Clean quart jar(s) - and it hasn't seemed to make a difference if they're sterilized or not
A clean plastic picnic cooler with a tight fitting lid, large enough to hold your jar(s)

Ingredients:
4 C milk - you really can use any type and any fat here!  We use 2% milk from the grocery store; use whatever milk you would normally want to drink.  Higher fat gives creamier yogurt, obviously.
1/4 C powdered milk - optional - some folks think it makes a slightly thicker yogurt and it does add protein.)
1 Tbsp. yogurt starter - if it is your first batch, make sure you buy commercial yogurt that contains 'live and active cultures.'  I'm pretty sure that most brands do, but check the label to be sure!)

Method:
The most important thing with yogurt-making is temperature.  The bacteria we want to put to work are only active at a specific range of temperatures, so make sure your thermometer is accurate!

Working one quart at a time, stir milk and powdered milk together in your glass measuring cup and microwave on high for ~6-9 minutes till milk reaches ~170-180 degrees.  Ever microwave is different, so closely monitor this step till you know your own microwave oven.  Alternately, heat milk in a saucepan on the stove top till it reaches ~170-180 degrees.  Heating the milk is supposed to result in a smoother, more consistent yogurt.

Now take your hot milk and let it cool back down to 120 degrees.  I do this by placing the measuring cup (or saucepan) in a cool water bath in my sink.  If you have a digital thermometer, set it to alert when the temperature drops below 120 degrees; if you don't, check frequently so that the milk doesn't cool too much.  The bacteria are only active between about 110-120 degrees.

While the milk is cooling, scoop 1 Tbsp. of your starter yogurt into your quart jar.  Fill your cooler about a third full with 120 degree water (again, check your temperature carefully, and be prepared to adjust the water level once you get your jars in - they should be fully immersed, but their lids should not be under water) and put the cooler lid back on.

Once the milk has just dropped below 120 degrees, pour a little into the jar and stir it to mix in the yogurt starter.  Then pour in the rest of the milk and give it a good stir.  Screw your lid on tight and place the jar into the cooler to incubate, remembering to cover the cooler again so the water inside stays as close to 120 degrees as is possible.

Repeat method for additional quarts, placing each into the cooler as soon as they are jarred.  Try not to jostle the jars that are already incubating, though!

After about 6-10 hours, overnight, or up to 18 hours or so, take the jars out of your cooler and place them in the fridge to cool and set.  They should be fairly 'yogurty' at this point, but they will firm up a bit more as they cool.  Once cooled you can drain the yogurt in cheese cloth to get a thicker product.  (You can also mix in honey, jam, or other flavors or sweeteners.  I've heard you can do this after incubating but before cooling, but I haven't tried it yet - plain yogurt is just so delicious already!  So experiment!)  Also, I've heard that the longer you incubate the yogurt the firmer and tarter it becomes, but I would suggest you let it go for at least 6 hours, if not more like 8, to make sure it sets up well.  We've 'forgotten' our yogurt for up to 15-18 hours, and it was still very good, so I think there is room to experiment there, too.

Cool for a few hours to let the yogurt set, then enjoy!

Other links:
http://graham.main.nc.us/~bhammel/tscd/misc/yoghurt.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogurt
And if you're really feeling adventurous:
http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2012/03/yoghurt/

Grateful for...

...So many things I've been trying to focus on these past few days.  A good friend here was just diagnosed with breast cancer, and as always when something of this nature happens, it brings a renewed awareness of what is of real importance to my dreams and goals as a mama, wife, daughter, sister, and individual striving to be the best that I can in all the different roles I fill.

  Today I am grateful for my two healthy small ones, who are usually such great friends to each other and collaborators and companions in my day.  I'm grateful for the love and support of my best friend and team-mate in this complicated and sometimes unexpected journey called life.  I'm grateful for family always and friends near and far and the opportunities we are constantly discovering here in this quiet corner of the Midwest.  And I'll lighten-up for a moment and say that I am grateful these hot July days for wading pools and mud-soup pots in the yard and fresh local corn on the cob and coming home laden from the Farmers Market on Saturday mornings.

  I need to try harder at being patient, staying in the moment and on the smalls' level, and not yelling after repeating myself five or six times.  But I am pretty good at lots of time for hugs and stories and tickle-wrestling on the floor and mama-back rides and parties in the tee pee and messes with oobleck, play dough, and paints.  Right now my kitchen sink is full of dirty dishes soaking in cold dish-water that I never got to wash with 'cause I was outside refereeing the wading pool.  But we had still-warm-from-the-oven home-made bread, farmers market tomatoes and basil, and fresh mozzarella for dinner, and I managed to iron Todd's work shirts, and to sing several rounds each of the ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle, and Baa Baa Black Sheep with Moo past bedtime, and stayed to hold his hand as he struggled tonight to fall asleep.

  Every day there is a challenge to fit it all in, and things are always left to be dealt with tomorrow.  But I want to remind myself that this is the time that we are together, this is the time that the smalls are little and close, this is the time to embrace the moment, to keep on keeping on, and to be conscious and thankful for both the comforting every-day joys and the wondrous rich depth of my life.

July Already?!?

As the smalls say 'uff da!'  This summer is really flying by.  I have lots of photos to post about our family vacation to Washington and Montana.  And from canoeing and other adventures here.  Stay tuned!

Watercolor mushrooms!