December 24, 2011 – Wigilia

Tonight is Wigilia, the traditional, Polish meal on Christmas Eve. The traditions get tweaked form family-to-family and a bit over time, but there is something special about a ritual meal that has been done this way by your family and ancestors for over a thousand years. Some of the traditions go back in Poland long before Christmas, when the Solstice was the holiday celebrated this time of the year. Traditionally the meal is meatless. It should have 12 dishes and with my family includes things like mushroom soup, fruit salad, pickled beets, herring, pierogis and plenty of baked goods. The other tradition is to always put some straw under the tablecloth. Or with today’s piece, there is some straw under and embedded in the art. Wesołych Świąt!

November 25, 2011 – Leftovers

Today is the day to figure out what to do with the leftovers. During the course of the 2011 Project I have been saving unused scarps from the various mixed media pieces. The intent is to have them for a project archive. In the meantime some of those scraps have been used in other pieces for the project. Today’s casserole contains all scraps from some of the pieces made during the past 11 months.

July 10, 2011 – Sushi

Somewhere off Japan, just east of the Sea of Godzilla, are the Sushi Islands…

June 17, 2011- Summer Pie

Another piece about pie, but don’t we all want a second piece of piece of pie? This time I used reproductions of vintage fruity wallpaper as well as an image of one of my great grandmother’s pie recipes in her own hand. It’s just about time to make her strawberry glazed pie. It was one of her favorites (and mine too).

June 16, 2011 – Pie in the Sky

As I worked on today’s piece for the 2011 Project the image of the blueberry pie morphed into a Pie in the Sky. This made me curious. I wondered where this expression came from. It turns out it is a line in the chorus from the song The Preacher and the Slave written by Joe Hill in 1911.

And the Starvation Army, they play,
And they sing and they clap and they pray,
Till they get all your coin on the drum,
Then they tell you when you're on the bum
You will eat, bye and bye,
In that glorious land above the sky;
Work and pray, live on hay,
You'll get pie in the sky when you die

The song was written as a parody of the sort of hymns sung by the Salvation Army. The full lyrics are here. Joe Hill was a Swedish-born, American labor leader and songwriter. He was framed and then executed by the State of Utah in 1915. Not surprisingly, my America education never taught me about Joe Hill or his legacy. Rather, I learned about him when I was an exchange student in Sweden.

June 11, 2011 – Frozen Desserts

This is the time of the year when we are reminded that San Francisco is a different place. In a different country called America it is hot and summery. Friends and family there start complaining about the heat. They are either are incredulous, annoyed or both when we casually mention putting the heat on here n San Francisco. Our summer rule is never leave the house without layers, lots of layers.

For all those folks cooking away in America, it’s time for something summery like a frozen dessert. The manual from a 1950’s Coldstar Refrigerator has all sorts of recipes for “delicious” frozen treats. Every desert seems to involve jello. Snow pudding calls for gelatin, sugar, and beaten egg whites. One of these days, when I am feeling particularly ambitious, I’ll have to host a dinner party only using vintage, 1950’s recipes.

June 3, 2011 – National Donut Day

Admittedly it’s a silly excuse for a holiday, but what can be wrong about a holiday where the sole way to celebrate is to eat some donuts? I try to eat relatively healthy, but on National Donut Day we all get to be Homer Simpson. We can all take a day off from paying attention. This morning I picked up my “models” (see below) and had to resist while painting.

April 19, 2011 – Ham

It is the season for that most magical of meats. They say ham and bacon are gateway drugs that have gotten more vegetarians to fall off the wagon than all other meats combined.

You Art What You Eat!

The saying is “You are what you eat.” In my case, I prefer to say, “You art what you eat.”

Nearly one quarter of the 365 pieces are now done. As the 2011 Project progresses, I am beginning to notice patterns. One pattern is that I paint a lot of food I like. These are just some of the food-based pieces. And to be sure, there will be more.

February 27, 2011 – Scrambled Eggs

Scrambled eggs are the first thing I learned to cook. I can’t say exactly how old I was, about six or seven. I can still see myself standing in the old kitchen, in front of the 1970’s brown gas stove cooking away. I really do believe if you’re old enough to reach the stove, it’s time to start using it. And I still love scrambled eggs. I had them for breakfast this morning. I appreciate living in a city where the chickens can send their very fresh eggs direct to a farmer’s market a few blocks from my apartment. When you eat eggs in a simple form, good eggs make a difference. They do for baking as well.

When I was 17 I went as an exchange student to Sweden. The day after I arrived one of the brothers in the family asked me if I knew, “How to make these special and delicious eggs he had tried in America?” At first I couldn’t imagine what he meant. “Eggs Benedict?” I thought. Poaching is not something I have ever mastered. I end up with boiled scrambled eggs. It turned out he wanted to learn how to make scrambled eggs. I can add cultural ambassador to my resume.

January 11, 2011 – Ou est le pamplemousse?

On New Year’s Eve a friend brought over two grapefruits from his dad’s garden in Palm Springs.

This is what happens when you’re spoiled by the cut up and sweet grapefruit in the jar. You peel one. Find that it is surprisingly small inside. And oh was it bitter. You pulverize the grapefruit as part of your morning smoothie and have to add some extra honey. So, the middle of the month approaches. You sit there watching the other one in the fruit bowl. How long until you “forget” to eat it and it has to go to the compost bin. This one is hanging in there. Well, it’s a nice shade of yellow and made for a good model.

January 7, 2011 – Mandarins

People with cars never really understand what it’s like to be car-less. When you live without a car you appreciate the opportunity to have a car for running errands. If you do get use of a car, it’s a strategic event to maximize the amount of things you can get done that require a car. It’s also time for some serious schlepping.

Today was a zipcar day. In five hours of buzzing around the East Bay and SF I got quite a lot accomplished. Importantly I took advantage of a big sale at Blick ( I love Blick for art supplies), and now have over 200 4”x4” canvases on hand. I also have a full freezer. Lene Lovch’s song New Toy was running through my head as I jammed stuff in. And, last but not least, those California Mandarins, or Clementines if you prefer, are in season and oh so tasty. I schlepped a five pound crate home today.