Sunrise, Mesa

I’ve been sitting on this picture, doing some research before finishing it.  By research, I mean watching videos on painting the red rocks of the American West to figure out colors, practicing with colors and washes, and finally, practicing with blues over the colors. as this mesa has a lot of shadow areas.

Above, color practice.  I used Pyrrol Orange, Organic Vermilion, Burnt Umber and Burnt Sienna for most of the reds and oranges.  The grey-green is a combo of Sap Green, Cobalt Green, and Payne’s Grey.  The blues are Ultramarine and Cobalt.  And below, the final result.

This is perhaps the first “researched” or “practiced” painting I’ve done.  I usually just go-with-the-flow.  The pay off is pretty good.  I’m still not really sure if this sketchbook is good for anything “serious” but it did a good job in the end.  It is really curly paper when it dries!

Monoprinting Magic

In my dotage, I am working toward art in my life on a regular basis.  While I haven’t pulled out my ink brushes and done sumi-e in a while, I have pulled out the watercolor brushes.  And the other day, I went to a class on monoprinting, which I knew about in theory, but had never done nor seen.  In reading, monoprinting is essentially a painting turned into a print using a variety of techniques.  Different surfaces can be used upon which to place the paint, and then different papers or materials can receive it.  The way monoprinting can be done is endless.  To read more about monoprinting, here is the link to the Wikipedia explanation.

There were two things I needed to buy for this class, which came through a Meetup group near me.  I got a gelatin plate from Amazon, and a roller / brayer.  Instructions including a mandate to wear old clothes and prepare to get messy.  We did!  It took a few good scrubbings to clean my hands off . . .

So, plate in hand, and brayer, I showed up.  Before each person’s seat was a lovely package, not in brown paper, but it was tied up with string.  Inside were stencils and silhouettes of objects, and all sorts of weird things (methought), including Q-tips and wine corks, to name a few.  And paper.  And a big plastic menu cover, which was later used as a surface to hold the paint for the monoprint, as was the gelatin plate.  The hard plastic released the paint less readily than the gelatin plate, and as a result more prints could be made, but the paint transfer was not as rich.

To my mind, which tends to want total control, I was in a land of chaos.  I remember wandering between my prints, wondering what the heck to do, and befuddles and confused about the whole thing.  I know this is how my mind works.  I also know that as I progress in my knowledge and experience in doing things, order is created out of the seeming chaos, and that is when imagination and creativity can begin.  Practice leads to understanding of what it is I do, and how to do it, and opens doors along the pathway of experience.  The creative process is its own reality.

Monoprinting needs space, supplies, and imagination, and a willingness to let things happen.  One layer of the print can lead to another layer.  Each layer creates its own universe.  While you may have an idea about what you want to do – the final product – it is also a world that creates itself.  I enjoyed it, especially the creative potential of it.  Did I create works of art?  Hell no, but I had fun – and that is a great reinforcement for future playtime with the gel plate and roller.

 

 

Thursday Night Monoprints

Upon a friend’s recommendation, I signed up for a monoprint class.

A what??

I know what a monoprint is, but I have never, ever done one.  So, per instructions, I bought a gelatin plate and a roller.  Then I showed up, wearing old clothes and an apron, and really, not knowing what I was going to be doing.

The instructor, Alison, was great.  She had a package of materials for everyone, nicely presented, and I felt like I was going to open one of the most exciting presents ever.  She also told us a lot of stuff – but better, she showed, and we did.  And here are the results.

Iris
Sand
Little Fans

Now I know how to do a monoprint, and boy, did I have fun!  I’m so glad I followed up on my friend’s suggestion.

Honey-Sweetened Cheesecake Recipe

Once more, dietary changes are forcing cooking and baking changes.  Some results are rather dreadful.  Others have proven to be quite good!  So it was with this cheesecake.  No sugar, no gluten.  The biggest problem was finding the dry curd cottage cheese. also known as hoop cheese or farmer’s cheese.  I found the cheese at the local Whole Foods, and neither my husband nor I had ever tasted it – but we did, and liked it.  It is a rather dry cheese, not sweet or salty, with a bit of a curd, but very fine, like ricotta.  The original recipe is from this blog, but I changed it so that I made one 8″ cheesecake, instead of 4 individual ones.  The only thing beside pan size that I changed was the baking time.

Honey Cheesecake

Preheat oven to 300 F, and by the time you have your crust ready, you can pop the crust in to bake.

Crust
1 1/2 c. almond flour
1 t cinnamon
3 T melted butter
1 t honey

Mix flour and cinnamon together. Melt butter, mix in honey. Stir together to form a soft dough. I used a fork to really work the ingredients together. Place the crust mixture into an 8″ spring form pan, lined on the bottom with parchment paper, and sides buttered. Working from the center out, press the dough onto the pan. Build a shallow edge along the rim of the pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 300 F. Remove and let cool completely.

When you are ready to make the filling, preheat oven to 350 F.

Filling
1 lb. farmer’s cheese
1/2 c. SCD homemade yogurt
3 eggs
1/3 c. honey
2 t vanilla extract
1 t lemon zest

In a blender or with a hand mixer, combine cheese and yogurt. Cream for about 5 minutes – texture will change and become more creamy as you work. Add the rest of the ingredients, and beat until very smooth. Batter will be very thin. Pour carefully into cooled crust. Bake at 350 F for 45-50 minutes. Check to see that the center of the cheese cake is set. When set (the cake no longer jiggles when shaken lightly), turn off oven and open door. Let cheese cake cool about an hour, and then move to refrigerator. Serve with fresh berries.

Comments
I had no idea what to expect from this recipe, but those who tasted it (served at a dinner party) really liked the flavor and lightness of the cheesecake. It wasn’t very sweet, which can happen with many honey-based recipes. The lemon zest complemented the fresh fruit – we used blueberries and raspberries. Without the fruit, the cheesecake might be a bit unremarkable if you are used to big, thick slices of New York cheesecake.

This, for us, is a definite winner!