THE VEGABLE PROJET

sooooo it's been forever. But believe it or not Emery has been bugging me to do a "vegetable project" since i mentioned it to her eons ago! It's one of those bittersweet mornings where the sky is gray and stormy but it makes you a little happy because you know it's only feeding spring....yay!

Warmth and beautiful blooms are on the horizon!  And once again Emery says, "mooooom. iwanttomakeavegableprojet." So between the rain, the empty morning before afternoon school, the pleading child, and the green pepper that was about to go bad in my fridge I felt it was the perfect moment for THE VEGABLE PROJET. Nothing fancy here: just some cut up green peppers, some finger paint, and a blank page for my kiddos to go crazy.  After HAVING to eat veggies it's probably pretty fun for them to make a mess with them. Fun for my kids! Fun for mom! The homage part is open for interpretation...i respect the pepper enough to make lasting art with it rather than throwing it away. Sound good to me!

Emery finished her breakfast first so she got to dive right in:

 Thus creating these beauties:

 Brennan's works of art followed:

Not bad for a rainy monday morning

Crayon Creativity!

So, its been a while since we've done some creative blartogging (is that a word...it is now) and it felt time for a new project.  This one is all about using crayons in whatever fun and creative way you can come up with (consider melting, breaking, building or just coloring) Use multiple mediums if desired, but make sure crayons are at the heart of or at least a part of the piece.  Cant wait to see the the fun colorful creations! :)

cilantro party

Ok, so, major disclaimer.  Yes, I realize that cilantro is an herb and not tehnically a vegetable, but whatever.  Once it got in my head, it wouldn't go away. 
I LOVE cilantro.  I found some cilantro recipes, made cilantro recipe cards, created invitations to my cilantro dinner party where I served cilantro lime rice, lemon garlic cilantro shrimp, cilantro pistachio pesto and cp cream cheese pesto spread.  After dinner, we made art with cilantro and had a ceremonial cilantro replanting (I cannot seem to grow it very well).  It was most certainly an homage to cilantro.
















Yay for cilantro!  If anyone wants recipes, I'd be happy to pass them along.  ;)

Veggie delight

I was feeling a little grinchy the other day.  But then I decided to veg out and relax a little.
Artistically, my art is again very primitive.  But I think my post is pretty creative. lol.

My homage to.... (drum roll, please)... BROCCOLI!!!

I love broccoli, among many other vegetables.  My husband is out of the country at the moment, and he HATES broccoli.  He feels towards broccoli like I feel about mushrooms.  So, I don't get to eat it as much when he is around and I decided to take this challenge to heart and create an opportunity for myself to enjoy some of my favorite veggie.  Cooking is my primary creative outlet, so naturally I created my artistic homage in the form of something yummy.  There is a recipe I've been wanting to try, for Broccoli Parmesan Fritters.  Served with a yogurt lime sauce.  And they are delicious!  Here is the finished product:

And a link to my FAVORITE foodie blog, Smitten Kitchen, where I found the recipe.  She is a true artist, and is responsible for many hours of creative foodie messes in my kitchen.  And a whole lot of gastronomic pleasure.  And probably some weight gain, but I choose not to think about that when pursuing my art.  It was fun.

Vegetable Homage

Let your imagination run as you create an homage to your favorite vegetable.  Whether you make the most incredible roasted red pepper soup ever or build a snowman (good luck) with a carrot nose you're sure to have some delicious moments on your way to completing the newest challenge.

unbroken

"Love builds up the broken wall and straightens the crooked path.  Love keeps the stars in the firmament and imposes rhythm on to ocean tides"

Maya Angelou







It will be impossible for me to express the meaning of this piece in words. 
Simply put, it begins with brokenness and ends with something beautiful.


The Process

Materials I Used:
Shells
Sand
Fire
Wood..which I burned to turn into:

Charcoal
Sap
Pages from Books
Tea
Posterboardish matboard that was next to a garbage

1.  A couple months ago, I collected shells and sand at the beach knowing that I wanted to somehow use them for my repurposed project.  I played with the shells for a couple hours one day and ended up creating a heart.  The idea developed from there.
2.  During a hike and a beach campfire, I collected and created charcoal.   During other outings, I also collected sap from trees. 
2.  For months, I searched for the perfect background for the heart and never really found it.  Then, during a walk one day recently, I found the posterboard near a garbage.  The idea for  a collage of book pages happened during that walk before I found the board.
3.  I used tea and charcoal to stain the book pages and then created the collage.  (yes, I ripped pages out of actual books).
4.  I laid the heart out on top of the collage. 
5.  I made glue out of tree sap and charcoal.  Using a proportion of about 3 to 1, I melted down the sap over fire and stirred in the charcoal.  (I had to make a little more later over the stove.)
6.  Next was gluing the heart down.  This was not the easiest thing ever as shells are fragile, the arrangement was tricky and tree sap glue is not normal glue, but it was fun and it worked.
7.  Finally, I used more charcoal, sand and sap glue to decorate the collage with more words, a border and other random little things that are hard to explain!

The Inspiration

This work of art was inspired by brokenness.
My heart has been very heavy lately.  Those that I love deeply have been riding waves of brokenness that I can't even imagine.  I have also been facing some long buried demons in my own life.  I felt I was drowning in the fear, pain and helplessness that I was feeling both for myself and my friends. 
Every element of this is broken.  The shells used to be whole and alive.  Sand has been broken down over time.  The pages have been ripped from books and defaced.  The charcoal has been through the fire.  Sap flows from wounded areas of trees. 
But they come together to create something new and whole and beautiful.
The pages still provide words of hope even if they are hard to find,  And it actually goes deeper than that with the pages...I used specific books that mean something to me or remind me of the friends and family I was inspired by.  The shells make a new shape that holds a light and pure essence in the midst of its surroundings.  The sap glue binds the heart and the words.  The charcoal writes new words.
There truly is brokenness all around us.  But within it, there is love and hope if you choose to see it.  And unbrokenness can be built.

 

This is for those who are hurting and those "writing new words".  I love you.