As I eat brie for breakfast and survey the dying pink balloons on the front porch, I can announce with confidence that the party was a grand success. Lots of good womenfolk gathered to celebrate the almost-arrival of a little girl to a really good mother. There was plenty of good food and social mixing that doesn't normally happen. So even though I worried about the party much more than I needed to and even though it will be months before we drink all this soda pop, I am much pleased that everyone got to get together.

It leaves me now, with a day off and a day with few obligations, much curiousity, a belly full of brie and a brand spanking new sketchbook. Don't know what I'll see but I intend to look.

Yes, and the pineapple bread was not served. It stunk. Couple of cans of wasted pineapple is no great loss and for a minute in here on Saturday night it smelled tropical and exciting...

take care,
Rachael

I'm hosting a baby shower for a good friend tommorrow. It's her second child but she had her baby on the same day (the same day!) her first shower was scheduled. Hijinks ensued. So I decided to throw the do-over shower for baby 2 tomorrow. People (good people!) are coming to my house. It's a mess and I'm waiting for my motivation to come to begin showering and then cleaning for the shower and then baking and then making some art and sending some applications to some opportunities.

So then. That's that and I'll tell you more when I know it. A short report on the success of this recipe will follow at some point...

Bread Machine Tropical Bread
A recipe for bread machine Hawaiian style bread with banana, pineapple, and coconut. This bread, from dj, makes a 1 1/2 lb. loaf

INGREDIENTS:
• 1/2 cup canned pineapple chunks (chopped and well drained, save juice)
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup reserved pineapple juice
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup sliced very ripe banana
• 3 cups bread flour
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/3 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast

PREPARATION:
Add in order given in manufacterer's instructions, using light crust setting.


Take care,
Rachael

Tonight I had the pleasure of participating in a conversation with 3 smart people (2 other artist educators and an art historian/museum educator facilitator) in front of just two paintings in the museum where I work. I looked longer and more fruitfully at a painting I thought I had seen before and I was enlightened by both the strategy (similar ones are used here and here and here) and the reminder to slow down.
What's amazing about seeing things in a painting you didn't know were there is what is amazing about the whole trick of living well. Slow down. Slow down. Slow down.
I can't mutter it, mantra it, want it enough.
take care,
Rachael

I'm working on an application right now. Well, no. Right now, I'm typing this, smelling onions, and listening to the football game tv talk waft in from the next room. I'm realizing the lack of precision I think with, talk about, and essentially have. So, yes, to be precise, I am doing a bunch of stuff to keep from the anxious activity of applying myself for an opportunity I might not (prob'ly won't) get. (Grant lists are hereand here).

I shot some slides today though and if they aren't too blurry, and if the ringing of the phones at work, and the decorating and cleaning I need to do, and the pull to make new work and call old friends doesn't pull me away from the work of putting that application together, I'll actually send the damn thing.

I'll share with you, though, another painting from last year when my studio all of a sudden got smoky and full of water and then things changed. It's funny to see the changes in the paintings in retrospect. They're smaller, more revised, more proud of their battle scars and I hope, more honest. Below is Caution.




take care,
Rachael

I'm still thinking about painting and showing my work, thanks Mark and Bill for weighing in. I do realize that 50/50 is somewhat standard for retail spaces but it's a markup that many many galleries don't deserve. I don't frown on artists who go with that but I can't stomach it.

I spent some time today documenting paintings from last year (like this one) and they were all about growth and change. Frankly I can't wait for my garden to bloom and my new paperdolls to be done. Lots of ideas are gestating and lots more will happen if I simply keep discipling myself to make art. The fears that follow me into the studio are tricky to step away from but if we tell ourselves we suck at making artwork, we simply don't make artwork.

Spore, above, fits in nicely with my reading of Ackerman's garden book, my desire to share more work, and the colorscheme of my dreams today.

take care,
Rachael