Saucy Chickens!

Working on the 6th page of my book.  I started this one with a quick sketch.  The image is of the chickens all trying to get out of the chicken coop at once to eat food.

Last night Jami and I made tomato sauce.  I tripled the batch so I could freeze some for the winter.  It took 5 hours to make since the sauce has to simmer for 3 hours total.

We had to drop each tomato into boiling water for 30 seconds, then drop them into ice cold water to peel off the skin.

The result is delicious and I hope to make at least one more giant batch, if not two!

Cabbage and Sauerkraut!

The purple cabbage is such a beautiful plant.  I love harvesting it.  I search for the stem beneath the leaves and cut the head of cabbage off with "crunch" and feel the 3 pounds of weight in my hands.

I made Sauerkraut for the first time.  I needed 5 pounds of cabbage, 3 TBS of salt and a crock (you can make your own with glass jars and a plate).  Fermented Sauerkraut (verses cooked sauerkraut) stays crunchy and because of the fermented process the good bacteria called Lactobacilli grows which aids in digestion.  A little bit of fermented food a day is very good for you.

I chopped up the cabbage and sprinkled the salt on each small layer of cabbage.  The salt helps the cabbage ferment rather than rot.  I also pounded each layer tight in the crock to help force the water out of the cabbage.

Then I placed the weight on top and pressed on the weight throughout the day to help force out the water.

This is what it looks like 2 days later.  The salt has drawn the moisture from the cabbage.  And the fermenting begins!  It can take up to 2 weeks more or less depending on how you like it to taste.

Smells so good!

Page 5 Complete!

Page 5 of my 18 x 24 inch fabric book titled Farmer Kim and The Feathery Ladies is complete!

The little ones!  I see them huddled like this all the time so I had to add them in.  

Progress shot.  I cut the fabric out and placed them around before I sewed them.

Embroidering the words.  It's funny, I didn't know that I had been embroidering.  My Gram gave me these hoops and they have made embroidering much easier!

Jake sent me this drawing in the mail!  Dino is thinking "Yup, that's about right...."

Lady Fly

I found her in the sink in the pole shed so she climbed on my hand and I brought her outside.

I had the windows open and the wind blew the piece around and changed the look of it for the better.

Again, Soon

Again, Soon, 12 x 14 inches, yarn, jute, burlap, cheesecloth, wire, wood, 2013

I was missing my companion very much last night and this is what became of my emotions.

I'd be very interested in having an outdoor art show.  Sometimes (most times) I feel my work fits better outdoors than on white walls.

More Chicken Cards and Butterbeer!

More handmade business cards!  I can't wait to drop them around Chicago when I get back.

Fabric Tower #1.

Fabric Tower #2

My wall of inspiration and happiness.

Potluck from last week.  I made Tomato and Green Pepper Curry on the left. 

Last night Jami, Aaron and I made Butterbeer (Harry Potter reference)!  It involved a lot of brown sugar, butter, ginger beer and rum and tasted just how I'd imagined it would taste.

YUM!

Page 4 Complete

Page 4 of my 18 x 24 fabric book called Farmer Kim and the Feathery Ladies of the Wormfarm is complete!

Tomatoes and Tomato Scraps For Chickens

I am taking full advantage of the tomatoes turning ripe and red.  Pizza with tomatoes, green pepper, chard, mushrooms and homemade sauce with fresh herbs.

Tomato sauce with Zucchini.

After I make a meal I take the kitchen scraps to the compost/chickens.  They run right to me because they know I have what they love.

Glorious moldy goop!

And they are so happy to find tomato scraps in there now!

Vegetables, Honey Chicken, Cat

Potluck Sunday!  Donna made an amazing Moroccan stew with cinnamon and allspice.  I made little blueberry hand pies that I forgot to photograph.  

Red cabbage is here!  I cooked some red cabbage, kale, mushroom and tofu and served it over Israeli cous cous.  Cooking is exciting with all these vegetables growing around me.  There are so many options and I am getting better and better at throwing things together on a whim!

Conquering the 4th page of my chicken book.  This is the page were I introduce Honey.  It was very difficult to figure out how to cut out the arms wrapped around Honey so I have been putting it off by reading instead.  But today I decided I'd had enough and needed to get the 4th page going.

For this one I drew the image out then cut out the separate pieces of paper for different fabrics.  Very much like a puzzle.

Sexy Crook.  He knows I am infatuated with him.  But he pretends he does not care. (He loves me)

Meet Resident Artist Naomi O'Donnell

I am currently the Artist Residency Manager and Farm Manager at the Wormfarm Institute.  Naomi O'Donnell was one of the artist-in-residence here at the Wormfarm.  She started her residency in the very beginning of June and left less than a week ago.  I asked her questions about her artwork and her experience while living in Reedsburg, Wisconsin.

1. Where did you go to school and what did you major in?

In 2011 I graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute with a Printmaking B.F.A.

2. Where are you from?

I was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1988. We moved to Bloomington ten years later, where my dad began working for the Indiana University psychology department. The town revolved around the college, bleeding into vibrant music & art scenes. It was the kind of place that believed teenagers ought to have regular access to public radio waves, and I was the type of adolescent to agree.

3. What inspires your work?

What I talk about when I talk about being embarrassed, wanting more, and walking the line

/

iTunes Summary

(actual) Ke$ha, Nicki Minaj feat. Big Sean, Katy Perry, Mariah Carey, Shakira

(aspirational) Stockholm Sinfonietta, Arion Trio, Fuat Kent with Ensemble New Art, Phillip Glass, Milan Horvat: ORF Symphonic Orchestra

4. What materials do you use in your work?

My training in art has been fairly classical; drawing apples and boxes in perspective occupied a good year of it. I have recently been curating (rather than making) the objects for my work whenever possible. Realistically, expense and lack of a 3D printer require a healthy amount of sewing and modeling. This summer I’ve been using a lot of the following materials: printed fabric, rice paper, rabbit fur, glass eyes, rope, spray paint, wire, paper, hula-hoops, bamboo skewers, shower rings, plastic gems, and ribbons.

5. How did you become interested in the Wormfarm?

During the summer of 2012 I lived and worked at Art Farm Nebraska for two months. Before coming to Wormfarm, I was looking for a new experience that would encourage sustainable living with fellow artists. The opportunity to plant, weed, cultivate, and create on Wormfarm has surpassed my half-imagined expectations. You unearth satisfaction in the fruit of your creative labors alongside the fruit of squash plants. I came to Wormfarm hoping to strengthen my artistic direction and have found the reality to be much more three-dimensional.

6. What is a typical day at the Wormfarm for you?

Timeline

8:30-11:30 Garden

1:00 – 5:00 Studio

5:00 – 8:00 … what happens during this time? Kim?

8:00-11:00 Reading, films, podcasts

7. How has garden work been for you?

Conversational timeline

8:30am

“Good morning”

“Trellis the peas”

“Un-trellis?”

“When will the tomatoes be ready?”

“Put vanilla on your ears. Behind your ears”

“Mexican vanilla”

“What have you done to the zucchini?”

“When will the tomatoes be ready?”

“My dad’s friend wrote a gender neutral Mother Goose”

“Good”

“Take me to the store. Walmart?”

11:30am

8. What is your website?

www.naomiodonnell.com

9. What is next for you?

This August I will be relocating to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to begin an MFA program in studio art. I’ve just ordered a fabulous, photo realistic tapestry of a coral reef. This time, everything will be different. Run run run!

Inside Naomi's studio.

Floppity Lives His Triumph, a piece she made while at the Wormfarm

Soft, Olympus

Honeysuckle Rose

OhMyLife (video still)