Wormfarm Speech at The American Academy of Art

Yesterday I gave my speech about my time as an artist-in-residence at the Wormfarm Institute in Reedsburg, Wisconsin.  It was a ton of fun to share my photos and experience with everyone.  I loved seeing my teachers and fellow students.  Thank you to all who came!

I did a lot of chicken talk.

Thanks Mr. Kennedy for the photos and thank you to Lindsay Harmon and The American Academy of Art for inviting me!  And thanks to Mr. Scribner for the organic cabbage from his garden!

Paintings From a Year Ago and the BFA Show

I have been doing a lot of cleaning now that things are slowing down a bit. While cleaning I came across some paintings I did in September last year. At the time, everything was still very unclear (not that everything is clear now) and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do or say with my artwork. But during that confusion I continued to paint so Mr. Kennedy didn't think I was a bum. heh.

I had this idea that I would paint a bunch of tiny paintings and then make a collage out of them. But that idea, along with many others, turned into something else.

This is an image of my work at the BFA show last Thursday. I was very pleased with the look of my four pieces together. I really love talking to people about my artwork. I have trouble talking about all kinds of things but my artwork is one thing that is getting easier and easier to tell people about.

A close up of The Vegan Eats an Egg and in the back, on the left is Harvesting the Blue Potato, on the right is 80 Becomes 40.

A closeup of Harvesting the Blue Potato.

Diversity of the Tomato with it's 12 new tomatoes! It looks a lot better now that I added some more tomatoes.

A close up of 80 Becomes 40.

It's interesting to see where I started and where I am at now. I wonder how different my work will be next September.

New fabric postcards for BFA show!

I have made more postcards for the upcoming BFA show, this Thursday, September 15th, from 5-8pm. They are a bit more clean this time and much like a postcard with a front and back. The only image on these ones will be Diversity of the Tomato.

Front

Back

These are the many peppers I found in my CSA bag this week from Midnight Sun Organics. They were so beautiful.

I cooked them with potatoes, onions, and tomatoes from the farm. It's my favorite breakfast, Vegan Benedict. I simply saute the chopped potatoes, garlic and onions in canola oil until the potatoes get soft, then add in the peppers, including a jalepeno. After a few minutes of sauteing them I add a tomato and normally some cilantro or greens. Then the sauce is some nutritional yeast, whole wheat flour, chilli powder, onion, garlic powder and some soy milk. I heat that up in a pan until it gets thick. Throw the veggies on a toasted english muffin, add the sauce and dip in some hot sauce or salsa. It's really good and simple.

I bought some eggs from my local health food store. These eggs come from Stewardson, IL. at Triple S Farms. I normally get my eggs from Midnight Sun Organics but I get to the market too late and they are always gone.

And with leftovers from my benedict I added them to some egg and ate it with Tobasco sauce this morning.

I went to the farm last Tuesday and we had a vegan potluck. Keagan brought homemade spanish rice and ratatouille, rachel brought homemade beet and lentil salad, Adam brought homemade sauerkraut, I brought a blend of quinoa, orzo, israeli couscous with marinated artichokes, sun-dried tomato, and basil and Jami brought a very yummy homemade apple pie! It was the best lunch.

After lunch we picked the last few tomatoes of the season from the vines. Then we covered the tiny, recently planted arugula with Reemay. Reemay is a lightweight synthetic cover that is placed above a row of crops on a supporting framework (we used wire hoops) and left in place for several weeks until the crops are well-established. Sun and water can still get in and it protects the plants from insects, light frosts, strong winds, and hail. I found all of that on wikipedia...it looks like this..

I will be visiting Midnight Sun Organics tomorrow with Jacob and my sister and I hope I get some photographs to show you guys. I am really excited!