Opening Reception for Chicago's Twelve at Garfield Park Conservatory!

Last nights opening reception for Chicago's Twelve at Garfield Park Conservatory was wonderful.  All the artwork blends beautifully with the plants.

Here I am standing with my piece, Monsanto's Genetically Modified Crops.  This is my first outdoor sculpture I have ever made and it was a real challenge to figure out, but it has withstood a pretty awful storm a few days ago and nothing has been damaged.  I look forward to creating more outside sculptures!  These piece has been an amazing learning experience.

My piece Heirloom Fruits and Vegetables.  This is also my first time making site-specific installations.  The Garfield Park Conservatory is a very warm, humid, and wet location so I and the other artists had many elements to consider when making our work.  This has been an awesome opportunity to grow as an artist!

In this photo is 8 of the 12 artists and Sergio Gomez, the curator of the show.  

We each had a chance to tell everyone a bit about our work.

Heirloom Fruits and Vegetables

Heirloom fruits and vegetables are plants that have been grown for about 50 to 100 years or more before large-scale agriculture began.  Heirloom plants are open-pollinated, meaning they have been naturally pollinated by insects, birds or wind.  The produce found in grocery stores are usually hybridized to make them more disease and pest resistant so they can be grown in mass quantities with less hassle.  These fruits and vegetables are also chosen for their longer shelf stability.  This way of picking and choosing leaves many varieties of fruits and vegetables unknown to us that are often richer in flavor and largely diverse.

Monsanto's Genetically Modified Crops

Inside these jars are the 8 genetically modified crops Monsanto produces and sells at an incredibly large scale.  This includes corn, wheat, soybeans, canola, cotton, sugarbeets, alfalfa and sorghum.  The seeds they sell to farmers have had their DNA manipulated to make the plant resistant to specific pests, diseases or environmental conditions.  This piece serves as a reminder to recognize the history and future of these 8 crops.

Chicago's Twelve will be at Garfield Park Conservatory until December 9th.  We will also be having an artist talk at the Garfield Park Conservatory on October 24 from 6 to 8pm for Chicago Artists Month.

Ready for Chicago's Twelve at Garfield Park Conservatory!

Here is a Jarrahdale Pumpkin and a White Bush Scallop Patty Pan Squash.  They are two more heirloom plushies to add to my piece Heirloom Fruits and Vegetables that will be on display at the Garfield Park Conservatory from August 8th to December 9th.  I have 9 heirloom plushies in all!

I can finally say that my two new pieces for Chicago's Twelve at Garfield Park Conservatory are completely finished!  I will be installing them this Thursday.  I feel like they are my children going to their first day of school.

The opening reception is next Wednesday, August 8th from 6pm-8pm.  This is going to be a beautiful show!

We received some Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes in our CSA this week.  I wait for these yummy guys all year long!  They taste like candy.

Almost there....

I have finished all 8 of Monsanto's genetically modified crops for my new piece that will be on display at the Garfield Park Conservatory for Chicago's Twelve.  I will be installing my work sometime next week.

I have enough time to sew together two more heirloom plants for my other piece.  I am thinking of sewing an heirloom pumpkin and a patty pan squash!

Heirloom Vegetables and Fruits Complete!

I have finished all 7 plushie heirloom fruits and veggies for Chicago's Twelve at Garfield Park Conservatory.  I can't wait to see them hanging among the plants.

From left to right: Purple Cape Cauliflower, Ruby Red Chard, Blue Hopi Corn, Make the Daugher-In-Law Cry Potato, Parisian Carrot, Zapotec Pleated Tomato and in the back is the Moon and Star Watermelon. 

If I have time, I am tempted to include an heirloom squash as well...

To make the chard I built a wire cage and sewed green fabric around it.  Then I covered it up with red fabric and sewed in the stem.  I then cut around the sewn stem.

Plushie corn has become my specialty as you can see here.  I cut each kernel out and sewed each one on.  Then I sewed the two sides together, turned them inside out and stuffed it.

Now I am going to start sculpting the 8 GMO Monsanto seeds for my other piece that will be at the Garfield Park Conservatory.

Finished!

Monsanto and the Farmer is finally finished!

In the end, the corn is hardly visible because it is being crushed by Monsanto. It is sad that so much of my work is not seen, but at the same time it reminds me of the work the farmers do that is not appreciated.

Monsanto owns the corn and the farmers are it's minions. Monsanto can destroy the farmer. I wanted Monsanto to be crushing many varieties of heirloom corn because they insist on only growing one kind of corn, and this corn can mix with the heirloom seeds and we can loose them for good. Mexico is especially proud of it's many varieties of corn, but Monsanto has succeeded in growing it's one variety of corn there as well.

The farmer offers the one kind of genetically modified corn Monsanto has them grow.

Fall Foods!

mmm mmm fall!

This is an heirloom variety of an acorn squash. It is a Thelma Sanders Sweet Potato Acorn Squash. Winter squash is amazing. There are many odd looking varieties. I cut this winter squash in half, took out the seeds, placed the cut side down on a pan with some water and put in the oven for 15-30 minutes at 350 degrees until I could put a fork through it. I like to fill the hole with butter. Some people do brown sugar and butter.

Look at these many different varieties of apples! 7 different kinds actually. Can't remember any of the names only the gala. I wanted to try a gala that wasn't from New Zealand and I swear it was crisper and sweeter because it was local. These apples were all so different and yummy. I got these from the market in front of the Contemporary Art Museum. It is open from 7am to 3pm on Tuesdays. They had about 20 varieties of apple to choose from, each with a tag to describe the taste. It is hard to choose.

Carnival Acorn Squash and green tomatoes! I never tried green tomatoes until I got them in my CSA a couple of weeks ago. They are so tasty when fried! I sliced them 1/4 inch thick, dipped them in a mixture of flour, paprika, salt, onion powder, and pepper, then dipped em in soymilk, then in a mixture of bread crumbs and panko bread crumbs and fried em up. Get yourself some green tomatoes.

Kale! I made "cheezy" kale chips. I discarded the stems and cut the leaves into bite size pieces then tossed them with some canola oil, salt, and nutritional yeast (has a cheesy flavor and very nutritious, hence the name) and put them in the oven for 15 minutes at 375 degrees, flipping them around every 5 minutes until they were crunchy. They are really good.

Looks like I will be volunteering at the Glenwood Sunday Winter Market this year! I am really excited to be more involved with the market. Now I must get back to sewing.