Opening Reception for Citizens' Greener Evanston 4th Annual Green Arts Show

The opening reception for the Citizens' Greener Evanston 4th Annual Green Arts Show was great!  There are 22 amazing artists in the show.  The work will be on display until September 23rd.

The Vegan Eats an Egg

Myself with 80 Becomes 40.

My friend and talented artist, Kristina Knowski with her piece, He prayeth well, who loveth well (Campephilus principalis, extinct 1951)

Apple Picking at Edward's Orchard

Jacob, my Mumah, and I went apple picking yesterday at Edward's Orchard in Poplar Grove, Illinois. We got three bushels of Golden Delicious apples so my mom can make a whole lot of apple pies for everyone.

These are some Golden Delicious apples on the tree before I picked the one on the right. We have been going here every year since I was in my Mumah's tummy...so 23 years.

There were larger apples way high up.

Coming down is always the scariest part.

I had to remind Jacob to be kind to the tree and not pull on her branches.

I am back home for a few days. I haven't been home since last summer. I'm home just in time for vegan apple pies.

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.

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.