Earth to Table at the West Chicago City Museum

Today I took the metra to West Chicago to install Harvesting the Carrot in the Midwest and Harvesting the Strawberry in the Midwest at the West Chicago City Museum for the Earth to Table show curated by Anni Holm.

(The lighting was not set yet) 

The work will be up from now until May 25th.  The artist reception is May 18 from 1-3pm.  

I am very excited to be a part of this!  Anni and Sara will hang farming tools around my work as well.  I can't wait to see the end result.

My strawberries on the front of the postcard!

And the back of the postcard.

Harvesting the Carrot in the Midwest

I finished Harvesting the Carrot in the Midwest!  The carrot is harvested in the Midwest from July to November.  It is time to be more connected to our carrots and their growth!  This work is 48 x 58 inches (though the size can vary depending on how it is installed) and is made of watercolor on paper, jute, burlap, and fabric.

They grow in a variety of shapes and sizes.  It is always a surprise when I pull one from the ground.  And although one might seem a bit strange, it tastes just as good as an average one!  

Carrot Piece in the Making

A pile of watercolored carrots on paper, cut out.

I glued small pieces of jute to the backs of the carrots.

I used wheat flour glue that I made and pasted it onto the jute and then put a piece of paper over the jute.  This is the same process I used for Harvesting the Blue Potato.

I needed a way for the carrots to be pinned onto the wall, so I glued the jute to the back of the watercolor, then sewed the jute to the burlap.  This way the burlap will be pinned and not the paper. I then sew around the burlap to keep it from fraying.

Here is a completed month.  Carrots are harvested from July to November in the Midwest!  And they are super fun to harvest.  When the soil is moist it is easier.  Last summer at Green Institute I harvested some carrots.  I dug a shovel next to the greens of the carrot, then lifted the soil up and pulled out the beautiful orange carrot!  I hope I get to harvest some this summer!

Sewing N-O-V-E-M-B-E-R

Sewing the letter E to spell November for the carrot piece I am working on.

I have a new favorite meal.  Veggie Tacos.  This is mine above, below is Jacob's.  Mine includes warm corn tortilla, shredded cabbage, slightly cooked red onion, avocado, cilantro and tomatillo salsa!  Very yummy!

Jacob took a bite out of his before I could photograph it.  His included warm corn tortilla, romaine lettuce, avocado, kumato tomato, cilantro, and tomatillo salsa! 

I am all packed for my artist residency at Wormfarm Institute except for my art supplies.  I am super excited!  I am making a goal to post at least 3 times a week if not more while I am there for a month.  I hope I have a lot of time to love the chickens and paint their silly faces!

Painting Carrots!

I have been painting carrots for the past few days.  I would like to make more work with vegetables and fruits and their months they are harvested in the midwest.

When I am finished painting the carrots, I will cut them out.

After harvesting carrots at Green Institute last summer and receiving organic carrots from my CSA share, I was surprised by the crazy shapes carrots can grow.  Each one comes out differently from the ground. 

Last week I cooked a lot!  I made Tofu Cutlet Marsala twice since it was so good.  I followed two recipes.  One for the cutlets and one for the sauce.

Ingredients for Cutlets (I also did this with eggplant instead of tofu since my sister doesn't like tofu, but first sprinkle salt on sliced eggplant to remove bitterness and let sit for 20 minutes, then pat away moisture with paper towel and follow same steps below):

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup of all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 cup panko bread crumbs

1/2 cup soy milk

1 14-ounce extra firm block of tofu, drained and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Whisk cornstarch, flour, salt, and pepper into a bowl.  Pour milk into a separate bowl.  And pour panko bread crumbs into another separate bowl.

3. Pat tofu with paper towel to remove excess moisture.  Dip a piece of tofu into the flour mixture and cover the tofu completely.  Then completely dip tofu into soymilk quickly and let some of the soymilk drip off the tofu, then transfer tofu into panko bread crumb bowl.

4. Fry the breaded tofu and as you finish, place the tofu on a baking sheet in the oven.

Ingredients for Sauce (I tripled this recipe because it was not enough sauce first time around!)

2 Tbs oil

1/2 yellow onion chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

1/2 lb cremini button mushrooms, sliced

1 Tbs tomato paste

1 1/2 cups Dry Marsala wine

small amount of lemon juice to taste

1/8 cup parsley, minced

2 Tbs earth balance butter

Saute mushrooms and onions in oil until mushrooms have given up most of their moisture.  Stir in garlic and tomato paste, cook until fragrant.  Add Marsala wine and cook until sauce thickens up quite a bit.  Remove from heat.  Stir in butter.  Add lemon juice and parsley and stir again. 

Serve sauce over tofu or eggplant cutlets!  It is my new favorite meal.

And for dessert...Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups!  My Grammy made these for me two years ago and I hadn't made them until now.  They are amazing.

Carrot Earrings!

I am definitely keeping busy these days! This Sunday I am volunteering all day at the Roger's Park, Glenwood Sunday Winter Market. I will be helping set up, greet, work the pay station, and closing the market. I can't wait to see how the market operates throughout the day.

On December 10th and 11th the market is going to have a Winter Artisan/Craft Market alongside the farmer's market. I spent the entire day making earrings, magnets, and pins to apply. Whether I am accepted or not I am happy with the results of what I have created and maybe with the leftovers I will make that Etsy account I have always dreamed of.

Here are some carrot earrings. I figure I will sell the earrings for $2. They are made of fabric, paper, string, and homemade wheat flour glue.

Tiny brussel sprout earrings.

Corn and Spinach magnets! for a $1

Chicken and cabbage pins for a $1

If accepted, I will make much more varieties.

And when someone buys one of my items they get this little bag with the front of my business card on the front and back of the business card sewn on the back.

Don't forget to come out to the stone soup at Columbia College Chicago, Conaway Center, 1104 S. Wabash from 6pm to 9pm, Wednesday, November 16th! here is a link to the event invite on Facebook with more information.