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.

Crocus-a work in progress

The ground is stirring.  Spring is on it's way!

Kombucha 2 Weeks Later

So after 17 days of fermenting my kombuca tea, this is what it looks like.  The picture below is what it looked like when I started it 17 days ago.  As you can see a new scoby grew on the top.  You can drink it like this with no flavor added.  I will save the scobies for two new batches of kombucha along with 2 cups of fermented kombucha to start two new batches.  It is not carbonated like the one you'd get at the grocery store.  In order for it to be carbonated you flavor it (without the scoby).  I made two bottles of flavored kombucha.  A citrus one where I added about a 1/4 cup of orange juice and 3 cups of kombucha.  For the other bottle, I chopped up some ginger and threw it in with the kombucha.  After 2-3 days it will be carbonated and flavored.  It tastes best when cold.  

I followed this video to learn how to flavor my kombucha.

Surrounded at Roman Susan

Gourd 2 is currently on display at Roman Susan for the Surrounded exhibition. 

37 x 13 inches, fabric, paper

Colors of Winter

Colors of Winter, 33 x 20 inches, fabric, thread, 2013

Kombucha!

I finally made my very first batch of Kombucha!  Kombucha is a fermented tea beverage.  It tastes a bit like apple cider vinegar.  The longer you let it ferment, the stronger the vinegar flavor gets.  After it ferments you can add fruit juice to flavor it.  It contains probiotics and antioxidants.  It costs about $4 for a small bottle at the grocery store.  But when it is made at home it only costs about $1 a gallon.  The scoby (the big goober floating in the liquid) eats the sugar I have added to the tea and grows another scoby.  Then when the batch is through, both scobies can be used again.  That's why people end up with more scobies than they know what to do with!  

I am very excited to have something fermenting in my home!

Check out this video here to learn how to make Kombucha.

Enjoying Winter While it's Here

Work in progress...

Interactive Art Piece

I have been invited by curator, Anni Holm, to create an interactive piece for her show Earth to Table at the West Chicago City Museum.  I have had a lot of interest lately in making artwork that viewers can be involved in.  This was the first idea I have come up with.

The statement and question would be placed on the wall, "Each fruit and vegetable has a season when they grow in the Midwest and when they taste their best.  What vegetables and fruits do you like to eat during each season?"

There are 4 plates for each season and surrounding each plate are plushie vegetables and fruits grown during that season.  They are velcroed to the wall and attached to the wall with jute so that the viewer can't put a tomato on the winter plate.  There is also velcro on the plate.  

I want to create a piece that is educational, fun, and touchable.  Children really like my work and I'd like to pay more attention to that in the future.  

The Colors of Winter-Work in Progress

I have discovered a new love this year.  The look, feel, and colors of dried, dead plants waiting to be reborn in the spring.  My sister, Katie and I visited the lake this past Tuesday during the snow storm.  The colors of these wintered plants stood out amongst the white, fluffy snow.