Summer Hiatus?

Hello!! My apologies to the world for not blogging recently. The WA girls have been busy! Summer is coming to a close and we will be back on our weekly schedule very soon. I look forward to seeing the girls more often, working on projects and of course eating yummy, yummy food! But first, let's rewind to the beginning of August. It was a rainy Wednesday night and we were glad to be inside listening to a variety of classic tunes such as Ella Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, and Billie Holiday.  Joan made a delicious Curry dinner with a coconut sauce. Donna made home made lettuce wraps to go with. Let's just say, they didn't last too long! "Life is so GOOD at Wine Art!" We decided to take a short break from painting and try something new - felting! One of our fellow WA ladies, Robin, brought all the supplies and taught many of us how to felt a creation.  To my surprise it's rather simple but very time consuming. Also quite addicting!! The results were fantastic.

Start with....

Poke a lot, form, add colors and it can become...

Wish to purchase any of the beauties? No need to worry - they will be up on Etsy soon! 

Mothers, Daughters, and Phoenixes

By Rita

You might not know this but Wine Art Wednesdays was started by 2 sets of mothers and daughters: Joan & Alex and Audrey & Jennifer and later garnered two more sets; Gina & me and Donna & Jesse. And the funny thing about this is that of the eight of us, none have the same last name. Either through marriage, re-marriage, or divorce, none of our last names are the same!  (Fun fact.)  In other words, Life ….. its shifts, dips, rises, and eddies, affects us all. We change, we re-invent, we adjust, and we move forward. WAW began sort of as a phoenix that needed to rise from some ashes.

Over the past two WAW’s, one at Donna’s home and the next at mine, we talked of our usual concerns such as … where is the best flea market to buy (no kidding) bugs.  Note: please see our new line of “bug paintings”.  Or, what is the best way to launder an expensive, intricate tutu. Oh, I won’t make you wait for the answer … in a Jacuzzi of course! Donna is a costumer extraordinaire and is full of erudite knowledge about costumes. Or the perils of being an aging butterfly. Or whose corn chowder tasted better.

But there is a theme that runs through many of our multi-color conversations and that is how special mother daughter relationships are.  We are all daughters, some of us are mothers, some of us have daughters, and some of us have the amazing fortune to become so close to the younger women in the group that they have become our surrogate daughters.  Within the WAW group we have begun a special bonding process between one generation and the next. Of course, many in the group go way back and that process began when our younger artists were infants.  But there are many new, cross-generational friendships and close relationships growing in the fertile soil of WAW.  We share our stories (sometimes uproarious stories) of child-rearing and they share their stories of apartment hunting or dating disasters and sometimes finally let us know about something that went on at college that they now feel it’s ok to tell us.   It’s really never ok. You guys wouldn’t want to hear our frightful college stories. But I digress.

During our dinners and our famously fun painting sessions, there is an amazing magic happening.  We are developing a caring for one another, we’re learning each other’s stories, and we’re supporting and mothering any one of us who needs a little bit of mothering.  We are becoming closer to our own daughters and quasi-adopting other daughters who grace the WAW tables. It’s a safe place for us to discuss ANYTHING and there is always positivism and a sense that our creativity transcends and heals anything that Life may place in our path.  As I looked around the WAW table this past week, each of us has had a pile of ash to rise up from. Life has a way of dumping a pile of that grey stuff on all of us.  These small canvases we paint …. whether they are sumptuous, whimsical, primitive, or pure design …. they are the colorful feathers of our Phoenixes. We are giving each other the safe place we need and the open hearts we all crave. The kindness of friendship, the laughter, the understanding, the sharing, and the love we give each other are the wind, the air, and the color we all use to create our plumage …….

….. and our Phoenix rises.

This WAW was pretty small, it was at my house, Melanie, with Joan, Audrey and Jen. I made lasagna with a salad and some Italian bread. And Audrey and Jen brought fresh fruit and cream for dessert. I’ve been attending WAW for a few months now and there are a couple things that have kept coming up and I thought I would mention some of them today.

Under Paintings

I don’t typically do under paintings. I don’t have the patience; I just want to dive right in. The only under painting I sometimes have is when I paint over a previous painting I didn’t like. Some members always paint under paintings. Some of their under paintings I LOVE and want them to stop painting and just leave it how it is. Joan and I had a whole conversation about this, one of her under paintings I loved and told her to leave it alone; she said I would like it better when she was finished. When she finished, while I did like the end result, I still preferred the under painting to the finished version. I think this comes down to personal aesthetic. I liked the colorful, semi-abstract under painting. I think it’s expressive and colorful and loose.

Less is More

Sometimes you just have to know when to stop. Painting in acrylic is difficult because you can keep changing and repainting and fixing every little detail of your painting until you drive yourself crazy. It’s very important to be able to realize when to stop. Most people in the group are professional artists so they have mastered this art of when to stop. However, sometimes it’s still hard and in our group painting setting it’s great to have other artist’s there to get a 2^nd, 3^rd or 4^th opinion on whether you are truly finished or not.

Trying to Figure Out What to Paint

 Every week once we finish dinner we face the task of deciding what to paint! One time Audrey came with a finished painting she had done earlier in the day, just so she would have a finished product at the end of the night, and it wouldn’t be as stressful to decide what to paint. Typically we look around the host’s home to see if there are any interesting objects to paint. This week in particular Audrey painted some tomatoes on the vine I had on my counter, Joan had brought a photograph she took to work from and Jen drew inspiration from a magazine I had laying around. I always feel stressed out when it comes time to decide what to paint. The possibilities are endless. I also want to be able to finish the painting within the night or at least within 2 weeks. Lately I’ve looked at WAW as a way to test out my ideas for other art work I want to do. It helps to execute the idea in paint to get an idea of the end result. I am not a painter. Yes I can paint but it is not my preferred medium, printmaking is and glass (fused and stained). Both are very process based and you have to go through many steps before you get the finished product so I find it very helpful to experiment in paint with my ideas I want to execute in printing or glass.

The Importance of Good Food

 Enough said.

Being Exactly Where You Should Be

Two weeks ago (sorry this is so late!) WAW was at Donna’s house, complete with delicious gumbo, string beans, rice and salad. Donna made the best chocolate chip cookies with orange zest in them! I can’t wait try that next time I make cookies.

This post is hard to write because I had so many thoughts after I left Donna’s house but I didn’t know how to say exactly what I was thinking. So here’s my attempt at that… This week in particular we talked a lot about lives and about different paths and choices and where they lead you. Everyone had different opinions and it was interesting to listen to their paths. This is more relevant to a few members of the group and me because we graduated college a year ago. What I got out of this evening was how important it is to feel like you are exactly where you should be.

Mother Artist

Driving home from WAW this week I began to think about what the heck I was going to blog about this week. I made the same mistake I always do of enjoying myself so much that I couldn’t even remember what we had talked about. The tastes of whole roasted chickens, rich and nutty quinoa salad with brown rice, apples, tomatoes, and fennel, and blueberry crumb cake kept swimming back into my memory. The colors on my palette, the wine in my glass, and that feeling of the week’s stress melting away were still vivid, but what had we talked about?

A Joni Mitchell song came on the radio and suddenly I knew exactly what I wanted to write about: my mom. This topic couldn’t be more appropriate this week with the birth of Alex’s baby (maybe we will start him on Milk Art Wednesday…) and with Mother’s Day coming up this weekend. I thought this was a great time to think about how our mothers have shaped us all in one way or another. Like great painters, our mothers laid down the base colors, provided us with a background, and then hopefully handed the paintbrush over to us to finish for ourselves.

But back to Joni Mitchell…Mom had always listened to Joni and it was a part of her that never held much weight with me as I was growing up. Her songs were light and pretty or dark and brooding and were little more than familiar sounds that I often heard coming from the stereo in the living room. It wasn’t until I started college freshman year that I finally got it, I understood why mom had been listening to Joni for so long. I experienced my first real brushes with independence, loneliness, and heartbreak and suddenly realized how desperately I needed all of Joni’s songs on my ipod. I was homesick and wanted my Mommy so Joni was the next best thing. Her songs were beautiful and heartbreaking and meant so much now that I was actually listening to them and singing along with the understanding that came with life experience. My mom had been onto something great for years and I had no idea what I was missing.

We learn such amazing things from our mothers even if you can’t always agree with her taste in music. I learned sensitivity, love of seeing and experiencing beautiful things, and how difficult but important it is to keep reinventing yourself when life isn’t going your way. When we were kids, my sister and I used to beg mom to draw pictures of ourselves doing whatever we wanted. She would draw me as a nurse, a ballerina (I’m glad that one didn’t work out) or as a chef (slightly more realistic) and we would fiercely color them in. I didn’t realize it until now, but she was illustrating the fact that we could be anything in the world and it did wonders to develop our imaginations and sense of adventure about life. I don’t pretend to be anywhere as good of an artist as Mom is, but she fostered that creativity in me from a young age and I’m endlessly thankful that she was interested in the arts and not sports.

Ok stop tearing up now, we also learned a lot of how not be from our mothers. Our conversation about Madmen reminded us that some of our mothers unknowingly smoke and drank during their pregnancies and if nothing else perpetuated ridiculously uncomfortable undergarments for wayyyyyy too long! Garter belts? Girdles? No thanks! But my thoughts about my own mother did make me think about how every one of the WAW ladies is a product of their mother somehow, good or bad. We are so happy for new momma Alex and new grandmother Joan and hope that soon we can have three generations of artists at a WAW, probably expect some finger painting!

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Tablecloth

This week the typical Wednesday was a late night Friday wine and painting get together at Donna’s house. This week’s conversation topics ranged from high school flour babies, to paint over or not to paint over unsatisfactory paintings, conceptualizing custom art and new WAW locations and inspirations. My background is not in anything remotely resembling art, but instead behavioral biology, marine science, ecology and what have you. My best friend, Gina, and her mom, Rita, introduced me to the WAW girls and they have helped me become a bit more in tune to my creative side.

One of the best parts of this weekly meet up is the fact that I am challenged to think and work beyond what I normally do. This week was no exception. Joan explained to me the match-game that is involved with art. The way she described the relationship that one has with their art can sometimes lead to needing to step away from the piece you were working on and coming back to it later on. As you forget the ideal you have created for your painting you are left with the art itself without the preconceived notions. Appreciate the creative process for what it is and forgetting what it “should be”. 

"Paint Your Colors!"-We often end up painting to match our outfits

Personally, my inspirations are just all over the place, I’ll be honest. I love making lists, so I have compiled a short list of my top inspirations for not just art at WAW, but also for style, home décor and general everyday living!

-    -Yellow. My absolute favorite color and something that makes me smile

-    -Open air organized bookshelves, When I have my own house I am going to have a kitchen and library like Donna’s. It looks like a perfect cutout from a Williams Sonoma catalog.

-    -Cardigans and dresses, I own more dresses than a J.Crew store. I swear. Ask Gina.

-    -Science. Perhaps you may have expected this one, but it really does. Ecology, behavioral biology, marine science, all of it. Oh and while I am add it, I would like to add David Attenborough, Sylvia Earle, Kate Spade and Emily Post.

-   -Entertaining. Whether it is for afternoon tea, a date in library for studying, a proper dinner or a Stella after work. Since moving home from Salve, I almost never turn down an opportunity to meet up with the people that I love.

I am currently reading:

-          The Stuff That Never Happened, By: Maddie Dawson

http://www.randomhouse.com/book/165606/the-stuff-that-never-happened-by-maddie-dawson

-          The New York Times. My paper of choice. Nothing else will do.

-          Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America, By: Ted Floyd.

For my new job at The Audubon Society I bought a field guide that comes with a 587 bird call DVD. http://smithsonianbirdsofnorthamerica.com/

A Few Stores I Follow On Etsy:

-     MilesOfLight

Modern Nature & Botanical Photographic Prints

I could literally buy everything in this shop. It captures everything I love nature and simple beauty.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MilesOfLight

-     CritterVille

Sculpture that loves you back

Take a look at this little guy! The behavior of each animal comes alive: http://www.etsy.com/listing/95177189/sprightly-mouse-bronze-sculpture-7-and-a

-      focuslinear

Original Rustic Modern Paintings on Reclaimed Wood

I love everything about his work. One day I will buy a set and use them as a headboard or above my couch.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/95807777/modern-design-tree-ring-paintings-set-of?ref=af_new_item

Take a look at the pictures from this week’s WAW and the new paintings up on Etsy!

Art in progress

An empty bottle? It wasn't us!

Flantastic!

But wait, there's more....

Check out Joan's sauerkraut recipe!

1 lg. bag sauerkraut, rinsed extremely well and drained.  3 stalks celery, strings removed and sliced very thinly, 1 shallot sliced thin (or scallions) , 1 red pepper (or green, orange, yellow) sliced thinly.   Mix approximately 1/4 cup sugar to any type white vinegar, equal amount, until dissolved, taste, add olive oil to your preferred ratio, whisk, taste, season with black pepper.  Pour over sauerkraut mixture.  Works great in large ziplock, and let sit for at least a day, can be made a couple of days in advance.  Toss bag to distribute sauce every time you open fridge door.   

White is a bossy color

     Wine Art Wednesday is my favorite night of the week. I have a set time devoted to sit down, unwind from a busy day, chat with fabulous women, paint, and of course EAT! Friends, food and art definitely makes a happy life.  Let me take this time to introduce myself. I'm Jocelyn. I graduated from Houghton College, don't expect anyone to have heard of it, in New York with a B.A. degree in Studio Art and Art Education. I am now a full time Fine Arts teacher at a private elementary and middle school. I teach not only art, but music/drama to 500 students. While I love music and theater, my real passion is in art. 
      What inspires me? A vast amount of things - textures, 18th and 19th century architectural design, photography, bright colors, music, things international, florals, and studying other artists, especially my friends. Like the other WAW members, I enjoy looking on Etsy, but I am more of a Pinterest and blog girl. I love blogs, especially art teacher blogs.  It presents the wonderful opportunity to learn and share from art educators across the country.  The same with pinterest, I have boards from cuisine to wedding inspirations (and I'm not even close to being engaged!Ha!) but I love looking at pictures, getting different ideas and keeping them all organized in one spot. It's genius! 
      This week's WAW host for the evening was Joan, who is one of the most interesting, exciting, and creative women I know.  She made a delicious dinner ~ Moroccan chicken with cilantro, figs, shallots, lemons and almonds with a side of rice and green beans. Gabrielle brought an array of exciting cheeses, Italian sharp, Smoky Bacon Cheddar and Strawberry Chardonnay Cheddar, crackers, salami, and sun dried tomatoes. Donna made a light and refreshing ambrosia for dessert. All I have to say to that is YUMM-O.  I am so spoiled on WAW. I'm always guaranteed an amazing meal. 

      Once dinner is finished, we pour another glass of wine....or two, and begin the process of painting. I love seeing everyone's creativity and the process they go through. Rita suggested that one should always prime a canvas with a color because white is too great of a contrast.  "White is a bossy color." ~ Joan.  WAW conversations are always across the board ~ food, art, travel, tv shows, men, work, relationships....sometimes we get a little OCD. A chunk of conversation was NYC. What shows to see, where to eat, how to get around, etc. Joan, Donna and some of friends went to see Ghost the musical in the city on Tuesday. Great reviews from our WAW ladies, btw. I don't know about you, but I could go to the theater every day. I just love it. I wish life was like a musical. When you're having a bad day, don't just sit there and cry, sing about it! Maybe that's just me...but I think it would be amazing.                Now, to the art! 

 

Look for new items on Etsy and stay tuned for next week's WAW post! We're all created to be creative ~ so go do something today, perhaps start your own Wine Art Wednesday or Wine Art Whenever! 

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

This week Wine Art Wednesday was at Naty's house. For appetizers there was goat milk brie and cow milk brie. I liked the cow milk brie better, it was richer/creamier. I think that was the consensus for the night but it was interesting to compare based on animal milk. Joan brought a chilli dip with chips, so addictive. Naty made a delicious lentil stew, paired with Donna's cous cous, arugula salad and Italian bread. And chocolate covered strawberries for dessert thanks to Jocelyn!!

Every week we're going to profile a different artist of the group and this week it is me, Melanie. I am also a recent graduate of Fairfield University, like Gina. I studied printmaking and math. Odd combination...or so everyone tells me. Presently I am freelancing, digitizing some stuff at one company and doing some bone sculpture painting for a semi-famous artist! Every day it's something new on top of all the projects I dream up on my own. I literally made a list and said I wouldn't try anything new until I got the first thing on my list completed, that lasted, uhh...a few days. Currently I'm consumed by 3 quilts and illustrating a comic book for a friend.

Inspiration:

-MATH. I love geometry and patterns.

-Mandalas. See above.

-PINTEREST. I am addicted. It's made my never ending list of projects to do 10 times longer!

I am not an etsy addict like other members of the group, but I do LOVE blogs! So I thought I'd share a couple of my favorites.

Blogs:

Apartment Therapy (www.apartmenttherapy.com)

This site is so inspiring. Every post has something new and interesting. Many posts are apartment/home related as the title suggests. They frequently do house tours- I think it's so interesting to see how other people live, especially in different parts of the country, also some of the people that do house tours are artists or designers and then I learn more about them and their work.

Design*Sponge (www.designsponge.com)

Along similar lines of apartment therapy with tons of new inspiration, plus lots of DIY projects.

The Jealous Curator (www.thejealouscurator.com)

I don't even remember how I found this blog, but I love it! Each post features a different artist that the blog writer is jealous of. I have found out about some incredibly amazing artists from this blog!

IKEA Hackers (www.ikeahackers.net)

New find! The blog posts viewers “ikea hacks” or reuses or reinterpretations or new creations using items that can be bought at Ikea! Some of the posts are brilliant and so smart and creative and ingenious.

What I'm Cooking Now:

Natural easter egg dyes!! Can't wait to try them out!

And today I just started working on my indoor garden (I have a sunroom) with herbs for cooking! In another week or so I'm going to start working outside on my vegetable garden. I'm not an experienced gardener so this should be interesting!

What I'm Reading:

I am perpetually reading Anna Karenina by Tolstoy.

Boomerang by Michael Lewis -It's about the economy, but it's not all dry and boring. Written in a very easy to understand way, each chapter is about a different country, Iceland, Greece, Ireland, etc. And it's short, just over 200pgs. It has been very eye opening. I may be able to do complicated math equations but that doesn't mean I understand the economy (or business)! Though this book is more of a case of what went wrong and trying to understand why.

I reluctantly read The Hunger Games trilogy (I thought they were going to be another YA Twilight), but I was pleasantly surprised!

At the beginning of the New Year, I started a 52 books/year challenge. So far I am well ahead of where I should be.

-Melanie

Get to Know the Artists

Another great Wednesday has come and gone and we have plenty of great new art to show for it! This week WAW was at Rita's house where she made hearty lasagna paired with a green salad with jicama, nuts, and dried fruit by Joan, roasted veggies by Donna, spicy olives that make you cough, ciabatta bread, and finished off with more great Greek cookies from Melanie. In WAW world, WTF really stands for "Where's The Food?" so this week did not disappoint.

We covered everything from the slimming powers of Spanx shapewear, where to buy roasted duck, what is the most addictive drug, and all the other crazy thoughts bouncing around our brains. I would not want to be the recycling collector this week because we made a considerable dent in a considerable number of wine bottles.

 

We also decided to do something a little different with the blog and give you a chance to get to know the ladies or WAW through artist profiles. Each week we will feature a different WAW artist so you can learn about the inspiration and personality behind the artwork. Up first this week is me, Gina Caldwell, how great!

 

A little bit about me, I am a recent grad of Fairfield Univeristy where I studied communications, Asian studies, and sociology and spent my free time being a crazy environmental activist and part-time choir nerd. I just started a new job doing market research for financial companies but in my spare time I love making huge delicious messes in the kitchen as an aspiring chef, playing with fun kittens, and hanging out with crazy artists.

 

Inspiration:

-I love art featuring food because it is easy to relate to and fun to create. Eating is great and looking at delicious paintings won't make me fat!

-It's also very inspiring to work with such great artists so it pushes me to make my paintings more dynamic to keep up with them (especially Audrey who churned out painting after painting this week before anyone else had even picked their paint colors)

 

Favorite Etsy Artists:

Ellen's Originals-she is a local artist from Hamden, CT who does amazing pressed botanical art. I found one of her Queen Anne's Lace on velvet pieces in a store in Hamden and it made a perfect Christmas gift because it looks like a beautiful snowflake.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/EllensOriginals

HammerandI-This guy is all over my Christmas list! He makes starburst mirrors using the handles of flatware and I think they are so unique and beautiful. http://www.etsy.com/shop/HammerandI

LitaDesigns- And of course I have to include Lita jewelry since half of my jewelry collection was made by her! And I'm not just partial because my cute face can be found modeling a few of her designs....http://www.etsy.com/shop/LitaDesigns?ref=ss_profile (if the link doesn't work just search "Lita Designs" under shops. 

 What I'm cooking now:

-Baked brie is the new love of my life appetizer! It is surprisingly easy to make and very impressive looking. I've used this recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/party-starters/baked-brie-recipe/index.html before and it comes out rich and delicious and will make you look like a kitchen superstar.

 

What I'm Reading:

-Omnivore's Dilemma- a really important look into what we eat for dinner and how today's food production system has influenced us to eat some pretty questionable things.

-The Hunger Games (on audiobook)- I couldn't resist the hype!

 

So tune in next week to learn more about another great artist and look for the new paintings up on Etsy!