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