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