All About the Food

Artists:

Donna, Jessica, Rita, Gina, Gabrielle, Melanie

Menu:

Entre:  Salmon, String Beans, Couscous, Tomato Pie

Dessert: Bougatsa

Last night was Wine Art Wednesday, held at Donna's house. Her home is beautiful, it was built inside a barn that use to house a horse and buggy. Dinner was delicious! Donna made salmon, couscous, string beans and tomato pie! I have never had tomato pie before and usually I am not a fan of tomatoes but this was great!!! For dessert we ate a Greek dish, that can also be served for breakfast, called Bougatsa. Audrey, Donna, Naty and I learned how to make it Tuesday night in a Greek cooking class we took. Oh and there was also this trifle cheese and crackers which was very addictive!

We talked about a million different things. One of which was Gina's time spent in China. Jessica and Donna have also been to China, so they compared notes. Gina also mentioned a funny prank you can pull on a friend! Remove all the labels from their canned food. They won't know which can is which. Jessica and Donna told us about this cool website gofobo.com where you can find movie screenings to go to. Definitely going to try that out! 

Another wonderfully successful WAW!!!

<3 Melanie

Cannoli. That's All I Need to Say.

So sad...possibly my last Wine Art Wednesday for awhile...I am 27 weeks (and entering my third trimester) tomorrow!!!  Eeep!  And the two-hour drive twice a week is starting to take its toll.  I might just have to Skype from NJ to be involved every week.  Good thing it was a great one for me to end on (for the time being)!!!  

Artists: 

Alex (that's me!), Audrey, Denise, Donna, Jen, Joan, Jocelyn, Lauren, & Marjon!

Menu:

 

Appetizers:

Guacamole (Joan)

Artichoke & Cheese Dip (Joan)

& Chips, of course! (Thanks Jocelyn!)

 

Mains:

Two types of delicious Lasagna (Audrey)

 

Desserts:

Cannolis and Zeppoli/Creme Puffs from Del Prete in Bridgeport, CT

(Thank you SO MUCH Lauren & Marjon!)

(Food photos are always taken AFTER we dig-in! ;)

 

 

And it was definitely an evening of fine quotes:

"It shouldn't be Google.  It should be Ask Donna...she knows it all!" ~ Joan...and I think she's definitely right!

"Luck of the bottle" ~ Marjon telling us that the last glass of wine from the bottle is called this in the Netherlands, where she is from.  (I wonder if I took the last sip from the bottle if that luck would be good for the baby or me?!)

"I will try anything...twice."  ~ Me  "Sometimes the first is a fluke." ~ Lauren, as usual, knowing exactly how to finish my thought when I can't even think straight!  (And, so very true!)

"The kid in you should have seen it...haha, wait, there IS a kid in you!" ~ Jen to pregnant me.

"Wait, Johnny Depp is...available?!" ~ Jen, when we got on to the subject of celebrity divorces due to the recent news explosion surrounding Seal and Heidi...so sad.  Joan and I thought they were going to make it!  I was shocked by Ashton and Demi too, but what do I know?!  Because I certainly don't know any of these people!!!  Then, "I'd like him as a son-in-law!" ~ Audrey (already happily married, you see!)

"You get to that weird middle stage in art where you hate it...it's like middle school."  ~ Jocelyn on the facts of art.  Whenever you are painting, drawing, whatever, just prepare yourself for that middle time period of BLAH.  We all know it!

"OH...MY...GOD." ~ me, after eating a very-illegal-to-her-dairy-free-diet-but-so-freaking-worth-it cannoli.  Seriously, Del Prete, I am glad I live in NJ...that was heavenly!  (At least for the part that I was eating it...)

Okay, apologies, that was a lot of quotes and I bet there were many more that I was laughing too hard to write down.  How about a few process photos?

(Think it's time for a new tablecloth?  It works so well, but the colors always clash with our paintings!  Maybe we should paint it?!)

We also talked about the New York International Gift Fair (NYIGF), which Lauren is exhibiting (our favorite) HopeClips and Donna is visiting to see what's new this week.  (I told Lauren that I HAVE to remember to bring my HopeClip to the hospital when I go in to labor...the nurses will LOVE it and how perfect for hospital gift shops?!  You can lie back comfortably and get all of your hair out of your face in a chic way!  Now, to remember it when I am pulling out my hubby's own hair that day...)  I digress, sorry...we talked about NYIGF because if you are running a booth, you have about 30 seconds to sell your product to the buyers.  It is such a huge show, that buyers usually run through with a list and if you are new, you've got that 30 seconds their stride takes them to get past your booth.  (I volunteered with Lauren one year and she taught me SO much about running a business.  That girl is not only the sweetest, most intelligent, quick-witted girl...she is a wonderful entrepreneur!  Take notes, dear reader!)  She and Donna (who has been to many trade shows as a Buyer) both agreed that you have to really know your customer.  Which probably explains why we all want each others' paintings by the end of each night!

Audrey was squirting paint on to her canvas (to prime it/put down the base coat) and I loved how it looked on its own!

We said "let it dry (for a month) and then MOMA will buy it!"  Joan added "just say you sneezed!  It'll be worth millions!"  I guess it was our little commentary on how art is always in the eye of the beholder and is really like wine.  You have to look/try a lot of different things to find out what really makes you happy / makes you feel great!

Speaking of making you happy...Pretty Woman and My Big Fat Greek Wedding are movies that we all agreed make us happy.  If you turn on your TV to see what's on and you find one of those, you will inevitably watch it from whatever point it is at...and laugh...and smile...and be happy!  Life is good.

One of the girls started laughing and told us the story of finding lumps in her breasts when she was a teenager.  "Laughing?" you ask?  Yes, because she was watching TV when something prompted her memory, maybe a news brief or a part of a show, and she remembered that her girlfriends told her that you are supposed to check your own breasts for lumps in between appointments.  (Read here for how to do it ladies, it is important!)  So she did...in her living room, while she was watching TV, and found quite a few!  After telling her mother, they went straight to the Doctors' office and then in to surgery and had some removed.  She was laughing because it all happened so suddenly and all while these two girlfriends were traveling all over Europe, and she had to stay home because she couldn't afford the trip.  She said "now I'll have a story for them when they get back!"  And also, still can't believe how quickly she was rushed in to surgery without tests at that time.  Now she knows that they are actually fibrous cysts.  This made two of the other girls laugh and they looked at each other and laughed harder realizing that they were thinking the same thing!  They both had them as well, and there first times at the OB-GYN (yes, both of them and again, as teens) told their Doctors that they had Cystic fibrosis and both Doctors had quickly corrected them and luckily, explained to them the difference so they didn't make the same mistake again!  What are the chances?  The world really is smaller than we realize and we all have so much in common and share experiences.

Okay, I have truly typed my fingers off today!  If you made it this far, then WOO!  You are seriously a true Wine Art Wednesdays fan and it is time for you to start your own weekly session with your best friends!  Email me at WineArtWednesdays@gmail.com if you have any questions on how to get started.  We love to share the passion and fun!

<3 Alex and the Wine Art Girls

P.S. We discussed future painting ideas.  Maybe a poll is in order?  We thought of sushi, lobster, coffee-themed, personalized paintings, and a few more.  Any ideas, readers/fellow bloggers and artists?  And also, please forgive us if our timing is a bit off in the next few weeks.  Since I won't be in CT to take part, it may be that the blog isn't live by Friday and/or the paintings aren't listed by Monday, but we will do our best!  To us, it is more about being together than anything else and we hope to not disappoint any fellow believers!!!

...the paintings...

 (Most of these will be posted for sale on our Etsy.)

(Some of these are not quite finished!)

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Chilli, Match.com, Gravity Still Works

(Note: My apologies!  I must have only hit "Preview" for the Friday post and not "Publish" since I'm having some technical difficulties with getting the photos from my camera to my computer this week.  Sorry for the delay in this weeks' post!!)

This week's Wine Art Wednesdays was a bit subdued due to all of the winter colds going around!  Luckily, Joan was able to cook a million and one things to make us all feel better...

Appetizers:

Roasted Mashed Turnips with Garlic to be spread on...

Homemade Bread

- (with Roasted Red Peppers on top, if you wished, as I did - YUM!)
Salad

Curried Shrimp (those went FAST!)

Mains:

Spicy Potato and Leek Soup

- (with more Curried Shrimp and Parsley to garnish)

Beans and Meat "Lick-Your-Lips" Chilli (and we all licked the bowls too!)

- (with Cheese and Hot Peppers to garnish)

Desserts:

Chocolates from...you guessed it!  CocoaShak!  (According to Facebook, they have just released a new Vegan Truffle - YAY!)

Wines:

You'd think that one week I would actually remember to write them down, but as I cannot actually drink them, I do tend to forget!  (I had delicious Apple Cider, if you wanted to know! ;)

 (red peppers nearly gone)

 (delicious salad)

(chilli)

We were a little "hodge-podged" with our theme this week.  It started off as a Valentine's week, but if you are an artist and have something on your mind, it's hard to not follow it!  So, you know how it goes.  Still, I think you will be please once our Etsy is updated.  I feel so lucky to get to paint with these Artists so often!  

The topics of note most certainly include Match.com profiles.  Did you know that some people actually COPY & PASTE other peoples' profiles in to their own?!  We were appalled to find out one of our girls was C&P-ed, though not shocked, we do think she is both a highly talented artist and writer after all...not to mention her profile is extremely witty and brilliant!  But, I am biased and I digress - call it Baby Brain.  At least Match lets you contact them to remove the copiers, but the nerve!

After one of the girls *slightly* missed her mouth when attempting to drink some water, we found out that Joan tried to disprove gravity in her teens.  She was lying in her bed reading a very good book and thought "why do I have to sit-up to drink my coke?  I'll just take a sip lying down!"  Well, after her coke was up her nose, in her ears and eyes, all over her face and pillow, and HEY, a little in her mouth, she realized why she had never seen someone else do it before.  I wish she remembered the book she was so enthralled in!

I remembered something about my first art class after reading over notes from one of the past month's WAW's that didn't actually get posted in to a blog (we slacked a bit and relaxed over the holidays - and we deserved it!).  Joan had said "When you paint yourself in to a problem, then you just paint yourself out.  This is art!"  We all love this quote - it's so true!  I remember my first art class because we were drawing elephants and I somehow got red paint on the foot.  The teacher said "paint her toenails red!"  I've never forgotten it and now I look at every "mistake" as a possibility for something I hadn't thought of when I began.  Art surely evolves from the moment it starts.

*I also want to know who uses those really long (1.5 feet or so) paintbrushes?  I always hit myself in the face - haha!*
 

We discussed how to tell if you are done with a painting.  The best quote?  "Drink Wine and Walk Away."  It seems you will know when you come back!  And another great one about WAW specifically: "This is Slow Food and Fast Art."  Yes, yes it is.

(girls at work...and play)

Welcome to 2012, friends!  We wish you a WONDERFUL one!

<3 Alex

 (some of these ones are not finished)

 (finished paintings)

Poltics NOT ALLOWED

We have simply discovered that politics should not be discussed at Wine Art Wednesdays.  And that we have to stick to our rule: you can't come if you don't paint.  Tony, Dennis, that means you are officially uninvited!  Right, now that the nastiness is done, it was another brilliant Wine Art Wednesday!

It was our largest group yet: 7 women (and 2 uninvited men, of course).  We ate Joan's delicious Beef stew and homemade bread (5 ingredients and no high fructose corn syrup or weird preservatives!):

Followed by a healthy sing-a-long to the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack as we started to prepare our canvases.  The discussion toggled from how to make soup for 50 people/day for three straight days (easy if you have a large le creuset and Joan's stew talent - yum!)  Or there are a few stores nearby that you could just buy their largest containers in quantity if you can't make it...you'd think Costco could fulfill this challenge, but none of us can think of a soup there that we love enough.  Any suggestions?

Already, Jen was painting at her amazing speed again:

Can you believe it?  She, of course, finished two again!  (Both of which I want.)  Then we were off to discussing ... so many wonderful things that I can't seem to remember!  Okay, the terrible truth is that I left the list at Joan's.  When she gets a chance, she's going to call me and read it off so I can finish the blog post.  What you probably care about more are the finished works!  So here they are:

(Our Etsy - link and photos at top left of blog - will be updated in the next few days!)

Happy friends, happy hearts!

<3 Alex

PS: Good luck with your Thanksgiving meals and plans!  We've just discussed ours.  That reminds me: we will not be having a W.A.W. the night before Thanksgiving.  We will be pouring our art in to our dishes for Thursday - happy cooking!

Zombies + Sexting Politicians

It seems appropriate to set this week's post up in a Q & A format based on this weeks festivities:

~ ~ ~

Do you think of the word "fart" as a swear-word?

Or, even if not that serious, is it a word you don't like to say?  We discovered this Wednesday that most of us don't feel comfortable using it in everyday conversation - ha!  Who knew?  In fact, Gina was telling her Grandmother a story last month and happen to say "farting around."  Apparently her Grandmother was NOT pleased and acted as if she had said the other F-word!  Audrey hates when anyone says it and wanted us to write it as f*** (but Jen and I thought people would get the wrong idea!)  Then Joan put out the soup and we were silent for about 20 minutes chowing down - ha!  Audrey brought this fantastic relish to put in the soup and it was a shockingly delicious (apparently Ohio-origin from Joan) combination.

Should you tell people when they have food in their teeth?

YES.  In every situation.  That is all.  Which somehow lead us to talking about raising children in this technological age and then of course to the next logical conversation - sexting politicians.  I mean "Weiner" was a field-day for journalists, what a perfect last name for the situation.  HAHA, then with the best segue every, Gina got us on the topic of zombies and a show called "The Walking Dead."  I hadn't heard of it, have you?  Meanwhile, we started painting.

(Yes, that's Pinocchio in a le creuset.  Perque no?)

(Maybe we should have a painting-naming contest?)

Are art and music the same in terms of nature vs. nurture?

Or do you think that art can be learned while music has to be innate?  Jen and I were on opposite sides on this one.  Jen believes that art can be learned while music has to, at least partially, be something you are born with, like perfect pitch.  I believe that you can learn either, but also agree with Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers on his view of dedication to your art/music: "Gladwell repeatedly mentions the "10,000-Hour Rule", claiming that the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours" (Wikipedia).

I can't think of anything I've ever done for 10,000 hours, except maybe breathing - and I do that pretty well!  Guess I just need many more hours of painting, like these girls!  Here are our finished paintings!!!

(Alex, Jen, Jen, Audrey, Joan, Rita)

It was a blast and certainly reconfirmed the purpose of this "project."  (And yes, Jen is so fast she was able to do 2 again!)  Relationships, slow food, wine, art = the answer to life's happiness.  I need my girls!  (Though boys are welcome...)  Find our paintings for sale at www.Etsy.com/shop/WineArtWednesdays!  We update it weekly!

~ Alex

Slow Food: Ham + Bean Soup w/ Zucchini Relish, Olive Bread w/ Honey, + Baked Acorn Squash!

Wine + Sober: Obikwa Sauvignon Blanc 2010 + Bella Sera Chianti 2009 + Orange Juice w/ Lime!

Materials: Golden Fluid Acrylics + found canvases (we all have collections of supplies!)

First Wine Art Wednesday!

Discussing men, dating, and married life seems like it will surely become part of our weekly discussions - love runs life it seems, right?  But on our first night of play we covered mystery greens, original stories, wine and pom juice, recipes, second helpings, and much more.  We also realized that if we are going to be drinking, painting, and chatting - then blogging about it - that we should probably keep a notebook out to be able to write about it the next day.  Good thing one of us was sober!  But to the good stuff:

Jen was so quick that she was able to move on to a second canvas!  Actually, Joan (pronounced Jo-Anne) was too, but she was pouring extra wine (and water), putting out more delicious food, and generally being the most amazing host ever...so thank you!  We used fluid acrylics this Wednesday and Joan made chicken adobo on top of rice with sides of carrots and baked beans - yum!  The center piece on her kitchen table became our subject and with three different views (and skill levels - I'm certainly the beginner!), let's just say it was the most fun I've had in a long time.  Anyone know what this mystery green is?  Apparently it tastes bitter and spicy!

 

And the three finished paintings: Jen, Joan, Alex (see...beginner!  I can only go up from here!)

We had such a blast that it inspired this blog and Etsy site where we will be selling all or most of the paintings: WineArtWednesdays!  Also, please feel free to email us at WineArtWednesdays [at] gmail.com (sorry that you can't easily copy & paste, just trying to stop the spammers!).  Here we go!

To painting, slow food, and fine wines (who's name I will write down next time!)!
~ Alex