Summer of green things

So, the overload of veggies has begun with my local CSA. I'm up to my ears in lettuce! Not that I'm complaining; I just think back to six months ago when I was SO SICK of potatoes from my winter CSA. Haha, when it rains, it pours. But this does mean that I have had salad every single day, lunch AND dinner for the past week. I'm good at mixing things up though. I will usually do some sort of baked/sauteed/marinated/fried/etc. tofu or tempeh, with different seasonings, as the main protein in the salad. Fresh fruit is amazing, especially when it mixes with a vinaigrette dressing (this week, it's cherries, last week was strawberries.) Nut and seeds and whatever other veggies my CSA gives out also join in. I usually will rotate dressings (I usually make my own), with a ranch, oil/vinegar, salsa-ranch (!), or some sort of peanuty-asian-style (Nik isn't as fond of this, so not that often *sadface*). The above salad has a marinated tempeh (Shoyu, liquid smoke, a little peanut oil, pepper, and enough water to cover in pan-cooked until all liquid is gone and slightly crisp) on it and a simple ranch dressing (veganaise, a little soy milk to get the right consistancy, pepper, and a few shakes of basil, oregano, parsley, garlic and onion powder.) Yum!

Also, I only discovered this last summer, but I TOTALLY love fried green tomatoes. A little nooch, a little flour, a little cayenne and salt, YUM!!!

"We are all Connected" process and fundraiser

Hello! I wanted to share some in-progress photos of a painting I just finished. This painting is also part of a group fundraiser this month at Poppytalk Handmade. 1/2 of all proceeds from this print will be donated to Oxfam America specifically for their gulf oil spill cleanup fundraiser. Print is up in my shop!

This was an interesting painting to work on, as I forced myself to finally look at images of the animals that were effected from the oil spill. It is really hard to look these photos and not burst into tears and feel nothing but contempt for mankind, as I'm sure a lot of you have had similar reactions. This usually leads to dead-end thinking and frustration on my part, because the most I can really offer to help out in any way is to donate. I sent a donation to the National Wildlife Federation too.

'Lil sister's graduation and senior art show

Hello! I've been home a few times this past month to celebrate my little sister's senior art show and High School graduation (yes, I said High School! She's a young one-or I'm old, whatever!) Anyways, I'm super-proud of her!

Jenna is the smiley one in the front with the really long hair. What a bunch of cuties!

Sisters!


Check out this bad-ass senior display she made. I super-love the hand painting that she did on the walls and that cool globe. High school, my friends, high school. Look out world!



Annnd it was really nice to get out of the city and just stare at this for a few days:

Crest True Value Art Show and some Brooklyn graffiti

So last saturday, I went to the Crest True Value Art show in my neighborhood. It is a huuuge hardware store (well, huge for Brooklyn) and they were hosting an art show where the art was inpired by hardware and was interspersed throughout the store. It was fun to walk around and try to find the different art pieces. There was a garden area out back where they had a DJ booth set up, a small craft fair, and a few grills serving up a BBQ.





Walking around the neighborhood afterward, I came upon some cool graffiti:

New Vinyl Record Paintings!

I'm REALLY excited about these! They were so much fun to make! I put the first half up in my Etsy store and I took the last six to Fuego 718 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. They are acrylic on old 7" vinyl records. I haven't used acrylics in a long time, so it was fun to step outside my comfort zone (of watercolors). I'm working on a series of old books next...










These ones are at Fuego 718, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn:







Also, I'm going to Six Flags in NJ tomorrow and I'm SO EXCITED! Bring on the rollercoasters! I haven't been to an amusement park in such a long time!

Strawberry-Raspberry-Rhubarb Crisp

It's that time of year again, when my summer CSA starts and I get butt-loads of fruit! I started the season off pretty well with lots of strawberries, raspberries, and rhubarb. Helllooooo crisp! This was gone pretty much instantly. I kept it pretty simple, just cut up fruit mixed with agave (I overcompensated actually, thinking that I needed to put a lot in to cover the bitterness of the rhubarb, but the sweet fruits did a pretty good job on their own.) The topping is just a mixture of quick oats, brown sugar, a little Earth Balance, and a little flour. Baked at 400F for 40 minutes and it was done. I missed fresh summer fruits so much! Good riddance winter and spring!

I quit my day job and I'm having a sale to celebrate!

Yaay! If you follow me on Twitter, you might have heard my big news already, but I did it, I finally quit my day job! June 4th was my last day, but I was busy with Renegade and going home last week to visit my family, so this is my first "official" week of self-employment I guess. I'm so excited!! I have lots of plans, and it's hard to not get ahead of myself and just take one thing at a time. This was a big step, and I have been planning it for a long time (and it was one of my New Year's Resolutions! Hooray for crossing things off a list!)


So! I decided to celebrate and have a big sale in my shop! I'm having a buy one, get one free sale on all my prints!

Some stipulations:

*This is only for prints

*It's a buy one, get the lesser priced one free deal. So if you buy a 8"x10" print, you can get another 8"x10" free or any of my 5"x5" or 5"x7" prints free, but if you buy a 5"x7", you can only get a 5"x5" or 5"x7" print free. Capish?

*This is for one week only, ending next Sunday, June 20th at Midnight, Eastern Time

*When purchasing, write a little note in the "message to seller" box of the free print that you would like. Easy!

Poppytalk Handmade Market and Brooklyn Indie Market

Hello! Three things!

1. I'm participating in Poppytalk's Handmade Market this summer, with the current theme being "Here Comes the Sun." I'm so excited! You can view my gallery here.

2. I'll be at the Brooklyn Indie Market tomorrow, June 12th, for the Handmade Hearth and Home event. Stop by and say hi if you are local! There will be lots of great vendors there!

3. I have started to put 11"x14" prints in my shop, whoa man! So far, I have these two (which are also newish paintings that have kinda just been sitting around):



And lastly, happy weekend! I'll be back monday with an important post, I promise. :)