painting frenzy

So after all that procrastinating I was doing about the show, when I got right down to it an actually started doing the work I got hooked. Now I can't stop. I've done about 20 collages and am hoping to do another 15 at least. They have a kind of "modernist" feel to them, somewhat reminiscent of the 40's & 50's. Yesterday I took some down to my friend's gallery in Toronto, Distill. Located in the beautiful Distillery District (if you are nearby you must visit it). To my delight she quite liked them, so after the show I will be displaying some pieces there. Suddenly I am becoming a fine artist, and it's a whole different world. A helped me shoot some slides of the new work, so I will post some photos when I get them back next week.

While at the Distillery I stopped in to see one of my favourite textile makers Rukus (for some reason their site has some issues in IE). Their world is so full of colour and bold graphics. I was wearing one of their bags at the time and the girl at the counter was overjoyed to see someone with her work! She beamed happily when I told her I was a Rukus addict. I could drown in the colours, and it feels really good to support other small business artists. They had a lovely linen teatowel that I wish I had bought with an essay about teadrinking printed on the front.

Then is was off for coffee at Balzac's, and a trip to the art supply store to replenish my dwindling supply of goache. I got another beautiful chinese paste brush. I must admit to purchasing art supplies for aesthics purposes, (and I'm a sucker for anything in a nice box, namely japanese brushes.) I so enjoy pulling out my little wooden box of brushes and displaying them while I work. Sadly I am not so good at cleaning them regularly.

I spent several hours today at a friend's farm picking pumpkins! It is a gorgeous fall day, the first sunny day in a long time in this part of the world. This weekend we had to harvest all of the vegetables from the garden for fear of frost. Because many of them had not ripened I spent several hours cooking and preserving some Green Tomato Curry (it's almost like a pickle but can be eaten warmed over rice). With the ripe ones I made a really tasty Tomato and Red Pepper Salsa (six half litre jars), which will probably not last a month. I'm now on the hunt for a really good Pumkin Soup Recipe.

Green Tomato Curry

1/4 cup butter
2 cups onions, chopped
1 tsp cumin
2 Tbsp. curry powder
1 cup water
8 cups green tomatoes
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
salt to taste

Saute onions in butter for 10 minutes. Add curry powder and cumin and cook for 5 minutes longer. Stir in water and remaining ingredients. Simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour depending on desired thickness. Serve over rice. Serves 4.

Show opening: Local Colour (in Flesherton)
October 17, 2003
7pm - 9pm

Some things I like:
...the work of Alexander Girard.
...found kites

Reading
...Crow Lake by Mary Lawson
...Atonement by Ian McEwan. (for the bookclub) Having difficulty getting into this one (especially after reading "The God of Small Things").
...Memories With Food by Roald Dahl (illustrated by Quentin Blake). My friend Helen lent this to me knowing that I am a huge Quentin Blake fan. Roald Dahl is a definite connoisseur good food and this volume contains his favourite recipes and memories of growing up in rural England, it is everything I love in the world. Sadly it is out of print.

*Thanks to Graphic Goo for featuring my site!

Posted by kerismith at October 04, 2003 12:52 PM