Green Beans with Ginger and Almonds

Here’s an easy and delicious recipe for your upcoming very relaxed and enjoyable holiday meals…

Mmmmm.... green beans!

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 pounds of green beans. I use the Blue Lake.

4 T. butter

3 T. ginger, chopped fine

1/3 cup of chicken stock

1 cup of salted roasted almonds, chopped coarsely. You can also use other nuts, such as cashews or peanuts.

1/2 t. salt

a couple cranks of fresh ground pepper

DIRECTIONS

Boil water in large saucepan and add beans, cook for 4 minutes – they should be tender but still crisp. Rinse in cool water, blot off extra water with a towel, and set aside. Melt the butter in a pan large enough to accommodate the beans. Add the ginger and sauté until slightly aromatic, about a half-minute. Stir in green beans and stock and cook for about 4-6 minutes until stock is almost evaporated. Add almonds and cook for 1 more minute. Stir in salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Potato Skull Stamps for Dia de los Muertos

The Community of Muertos

My sister Diane lives in Golden Valley, MN, and she made these remarkable stamps for her son’s class celebration. I love the array of expressions and lives they seem to recall. She cut the potatoes in half, then carved the skull faces. You could do this with a knife or with those Speedball stamp-making tools. Then she brushed paint on the faces and stamped away. Be sure there isn’t a lot of excess paint on the stamp or your image will have blotches of paint in the wrong places. This is a terrific craft to do with your kids! Diane said it was really fun to do, and that’s definitely evident in the stamps!

The potato stamps after stamping

Stamps after the ink was washed off

Again after stamping

Studio Update – Almost Done!

Ah, the power of lighting (cheap Ikea track lighting, warm and bright, installed by Dave). The power of curtain (a cotton drop cloth from Ace Hardware.). The power of soft floor covering (a carpet remnant with edging we already had but never put in our house). My studio is almost a place to work! The major outstanding issues at this point constitute teensy tasks like screwing in a bulletin board and rustling up a trash can. And, of course, I need to fine tune what goes where on the shelves. Happily, I do know that everything currently in the studio belongs in that room somewhere.

My machine is in place. I love my sewing machine. It was my mom’s, an Elna Supermatic manufactured in 1972. Every time I take this girl in for a check up, the mechanics offer to buy her from me. My answer is always No, and I fantasize about building a collection of them just in case mine ever conks out, which it surely will not.

My Faithful Elna SU - (currently sporting children's pencil marks )

Let us recall...

F. Scott and Zelda

Howlin' Wolf

As I put the very last coat of Dusty Jeans on the floor, I had on a shuffle (I’m new to iTunes, and there’s not much audio stuff on the studio computer— so what’s there is what shuffled) and there was this compelling combo of Howlin’ wolf, Iris DeMent, David Bowie, and someone reading chapters of The Great Gatsby. One moment lost in Jay’s tragedy (while noticing and not exactly minding how Fitzgerald really puts the words gorgeous, wild, and riotous to work on a too-regular basis), the next imagining that nameless American pair pulling in just behind the bridge and the fella frowning.

What Would David Bowie Do?

I now see shuffle as a possible therapeutic tool, a reminder that everything is connected and related somehow if I am paying attention. I’ll probably need to test that theory with more disparate stuff though.

Stay tuned for photos of the completely finished space!

A Nod From The Salamander

As if to say, “Hey! I really like what you’ve done with this place!” my salamander friend (see “Fixing The Hole” – 9/28) returned yesterday and spent time on the cold top step of my newly sealed-up and nearly cushy, nearly ready-to-use studio. I walked in and almost trampled him as he sat stunned by the new, warm light, his black bulging eyes as still as Scale on a lime leaf. He was so unmoving that I quickly made plans to sneak upstairs and get my camera or a person under 7 with pens and pencils to document his return, as if he would just lounge statue-like during that time. A split second after I reached for my keys and glanced back up, there was no sign of him. He must have entered  through a crack in the step near the door instead of through the wall, which is now closed up all tidy until further rain transpiration. I had been a little worried about that fellow when I closed up the wall. I choose to see his visit as a kind of good luck nod, a verification that my making this room the way I want it does no harm. How is that for anthropomorphism? Well, how’s a girl supposed to find meaning without applying some human-only emotion to the amphibians? Welcome back, Little Creature, and thank you for your approval.

Stop To Smell The Roses (Pick ‘Em Even!) – 5 ways to fuel your work

Nora and I were running early, yippee! Down the stairs we went, and the car battery was dead and we had 15 minutes to get to school on time. We decided to walk (Well, I walk and she cruises in her jog stroller). For reasons many and maybe as many excuses we have opted to drive more than we walk to destinations close-in to our neighborhood. But, today we walked. We stopped along the way to smell the roses. Literally. There is this house, this simple adorable little Maxwell Park gem of a house, painted white with arched entryways and cutie-pie pale green trim, with a front yard full of rose bushes busting out in bloom. We sniffed and we sniffed, and then we walked on. On our way home, we spotted the owner of the bushes leaving her house. I said, “Your roses are really beautiful! We always see them when we drive by, but today was the first time I had actually smelled them because we are walking.” She smiled and said, “Next time bring your scissors and take as many as you want. The more you cut the more they bloom!” This kind of thing does not happen when I am in my car.

Senses fuel creativity, need I state the totally obvious? And after our walk I saw some of the ways I cut myself off from those senses and hence from my most precious resources. One way is driving. Observing life from behind a windshield, or through a screen (TV, computer, I hesitate and then choose not to say camera – that lens is holding hands with my senses in a way) doesn’t reward my spirit. Doesn’t encourage further exploration and connection with real life, real people, real anything. Driving just does not feel good to me.

Here is a little creativity challenge that does not involve crafting or making anything, but feeding your senses by simply slowing things down a little and looking around. Do these 5 things whenever you can and notice how you feel, then how that might inform your life or your creative work.

1. Walk someplace you usually drive to.

2. Sit for 1/2 hour and do nothing but be with yourself (no ear attachments allowed).

3. Go outside and study a square foot of soil for 20 minutes.

4. Decide to only check your email once a day.

5. Take the bus instead of driving.

I look forward to hearing your feedback about this little experiment. Enjoy yourself and your world!

Studio Update: Fixing the Hole

In my studio, which I can now more than ever call a studio because it is really coming along, there was a big (about 1’ x 3’) hole in the wall. Located at the base of the wall just south of the door, this hole was at one time occupied by drywall, tape, mud, and an opaque coat of white matte paint. But then, after some years or maybe after just one season, it was no longer occupied by them because some water seeped up from way down in the Earth, through our fantastic clay soil (really just a big brown ocean that moves very slowly), through the concrete foundation, into the drywall and tape and mud and paint, and then became what it was when I first noticed it 5 years ago when we move into our house—unattractive and also yucky (here’s where my knowledge of construction materials and associated vocabulary falls on its face). Once, when I went down there at night to get something, I found a small salamander creeping into the basement through the hole, and I felt sorry for it having to walk across that crumbly smudgeon of grossulaciousness. I am glad I do not know how bad and disgusting what I chipped out of there last week might be. How it was possibly filled with all kinds of nasty bacteria and dust and living gross mites and maybe rat poison dust and potentially even rodent feces or barf or dead bodies (Oh, that’s right I did find one of those in the wall, how could I forget?)

The Hole

Let’s step back a few months. I do a weekly coaching call with two friends, both of whom run small businesses. We check in about goals we’re working toward and we are accountable to each other for specific steps toward them. If any of us has not met a particular goal, once or even three or four calls in a row, we try to suss out what is keeping her from doing so and discuss what we can do to help her meet the goal.

One of my goals from Week 2 of our calling relationship was to fix this hole in my studio wall. Then, when I didn’t reach that goal (maybe it just feels insurmountable?), I pulled back a little to the goal: Research How To Fix Hole In Drywall. One of my co-callers graciously remembered and passed on the name of a magazine containing an article on how to repair a hole in drywall. It was in Real Simple magazine, the irony of which is not lost on me (but it might be, because I was starting to think I was building this up to be harder than it was… I had actually done drywalling before for Habitat for Huma… anyway, though, that had been nice clean new drywall). I searched vaguely for the issue subconsciously waiting just enough time to allow for it to be replaced on the shelf with a new issue. I didn’t find it. On one call, I had to cut out early and the topic never got addressed. On another call, My Goal was to Have The Hole Fixed By Dave the following week. I took into consideration neither Dave’s willingness to do this, (which, a lot later, turned out to be substantial), nor the time in his schedule that may or may not have lent itself to this activity (it did not). 7 days later this one was scaled back to: Ask Dave If He Will Fix The Hole. Dave said Yes and went out and bought a quarter sheet of drywall. Wow! Then it sat for about a month and a half covering up the hole, making the wall look a lot better.

Midway Through The Fix

After the materials acquisition I felt victorious somehow. But a few more weeks into not fixing the hole, I got frustrated and sick of thinking about fixing the hole (perhaps as you are getting sick of hearing about how it eventually it gets fixed?) and decided to just cancel The Goal Of The Hole altogether. What was going on here? At this point, I told myself and my trusty co-callers, “I just don’t wanna do it!” I had lost sight of why I had been completely sure it needed to be fixed, why I had actually committed to fixing it. One of my co-callers said, “Just put a sheet over it!” And then I remembered why the hole had to be fixed.

I am renovating the interior of this studio so that I can look around me and know that I haven’t put a sheet over anything, that I am not taking something away from all the good I have created and my enjoyment of it by always remembering there is something gross lurking back there that I am not dealing with.

The Hole I Fixed

So, I fixed the wall. I used a mudding spatula, a drywall saw, a hammer, nails, mud, tape, my bare hands. Cleaning it out before the repair was gross, and I found the very very ancient remains of somebody very small (a mouse? I flattered myself that I had unearthed a now-extinct variety of vole. Do we even have voles here?) I held my breath, but I probably should have put on a respirator. Cutting the new patch pieces was very satisfying, as was the fact that they fit the odd sized holes. I said I was sorry to the salamander who probably won’t be able to scramble slowly in to get warm anymore (if he or she is still alive after crawling through all that toxic dusty musty blekky junk). I love the consistency of the mud and how it is so easy to mush around and how you can get your finish just how you like it with the spatula. I need practice with that, but I did do a few gratuitous handprints, so it is as if I am waving to myself as I leave the room.

Interrobang, So She Sews, and Parkside Pretties

Interrobang of Australia (“Welcome to Interrobang. We like punctuation.”) has invented a very very sleek set of bags made entirely out of upcycled seatbelt webbing. In the same way punctuation seems to act as a kind of armor for the words it embraces, the Interrobang bag promises to profoundly protect all the things it holds.

The Parenthesis Bag by Interrobang

We all want our bags to last, and what could be more durable than material designed to keep you from flying out of a car in an accident? And if the material weren’t enough on its own, the seams are fused by melting after sewing for extra durability. Cherie of Interrobang has designed some wonderfully urban-elegant, angular bags that let the naturally sleek quality of upcycled seatbelt webbing speak and shine. Available items on Etsy include handbags and purses ranging from $26 to $74, laptop and Kindle protectors ranging from $20 to $42, messenger bags at $66-$68, and wallets for $30-$33. While most of the bags made from upcycled webbing are black, Interrobang also offers a special limited edition line of bags made from new seatbelt webbing in luscious colors such as silver and bright red.

The Red Ampersand Bag by Interrobang

All the bags are named for punctuation marks (Wondering what Interrobang means? According to the shop profile, “An interrobang is a question mark (?) followed by an exclamation point (!) ie. ?!”). No question mark needed for the work of Interrobang, it’s a totally sure thing. (www.interrobang.etsy.com)

So She Sews, also on Etsy, produces some very coolly resourceful and endlessly useful work. I focused in right away on her fused plastic pouches and wallets, because their design is so cute and careful, and Brooke of So She Sews fuses the plastic to look sort of like faux alligator skin. My favorite is the Eco Owl Coin Purse.

The Eco Owl Bag by So She Sews

The one shown here is made with fused plastic telephone book bags (I knew there was a reason to keep unwrapping those things!). So She Sews also makes coffee cuffs (“the chuck Norris of reusable coffee sleeves”) out of fused plastic and sweatshirt fabric with thought provoking comments traveling over them in courier (“I can has caffeine?” and “My merkin is prettier than your merkin” for starters). I am always in total awe of someone who puts the tiniest of cast-off pieces of material (plastic, yarn and fabric in this case) from one project into something else, complete and lovely, and Brooke does just that with these adorable bracelets that feature vintage buttons. This artist truly doesn’t waste a thing, creating her own edge banding on the pouches with scraps of fabric from other projects. I love the details of her work too, lots of pinking and fancy-pants stitching on the edges of the work. Among her other offerings are clothes and some fabric flowers for your water-conserving vase. (www.soshesews.etsy.com)

Elements of Craft Eco Bracelet Bangle Set of 3

Every time I go to recycle a macaroni and cheese box or a cereal box or any cardboard box of that same weight I consider what I might make out of it or, if I am feeling tired, what I might have made out of it. I never get much past saving the boxes in a pile so my little son will have construction materials the next time he builds, and that is a fine use for them.

Pink Moravian Star by Parkrose Pretties

But Parkrose Pretties has designed a completely cool use for this cardboard as well as churning out some striking recycled wool pieces. The Moravian Stars range in size from 5.5 inches tall to 10.5 inches tall (priced affordably at $13 to $27) and are painted first in fresh, cool pastels, then sprinkled with iridescent glitter. I think of winter holidays when I see these, as they look like snow crystals or maybe some special December stars, but they are a pleasure to look at on any occasion. And when Parkrose Pretties ran into a roadblock with some wool too heavy to use in one of her amazing upcycled-sweater blankets, she wasted no time in creating some rustic bacon and eggs potholders that cry out Handmade! Well made!

I’m a fan of the bacon myself, and also, having recently grasped how difficult it can be to take a great picture of one’s work, appreciate to no end the bowling ball props in her Etsy shop photos. (www.parkrosepretties.etsy.com).

Mmmm... Bacon Felted Wool Potholder by Parkrose Pretties

The Devil Made Me Do It, Lavender Hill Knits, & TR Mack

During a recent search for upcycled dresses on Etsy, I stumbled upon the jaw-dropping work of devilmademedoit. I need to talk about the Lavender Garden Cashmere Dress! Made completely from subtly different shades of lavender and purple upcycled cashmere, this is a fitted party dress to make other party dresses blush.

Lavender Garden Cashmere Dress by devilmademedoit

Underneath the funky genius of the construction—impeccable fitting and externally serged seams—is a sure nod to tradition. With a flourish of ruffles and flowers pouring over one shoulder and a little flounce at the hem, this dress is flattering and extremely feminine. Romantic, true, but also tough and resourceful—The Great Gatsby meets The Matrix.

devilmademedoit’s work includes other stunning dresses, shirts, and skirts. All feel vaguely topographical to me, maybe a result of the external, often horizontal seams that evoke latitude notations. When I see something like the lavender dress or the Teal and Lime Dots and Loops Skirt, also made entirely from upcycled wool, I wonder: How did this artist reach the point where she could do this? What path did she take? So this time I asked. I was anticipating that there was some fashion-design schooling involved somewhere in her past—some couture instruction… perhaps a couple of patternmaking courses. But no.

Teal and Lime Dot and Loop Skirt by devilmademedoit

I was delighted and rather blown away to hear that Tamara of devilmademedoit is a self-taught designer. She began making her own patterns as a teenager, sewed clothes for herself and her friends for many years, and eventually evolved her art to the work you see before you. A college instructor up until a year and a half ago, Tamara in her own words “just started MAKING for a living.” She adds, “When I look back at my life now it all looks like a line to where I am now. I use all of my different skills and interests in what I do and it’s so obvious to me that this is what I’m supposed to be doing.” As a stranger looking on, I have to agree. (www.devilmademedoit.etsy.com)

I find it so rewarding to encounter people who make things similar to and yet very different from my work. I learn from them every day and maybe they learn from me too. One felted bag I found on Etsy months ago still jitterbugs across my mind on a regular basis. Made by Julie of lavenderhillknits in Maine, it is the Daydream Believer Hipster Bag.

Though she occasionally uses recycled second-hand wool sweaters, most of lavenderhillknits’ work is hand knit, then felted. Her prices are stunningly affordable given the work I know goes into this product and her hallmark precision. Let’s look closely at the Daydream Believer Hipster Bag.

The Daydream Believer Hipster Bag (inside) by lavenderhillknits

A remarkably compact bag for all that it offers, the hipster measures 8.5” high by 7” wide. It is repleat with pockets (one out, two in), perfect for carrying your basics, plus sunscreen, and an iPod. Which brings me to its impressive iPod cord accommodation feature. Slip the wire to your earphones through this hole and avoid unsafe and unsightly dangling cords! What a difference a grommet makes! Reinforced with stiff interfacing and lined with Amy Butler fabric, this bag is sturdy and stylish!

The Daydream Believer Hipster Bag by lavenderhillknits

Lavenderhillknits sells several other styles of bag, all felted wool in gorgeous colors, as well as hand knit and felted slippers. (www.lavenderhillknits.etsy.com)

If there is a shape that brings on joy, it is the circle—perfect or not. And if there is a common notion of something pleasing to the gaze, that thing just might be a tree or a string of twinkling lights. TRMackstudio’s work begins with these elements and ventures deep into dreamy realms where great populations of dynamic, vibrantly-colored circles flesh out lush branching structures and envelope serene Italian hill towns.

Quattro Piccolo Alberi di Susina 8x10 signed art print by TR Mack

To me, the circles seem alive and are reminiscent of amoebas (in their irregularity) or the eyes of some curious living thing. It’s a nice feeling to be looked back at when one is looking and looking at something!

While the works that include a lot of circles tend to evoke shining lights, Tom of TRMackstudio also offers some pieces that are actually representations of lights shining from behind branching trees—and these work equally well as celebrations of the magical in the ordinary. The relationship between the foreground colors and the background colors is remarkable too. Backgrounds of graduated colorfields shift, for example, from the brown of the earth to the dark blue of the heavens in clear but gradual layers of color that complement the foreground material.

So, I love looking at these paintings, and they are available in many forms and for a wide range of prices. TRMackstudio sells original paintings, prints of many sizes, and super cool glass pendants featuring tiny prints of his original paintings.

TRMackstudio has been painting for over 40 years and has collectors worldwide. Adults and children alike will continue to be huge fans of his art. (www.trmackstudio.etsy.com)

Alberi di Inspirazione 18x18 Acrylic on Canvas, by TR Mack

That Delicious Roasted Marshmallow

The Stump

We are getting ready to leave the woods. Ian and Nora are in the world of the redwood, they inhabit the stump, they become the stump and speak the language of the trees. I am stymied as I reflect on the contrast between watching my playing children/wanting to play with them and assuming what I’ve thought was a parent’s role of packing up after a camping trip. If I immersed myself in their game, who would pack up? So, I don’t. Dave plays with them, patrolling the outskirts of the tree village in search of loggers out for sap. I hog the job of packing up camp, just as I hog the initial setting-out packing endeavor, mostly because I insist on it. I will do it fastest and the way I want it done, which is the only way, the best way. I will. Yikes!

When I was growing up, Dad did the packing up and the setting up, and would often be in just a smidge of “a state” about it. It seemed necessary to build up a relished anxiety while preparing for a trip. It didn’t seem very fun for him, and I didn’t think I would be one to play out that role in her adult life, but here we are.

I all but shut my little ones out to do the necessary work of packing, and when I do let them in—hearing their laughter and looking up for a moment to see if I can spot them—a brief, true smile flits across my face before I squash it between pursed lips, as if to tell myself, “This will not be fun! You will not be smiling!” So, there is to be sure some martyrdom here, and as I recognize it, a shiver fans across my shoulder blade.

As I scratch soggy bits of oatmeal off a Sierra cup with lukewarm water and some Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap, I glance at the family in the campsite next to us. They have put their two young girls in front of a portable DVD player in the forest to watch The Little Mermaid while they pack up. And I wonder if there is some middle ground between my separate-worlds approach and their uninvolved-proximity method. Engagement perhaps? Integration? Ah, but that would make things so much… harder. And slow!

If one of my parental goals is to notice and teach that the everyday stuff is infused with joy, and I say it is, then here is a missed opportunity. If this noticing and teaching is dependent on slowing down, then what exactly am I shooting for with the children’s-ghetto/packing-dictator approach to our exiting the woods? I suppose I am not intentionally shooting for anything, but mindlessly moving through our time together (or apart, as it is). The preparation of and the knocking down of our temporary home in the trees are ways for them—and me—to learn that you take your time to create and enjoy your life, and that it is up to you and yours to make it what you want, but not always you alone, and hardly ever just someone else.

I am seeing that avoidance has come easily to me. It has sometimes seemed impossible to slow it all down and involve our kids in the more practical tasks of our lives, but it isn’t impossible. It is just unfamiliar, a little uncomfortable, and maybe on some level I am afraid of all the connection. I am seeing it now not as something I have to do or should do, but something I have thus far deprived myself of—that fullness of experience that comes from laughing with your people over something small, that sharing of the joy in the mundane. Because, really, what’s the rush except a running from self and from the delicious roasted marshmallow that is my bond with my little creatures?

Into Fall & First Grade

I just sold my first piece on Etsy! I’m excited, yes yes yes! And I have to say the sale caught me way off guard. I have been on this passionate quest to write about other artists. I’m completely enjoying finding people whose work I like and telling others about it. The entire process is so profoundly rewarding. The artists are usually happy about it, and I get to write and research more art, and it’s just good all ‘round. On some level way under there I understood that this might lead to a sale or two at some point, but that wasn’t the goal and no way did I expect it to happen right off the bat. But the spouse of one of the artists I featured took the plunge and bought my sea flower pouch!

Sea Flower Pouch - Sold!

Part of me believed I would never sell one thing on Etsy. Something about it being too big, no one would ever find me and if they did why would they choose me over, say, someone with…?  It goes on like that. Then another part of me knew it would happen eventually and that that would be a great day. And it was and this was just such a cool suprise. Thank you world, and thank you Ann Marie!

The end-of-summer scrunch is upon us and I have not visited my studio-in-progress for renovation purposes in over a week.

We took a short summer vacation in the form of a local camping trip on the San Mateo coast last week. We are home now, back in the city and looking at some busy days ahead. This time of year I turn toward my children more attentively. Their transitions are big. Into Fall and First Grade, or in Nora’s case, the First Year of Preschool. As the school year starts I take a read on what they need from me, socially, physically, emotionally. It is always changing. In the woods, camping, or just in summer perhaps, things seem more managable and safe and needs less challenging, easier to read. And it is maybe a little easier to focus on my own endeavors in the summer. So during this time of shortening days, when getting into the studio to work on the studio, much less build up inventory and sell bags, is in the back of my mind, it is nice to remember that there’s a store open round the clock with my bags “in it” and that people can go shopping any time all over the world.