we're all mad here!

tattoos and thai beef salad

So, If you follow me anywhere online, you've been seeing this photo of me crop up all over the place. It's from a photoshoot I did over at Vivid Ink for a fabulous new article in the current Cloth Paper Scissors. I have been wanting to write an article about turning your art into tattoos for the longest time, and when I found out they were dedicating an entire issue to wearable art I got really excited! It was such an amazing experience to go through the process of desinging and drawing my own tattoos. It also makes it super easy to show people what I do without having to add a lengthy explanation. All I have to do is roll up my sleeves, and give 'em a good look at my arms!

Since my girl Holly's husband Stu (our incredible tattoo artist) took all the photos, I thought I would share my favorite recipe from Holly with all of you. It is the most wonderful, tangy, crunchy beef salad, and I'm completely addicted to it. It tastes much better when it's had a nice bit of time in your fridge. I generally make this just before lunch if we're having it for dinner. So here's a little something fun to add to your recipe box:

THAI BEEF SALAD

ingredients

•  1+ lb. flank steak
• Montreal seasoning by McCormick
• Lawry's garlic salt
• 2 tbl. sugar
• 5 tbl. H20
• 1 1/2 cups GOOD fish sauce
• 1/2 cup white or cider vinegar
• 2 lemons juiced
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tbl. red pepper flakes
• english cucumber
• yellow onions
• 1 jalapeno seeded & sliced thin
• iceburg lettuce
• tomatoes (I like using small ones)
• cilantro
• 1 lime

1. Start by cutting your onions in half & slicing them up. Put them in a large bowl or baking pan add the following ingredients:

• 2 tbl. sugar
• 5 tbl. H20
• 1 1/2 cups GOOD fish sauce
• 1/2 cup white or cider vinegar
• 2 lemons juiced
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tbl. red pepper flakes

2. Let the onions soak in the marinade & coat both sides of your flank steak with the Montreal seasoning & garlic salt. With your grill pre-heated on high sear both sides of the flank steak until it is medium rare.

3. Slice the flank steak into very thin strips cutting across the grain of the muscles so it's not tough & chewy. Add the sliced steak to the onion marinade.

4. Slice & add the following ingreadients to the steak & onions:

• english cucumber - seeded & sliced
• 1 jalapeno seeded & sliced thin
• iceburg lettuce - julienned
• tomatoes (I like using small ones cut in half)

5. Put the whole thing in the fridge for the day and let the meat soak up all the yummy flavors.

6. Dish up & add a bit of cilantro & a slice of lime to give it a bit more zip. 

7. Fill your belly!

NOW GO MAKE ART!

 

a taste of summer in winter

Happy Valentine's Day!

I finally got to the grocery store! I know this sounds silly to some of you, but I've been sick for over two weeks, and with my car out sick too it's become a challenge to get there at all. One of the reasons I'm so excited is that I've been dying to make some Summer Risotto for Larry, and because I've really been missing my breakfast tomatoes & basil with olive oil. This is a recipe that I adapted from a 2002 issue of Organic Style - Johne Thorne's Italian rice Tossed with Tomatoes and Fresh Mozzarella. I think Summer Risotto is easier to remember, and since I've tweaked it to my own liking, I'm going to be a rebel and give it my own name.

SUMMER RISOTTO - serves 3

• 1 cup risotto rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 tbl. butter
• 1 tbl. fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tbl. olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves - minced
• 1 small yellow onion - minced
• 7 fresh basil leaves
• 2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp. McCormick Monterry seasoning
• dash Lawry's garlic salt
• 1/2 container Sanitas or grape tomatoes - cut in half
• 3 spoonfuls pearl mozarella

1. Bring your 2 cups of water to a boil.
   +    1 cup risotto rice
   +    1 tbl. butter
2. Cover - reduce to simmer for 16 minutes
3. Add olive oil to a large saute pan & heat over med while you mince the garlic & onions
   +    garlic & onions
4. Saute until translucent & starting to brown 
5. Turn heat in saute pan down to low
   +    tomato halves 
   +    balsamic vinegar
6. At this point your risotto should be cooked - turn it into your saute pan & stir contents
7. Tear up the basil leaves & toss them in the pan
   +    garlic salt
   +    Monterry seasoning
8. Dish up and add a spoonful of the fresh mozarella pearls to each dish
9. Stir & fill yer belly!

 I've been busing sewing this amazing log cabin <3 pillow for CreateMixedMedia: 

I'll post the link and details of this fabu How To and Give Away as soon as I get them! Here's the loot one lucky reader will win:

The biggest, and best news for me is that I finally made a spot in my studio completely dedicated to painting, and creating mixed media. I'm getting ready to take Mindy Lacefield's Paint Your Story class soon, and I wanted to create a space where I could keep my paints out without worrying about them getting on my fabric. I found the cutest little conductor's stand down the street at the Maple Street Market - our towns nifty little antique store. It has a door on the front that opens up to shelves meant to hold sheet music, and it turns out it's exactly the right height to hold all my Liquitex paints. PLUS it's the perfect height so I don't have to hunch over and kill my back! {can you tell I'm excited?} So, for the rest of the week you can find me over by the window in my studio painting, and glueing away. What are you creating this week in your life?

NOW GO MAKE ART!

getting back on the horse

Hello 2012!
Today is the Chinese New Year - Year of the Dragon, and I've been starting out the new year finally working on a new blog post. It's a quiet Monday night, with Larry at Pool, and Jules volunteering at the Concessions for Buddy Basketball. I've been itching to get back to blogging, but REALLY having a hard time getting started. I wonder if part of it is because I fear it will be the end of this wonderful hibernation I've been wallowing in? I've loved the quiet, the time to journal and think, being home and not so much online ... but I feel it's time to poke my nose out of my cave and get back to doing what I love to do. Now, there's part of the problem too ... ever since finishing up my book { Mixed and Stitched } I've had a hard time pinpointing exactly what it is I want to do next.

Every year when my birthday rolls around, I find myself getting really introspective about where I've been and where I'd like to go. Part of this process is taking a break from the online world to focus more of my time and energy towards my family and home during the holidays. The hard part comes when it's time to get back to being online, and blogging more consistently. There is something about taking that break that really makes you want to stay in that offline place.

I spend a lot of that time journaling about what it is I love to do now, because as we evolve as artists, so too does our interests and dreams. What happens when we achieve our dreams? How do we decide on new ones and what's next?

After you've put in all that hard work - how do you re-ignite that fire and passion for something new? This is uncharted teritory for me ... and I find myself wandering around restless in search of that new thing that will having me charing off to conquer it. Are you diggin' me?

I'm slowly starting to see a glimmer of what's next with the help of those I love and the advice of fellow artists I admire. I think that's a whole nother post tho, so I'm going to skip back a bit and tell you about my winter adventures while I was away.

One of the silliest and most awesome things I did this winter was learn how to make my own pickles! You can find the recipe I used here:

MIXED PICKLED VEGIES

I used apple cider vinegar & a little less kosher salt than called for - left out the cinnamon stick - Holly & I pickled asperagus / green beans / cucumbers and they were SO EASY and completely AMAZING! Everyone loved them, and I'm not kidding you when I say it took all of about 1/2 hour including cutting up all the veggies. If you are a lover of pickles, I HIGHLY recommend this recipe! 

I bought a packet for Bread & Butter pickles [per Jake's request], and I'm going to make a few jars that are just green beans { my absolute fav! }. I'm curious if you tried anything new over the holidays, and if so, did you blog about it? Please leave your link in the comments section so we can all take a peek!

And now I think I've rambled on enough ... not too shabby for a month sabatical from blogging. Tomorrow, I'll write a little bit about my Christmas vacation in Las Vegas, and my word & quote for the New Year.

NOW GO MAKE ART!