Green is the Word

The big box of green has arrived back home from its year long travel around the country.

Note: This post has scads of pictures so be prepared for that.

As you may or may not remember I participated in a round robin journal project based on colors (we got the idea from the book True Colors) with a group of artists from Traveler's Hart. The Big Box o' Green is a fabric covered giant Altoids tin.
These are the sign-in cards that everyone made.
A closeup of the messy edges of the box. Some glue is more "clear-drying" than others. ahem.
A detail of the beading I did on the outside of the box. The green moon bead got broken sometime during the traveling around, oh well...
One side of the card from Pam Thomas.

And the other side from Pam Thomas.A window effect from Vivian Montre.

Lots of texture from Vivian Montre.
One of the cards I did, how do you like the drink coaster on the bottom?
The reverse side of the card by me.
The insdie of the tin, on the left is the library pocket with all the sign in cards, on the right the green tissue paper and glitter.
The bottom of the tin.
The other card I made, one side.
And the other side, that picture of the native Alaskan costumed people still really pleases me.
A fabric covered card, love those mahjong tiles, from Pat Pleacher.
The other side of Pat's card showing the nice stitching she did on the edge, and the dangly beady bits off the bottom.
Lots of layers and depth on this one, says thank you on the central circle. By Megan Murphy.
The other side of Megan Murphy's card, showing the dangly beady bit on the bottom.

Shiny foil, embossed side by Emily. And the other pop culture influenced side by Emily, showcasing the Grinch, Kermit the Frog, The wicket witch of the west from Wizard of Oz, the Hulk, Marvin the Martian, Frankenstein, Jolly Green Giant, one of the Teletubbies don't ask me the name I thankfully missed that phenomenon with my kids (pshew), and the one eyed guy from Monsters, Inc. The words say: "Green Is In Style". Indeed!
An all fabric card, with a fun button and ric-rac, made by Misty.
One side of the card by Michele Merges Martens.
And the other side, the stamped words say: "green gree it's green they say on the far side of the hill", also by Michelle.
A harlequin window side by RedDog Scott.
All the same images are reused in this collage side by RedDog, very cool to have that relation as you flip the card over.
Here's what the box looks like when you open it up, card bundled up on the right with green ribbons.
Lori Z Art Maniac did this very dimensional card.
And there's the other side from Lori Z., aren't those fun postage stamps?
A painted side from Teresa Bailey.
The other side of Teresa Bailey's card with Buddha and a karate guy.

wow, did you make it to the end? That was a whole lot of pictures, hope you enjoyed checking out my box o' green.

Fashion, In Santa Cruz?

Last week I got to go to a real live fashion show, right here in Santa Cruz. It was a real treat, and I'm glad my friend Debbie encouraged me to attend with her. We splurged on the VIP tickets and got to go early to swill champagne and eat chocolate dipped strawberries for dinner (yum).

This is the 3rd annual Fashion Art Runway Show put on by Michaelangelo Gallery Art Studios, and it combines art, wearable art, high fashion and commercial fashion.
A real hodge-podge, whiplashing between the sublime concept and the mundane jeans and t-shirt look so often seen here in casual Santa Cruz. I wish I could credit each artist or designer but the program doesn't coherently list a description of each person's work. I figured out a couple though.

This art piece was called post-apocalyptic fashion, the details were amazing, pottery shards, nails etc. sewn on in very pleasing designs.
These three outfits are made out of recycled tires by Michelle Stitz. Bicycle I think. The dress really had a lot of movement for how stiff it was.
The skirt on this outfit as well as the bracelet is made out of slides, the bag a slide carousel, by an art-history professor lamenting the end of the slide show and the advent of PowerPoint presentations. I guess she had to do something with the slides...It was a swingy, interesting skirt.
This was my favorite one, completely out of recycled materials. I wish the picture wasn't so fuzzy, the skirt is two old pairs of jeans, upside down, and the vest is a recylced army sweater with really neat details.

These two outfits were made out off stuff from a coffee house, the boots on the left-hand model were covered in designs of whole coffee beans. Creamer package tops, etc. very creative use of basically just trash.
This was a nice looking skirt made out of repurposed ties, it had a lot of swingy movement on the runway.
This was one of the designers, Michael Ange who presented a full collection, he's pictured at the very end of the line. Isn't this some great stuff? I love the brown coat.
This final dress in his collection was really beautiful.

This one was made out of painted cardboard packaging, you know the stuff that is kind of accordion-ish or kind of net like. Beautiful isn't it?

There was a whole lot more show that I don't have pictures of because I was nice and lent the excited husband of one of the designers borrow my camera. He was so cute, had a baby with him, and it turned out at the end of his wife's show, their daughter came out too. So he got some pictures since his batteries had worn out on his camera. But unfortunately then so did mine, so I missed capturing some of the best stuff to show you here.

If they have this show again next year, I'll be going!

Tale of Two Curtains

I think I mentioned before that a friend had asked me to make a small curtain for her bathroom, she chose the fabric and trims, and I whipped this up.
The curtain didn't work out, mainly because it was going to clash with the artwork she was planning to hang right next to it, so she chose another color direction, and here is the second curtain. I had some more of the dingleberry pompon trim left over from the first curtain, so I put that on the bottom for a little bit of fun. Doesn't this cool print remind you of a bead curtain?

I actually quite like both of them, and was happy to be able to help out my friend, it only took an hour and it is really nice to be able to actually finish something!! I think this was the first thing I've sewn in like a month.

No free shows for the neighbors anymore...

Shadowy Contrasts

For the month of contrast on Self Portrait Challenge, I'm choosing to go into the shadows this week. Examining the contrast between what is really there according to our eyes and what is just a shadow and then what a camera can see.

I was thinking about how I've been feeling lately, "a shadow of my former self" for lots of different reasons . So I took a kinda ordainary shadow picture to illustrate this contrast of how I used to feel about myself vs. how I do now.
I liked how changing this into a black and white view highlights the insubstantial part of my hand holding the camera, but in contrast the rest of me looks much more solid than in the original picture. You can see the road maps right through me.
Feeling even more ghostly and invisible, here I am in the negative view.

I especially like the oval of my glasses and how it indicates where my eyes are.

Guess I'm kinda like Oakland now, at least according to Gertrude Stein: "There is no there, there."

Splendid Salsa & Women of Taste

I've been making salsa from scratch lately. This one was really good, and tasty, kind of tart, and a nice spice to it. It was made using tomatillos from the farmer's market. They look kind of like green tomatoes with a papery husk. But the plant isn't related to tomato at all (same family, different genus). They are funny little fruits and kind of sticky when you take the husk off. I actually grew them from seed one year in my strawberry patch, the plants are kind of sparse and don't make a lot of shade, so it worked out pretty well.
In this first picture, I was missing a major ingredient, the cilantro! OOps... The second picture shows the true color and taste we were looking for.

Here's the super easy recipe for the salsa from The Passionate Vegetarian by Crescent DragonWagon, one of my fave vegetarian cookbooks.
Tomatillo Salsa Verde

• 1 1/2 pounds fresh tomatillos, husks removed
• 1/2 large onion, quartered
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves and stems, coarsley chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 to 2 fresh serrano chiles or jalapeno peppers, stemmed
• 1 teaspoon salt

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor. Buzz until smooth. That's it finito! Now is that fast or what?

I first encountered Crescent DragonWagon (awesome name eh?) in an art quilt/chef exhibit, called Women of Taste, it was a benefit for a great organization called Girls,Incorporated of Alameda County, the exhibit traveled around the country through the Smithsonian. She was paired with quilt artist Nancy Halpern . who was inspired by the chef's evocative name. C&T Publishing put out a great book of the exhibit which is worth finding
as it has great pictures, and a record of the collaboration, letters back and forth between artist and chef. Very interesting.

Daylily Dance

My new daylily purchases have actually bloomed. What a nice surprise, I didn't think I'd get any blooms this season. Here are the two that have blossomed.
I love the color combination on this one, it makes me think that a ruffly skirt with these colors might be a good thing to try and make.
The bees are very happy with these flowers. So am I! This yellow/orange one is pretty intense, it just glows. I love how sparkly the petals are in this picture.

Contrast #2

More contrast for self portrait challenge.

This is how I've been feeling from the inside looking out at the world.

Green around the gills with sickness watching the un-feeling, un-thinking political vomitrocious kabuki play out as the world watches, jaw on the floor that America is falling for it again.


"Normal" from the outside looking in.
Whatever normal is for me anyways.

If you were used to looking at my face, you would notice the extra worry wrinkle in my forehead, as well as the bruisy circles under my eyes from staying up late reading political blogs or watching political conventions.

Hue Test

Go take this Hue Test. Much harder than I thought! I got 57 (0 is perfect). You get to rate yourself by age and gender too, as those really affect your Hue perception.

Also a good practice tool for someone slowly getting better at not using a mouse (I'm definitely improving!).

A Very Long Meme

Thanks to Laume for this thought provoking meme.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here we present a list.
Highlight those tasks that you have accomplished in your life.
And then add a new task to the list of something memorable that you've done that isn't on the list yet.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins (swam with captive dolphins in Hawaii, and wild sea turtles)
03. Climbed a mountain (Mt. Whitney!)
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive (I wish!)
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped (Not planning to, either!)
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg (how about a glacier?!)
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s nappy
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten tipsy on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
28. Bet on a winning horse (how about a winning greyhound?)
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse of both the sun and moon
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states (I think I've gotten to all but Alaska!)
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had/Have amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving (I'd love to try this!)
51. Visited Ireland (someday...)
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love (short term, not over the course of my life though)
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving (closest I've gotten is snorkeling, but I'd love to try scuba)
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted a river
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert” (nope, but I should be just ask me!)
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house (more than once!)
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in a Rocky Horror Picture Show
96. Raised children (almost there)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery (some of my surgeries have been done by a plastic surgeon, so yes)
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds (sounds like a very good idea to me)
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a TV game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (but I've been to the top twice)
122. Slept 30 hours in a 48 hour time frame (recovering from illness, sure that's easy)
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents (on my list of things to do)
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed (oooh I want to though)
132. touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read “The Iliad”
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read them
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream (at least some of them)
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident (not that I know of!)
150. Saved someone’s life
151. Organized a HUGE event!
152. Seen something you can't explain with science.
and mine....
153. Participated in a political campaign

Hmmm 91 out of 153. Not too bad, but not too good either 60%, barely passing. Guess I'd better get busy on a more robust life list!

If you do this meme, let me know so I can check it out.

Working for the Clampdown

Have you been following the actions of the police/FBI/Homeland Security in Minneapolis/St.Paul? I realize it hasn't been on the news much, especially with Hurricanes Gustav and Palin absorbing the entire capacity of the 24/7 news cycles. I was morbidly transfixed this whole last long weekend by the unfolding saga of pre-emptive raids on "hippie homes" before the Republican Convention even started up to and including the appalling arrest of Amy Goodman and her producers from Democracy Now on Monday.

I can't believe that this is not being covered more widely. I know there is a lot of other news going on now. But c'mon, arresting people before they even have protested? Arresting journalists that are only covering the protests? Doesn't it strike you that this is a made-for-television event, especially with the availability of video?! Seems to me that this proves once and for all that we truly do not have a liberal media in this country. Or maybe people really don't want to know about this, it makes me feel physically ill just thinking about the whole thing, that my fellow citizens who only want to peacefully protest are being tear-gassed, pepper-sprayed, thrown to the ground, and arrested.
The parallels to what Naomi Klein describes in her excellent and throughly depressing book, "Shock Doctrine" are absolutely chilling. Remember saying to yourself during the Olympics, when seeing all that coverage of the Chinese repression of the press: "oh thank goodness that can't possibly ever happen here"? Well it is happening here, whether you know about it or not. The ruling elites are realizing that their hold on power is tenuous, that they've almost been found out for the frauds that they are, and this is how the clamp down begins.

I found this quote to be particularly prescient:
"Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear." -Harry S. Truman, 33rd US president (1884-1972)

Not my photo, from Flickr, thought it perfectly illustrated what I'm talking about here.

Contrast #1

I hadn't used the Warholizer at BigHugeLabs before, this is a pretty cool tool. I thought it illustrated Contrast pretty darn well for the first week of this months' Self Portrait Challenge.
The main contrast bere, besides the obvious ones in the image, is that I would never have posted this picture of myself if it wasn't for this device, standing in between the awfulness (to me) of the original image and the pop icon look that it is now presented in. The contrast between what we allow others to see about ourselves, and what we allow ourselves to see about ourselves is really striking and powerful. Almost too much to admit to one's self!

Omnivore One Hundred

I can't resist this meme that I got from DebR, and she got it from: A Daily Dose of Zen, .Here’s the rules:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.

2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten

3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at A Very Good Taste linking to your results.

5) Deb’s addition: italicize the ones you aren’t sure about

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison-I'm always joking about hunting the deer on our land, our friends' dad did on theirs, and made some very tasty venison sausage out of the marauders.
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros best hangover breakfast ever!
4. Steak tartare - Not a favorite, but served with the right sauces it is pretty good.
5. Crocodile - I’ve eaten alligator, but not crocodile
6. black pudding
7. Cheese fondue- in Switzerland even!
8. Carp -I would try it, but I've never seen this in the store to buy, or on a menu, wonder if it is good?
9. Borscht - good stuff, and such a beautiful color.
10. Baba ghanoush-oh gosh yes! I make this a lot too! Looks disgusting, but tastes heavenly.
11. Calamari - I especially love it "steak" form, sometimes the tentacles are too ooky.
12. Pho - yum, we have lots of Vietnamese restaurants in San Jose so I've had it many times.
13. PB&J sandwich - of course, what a silly question!
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses -love strong weird cheese!
17. Black truffle - had some on top of Risotto at a fancy San Francisco restaurant, very good.
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes - berry, or pear from Bonny Doon vineyard, only a little bit at a time though as it is very sweet. Good for dessert.
19. Steamed pork buns - Assuming they mean the dim sum kind.
20. Pistachio ice cream-a great color, but I like green tea ice cream better though.
21. Heirloom tomatoes - most have such great flavor and/or color, but some of them aren't all that great.
22. Fresh wild berries-sure, we can pick them in our yard, just have to fight the deer off for them!
23. Foie gras - I'd say this is the only way I'll eat liver.
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese - once by accident, never again!
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper - soooo spicy, good taste too.
27. Dulce de leche-makes a great cheesecake.
28. Oysters - love them cooked, and raw
29. Baklava-bleah, too much honey for me.
30. Bagna cauda - really good with sourdough bread.
31. Wasabi peas-one of my favorite snacks!
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl - I love this combination, so fun to eat the bowl after it has soaked up all the yummy soup. You can get this at the Santa Cruz wharf.
33. Salted lassi - Really good with spicy Indian food.
34. Sauerkraut - I keep trying it, because I usually like pickled stuff, but it seems cabbage + vinegar is not a good taste for me.
35. Root beer float - the best!
36. Cognac with a fat cigar-I've had both, but not at the same time...
37. Clotted cream tea-sounds disgusting, but it is heavenly and decadent.
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O - a painless way to get very drunk, very fast.
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat -
42. Whole insects - chocolate covered crickets, not something I'll seek out to eat again.
43. Phaal - this was a bit too spicy for me.
44. Goat’s milk - I guess I had this a lot as a baby as cow's milk didn't agree with me. We used to get it when the boys were little too. It is pretty good.
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more - only a sip from my husband's, I really don't care for whisky at all.
46. Fugu-no way, I'm not taking the risk!
47. Chicken tikka masala-just had it for lunch yesterday!
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut - don't really like donuts, this kind is too sweet for me (see baklava).
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal - Not in a very long time as I don't do fast food much any more, I usually would get a 1/4pounder.
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV - sure, why not.
59. Poutine - Never heard of it, sounds really good, I'd try it.
60. Carob chips - yuck, taste like dirt.
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads - yick, tried it to be polite, never again.
63. Kaolin - as part of diarrhea treatment. Guess some women eat it when pg.
64. Currywurst - Never heard of it, sounds good, I would definitely try it.
65. Durian - I would try it, but it doesn't sound too tasty. I've seen them in the market sometimes.
66. Frogs’ legs - Tasted a lot like teeny tiny chicken legs.
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake-yes, all but elephant ears.
68. Haggis-no way, no how.
69. Fried plantain - I don't like them, nor fried banana either.
70. Chitterlings or andouillette - oh ick! no way!
71. Gazpacho-I'm making it for dinner tonight!
72. Caviar and blini - one of those have to try once things.
73. Louche absinthe - I could see how one would get addicted to this, very good.
74. Gjetost or brunost -
75. Roadkill - not that I know of.
76. Baijiu - I really disliked it.
77. Hostess Fruit Pie - these are the reason I'm so averse to pie now.
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong -
80. Bellini-I can't believe I've never had this, sounds terrific!
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare -
87. Goulash
88. Flowers -
89. Horse - geez, I hope not!
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam - We used to have this on backpacking trips, and I thought it was great to see it on the menu at McDonald's in Hawaii.
92. Soft shell crab -
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano -
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor - way too rich, just get the lobster.
98. Polenta - I like making polenta, just don't forget to keep stirring...
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee- didn't see what the big deal was.
100. Snake

Only 13 I haven't tried! Guess I am an omnivore big time.

If you do a list, let me know, I want to read it!

Inspiring Fuschias

Feeling the need to make something to do with fuschias. This freebie picture from Dover started it all. That and seeing how well my fuschia plants are doing this year (very unusual, as they're normally fried out from heat by this time of the season). I keep taking pictures of all the blossoms that continually are produced by these productive plants.
I have an early memory of a fuschia in our entry way courtyard garden when I was a child, there was a bench and you could sit on it and the fuschia plant was behind it, and it would wrap itself around you like a loving friend. And then all those tantalizing, dangling, juicy flowers would tempt you to just squeeze them to hear that pop and see what would happen. I don't remember if my mom got mad at me or not, maybe she wondered what kind of strange pest was attacking her fuschia flowers??
I think that something simple like this stained glass design would work well, but I'm not sure if I want to go in that literal of a direction.