Friday, November 6, 2015

What's On The Easel?

Working on a new piece from a photo I took on the way to Lake Placid last winter. There was still some snow on the ground here and there. I love the little red barn and there is a path on the right That looked inviting. I want keep this loose and I hope I won't get too carried away!

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Some recent framed paintings of Saratoga Urns

Saratoga Congress Park and the Spa Park have a lot of planted urns here and there and it's fun to do some En Plein Air paintings in the park. Here are two framed :

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Snowy Morning Walk won a juried place in a National Pastel Show and I am thrilled

This painting came home from the gallery this week and it was sold but I made a deal to "unsell " as I want to keep it. Snowy morning walk was inspired by a photo taken on my daughter's street in Saratoga. The fallen snow and the warm cozy glow of the lamp lights still lit just called to me.
I am so happy that the juror liked it too! Getting in to a National Show really gives an artist a big boost because the juror is a nationally know artist and they are saying they like my work.!wow! 

Monday, September 7, 2015

Sunset WIP

The Farm painting is off the easel and it will come back up for I'm still calling it WIP. Right now I'm trying to finish the first of a few sunset studies. The colors are so vibrant in sunsets they are hard to paint only because you really need to push the color! I'm working on this one, a sunset from Good Harbor Beach in Glochester MA 
Still needs a lot more work but I feel this will leave the easel soon and get framed. I would love to hear from you. What do you think is next for this painting?

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Is this going to fail because I lost my way?

Still painting the Farm Barn pastel but it might end up in the pile of losers. I added a few more layers and will work the foreground more and then see. I'm really anxious to get to my other pieces so this will come off the easel at this stage and maybe I'll save it later.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Farm painting continues

I'm refining the barns and sky..working in the immediate foreground and making little marks where the cows will be. I added more pastel to the foreground working in some colors I plan to use in the grasses.
Next I will be adding more layers to the forgound and working in the cows. Here's the painting so far..
 

Monday, August 3, 2015

Another Farm Painting

I just have to paint another Barns and Farm Painting at least twice a year. The rural areas near me just entice me gather photos to revisit again and again. Some time it would be fun to gather my plein air gear and stand on the side of the road and go at it. Today I am working my "studio" ette!
Here's a beginning of another Goode St. Barns painting.
The cows are out in the fields so I'm going to include them. I have blocked in the barns after applying a few washes of color. The sky is nearly done, I'll make adjustments later. Now I'm working on the barns and just settling them in place. I'm sure now that my center of interest will be the magic third areas to the right of the painting. I will place my darkest dark and my lightest light there. I want the foreground to be an S shape to lead us there so I'll place my grasses and flotsam and jetsom heading there. The cows will be moved around to assist too. So here is photo #1

                  
Just starting my adventure and I can make changes as I go stay tuned....

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Truffled Macaroni and Cheese developed by Pastel Painter Cooks

Individual mini casseroles to freeze and bake later.
I start with a basic microwave cream sauce then add my choice of cheeses, mix in macaroni and top with truffle and Parmesan infused panko bread crumbs.
So let's get started....
Cream Sauce
4 tablespoons melted butter
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups of milk
Pinch nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cayenne 
In a microwave bowl melt 4 tablespoons butter remove and whisk in 4 tablespoons flour.
Then whisk in 2 cups of milk, microwave until sauce thickens maybe five minutes, stir in between. Add two cups of your choice of grated cheese( I use white cheeses such as a mix of Swiss,Monterey Jack and Fontina.
Let sit to melt cheese or put back in micro to melt.
Add pinch of nutmeg,1/4 tsp. cayenne and pinch garlic powder. I don't add salt as the cheese can be enough with macaroni cooked in salted water, but that's your choice!

Boil 2 cups of any pasta in salted water and drain.
Add to cheesy cream sauce and mix.

Panko Bread Crumbs
Place 1 cup plain Panko bread crumbs in a bowl and add 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese grated.
Mix and add 2 tablespoons of melted butter to which you add one tablespoon of white truffle oil and mix. Pour crumbs over macaroni/pasta that you have place in a large casserole or individual ramekins.

Bake at 325° in a preheated oven for about 15 min. till  bubbly, or wrap individual ramekins with plastic wrap to serve later. You can freeze before baking then remove and bake later. You can also reheat by just microwaving as panko crumbs stay crunchy.

I developed this recipe because I fell in love with a Truffled  Mac and Cheese frozen food by evol that I found at Target for $4 a small container.  
This is Yummo! 

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

What's on the Easel?

Sometimes you just need to use some of those apples you put in a bowl for inspiration.
So shine a little light on the apples and get some reflections and highlights. This 8x8 pastel on Uart paper : Apples In A Bennington Bowl ...the Apples have been eaten but the memory of their beauty lingers on in this painting for $ 100 unframed + shipping .

Friday, February 13, 2015

POP ART (pieces of painting )

I often think certain little areas of my paintings attract me more than others, that's why we sometimes "crop" a painting. So here is a POP of "Maui Morning" a 9x12 pastel of a Maui beach we stayed at.


Thursday, February 5, 2015

Artisan Bread

Recipe of the Month


✔️No Knead Artisan Bread Recipe 🔆🔆🔆
 


Prep time
3 hours
Cook time
25 mins
Total time
3 hours 25 mins

Ingredients
1½ cup warm water 100˚ F.
½ Tbsp salt
¾ Tbsp yeast
3¼ cups better for bread flour OR unbleached, all-purpose flour + extra flour for dusting
What you will need:
Parchment paper
Instructions
Add 1½ cups of warm water and ½ Tbsp of salt to a large bowl. Sprinkle ¾ Tbsp of yeast over the top and let it sit 1-2 minutes, then stir.
Measure out exactly 3 cups of flour (fill the measuring cup and scrape off the top with the back of a knife) and add flour to the bowl.
Using a spatula, stir the mixture until it all comes together and is well blended.
Cover dough with plastic wrap or lid and let it rise at room temperature 2 hours (It rises about 2-3 times in volume).
Line a cutting board with parchment paper and generously dust with flour.
Scrape dough out of the bowl with spatula onto the floured surface.
With well-floured hands, fold the dough in half, then fold the dough in half again. Dust the dough generously with flour, lift it up and form a ball in your hands.
Place the dough over the floured parchment paper, seam side down.
Let it rise on the counter uncovered for 40 minutes. It will look like this when it’s ready to bake:
You will need two shelves in the oven. The middle rack will hold the bread and the bottom rack will hold the water pan. For the bread, use a rimless cookie sheet in the center of the oven. You can also use a regular cookie sheet and turn it upside down. About 10 min before the dough has finished rising, preheat the oven and the cookie sheet to 450˚ F.
Once dough is ready to bake, dust the top with flour and cut three strips across the top with a serrated or very sharp knife.
Once the oven is preheated, put baking dish on bottom rack and pour 1 cup hot water to that baking dish.
Slide the dough with the parchment paper onto the hot cookie sheet and bake at 450˚ F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven and let it cool down a little before cutting into it.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

What's on the Easel ..

I've been working on several paintings and one that I wanted to try is something in the style of Edward Hopper .and an artist I know David Arsenault ..I love the angular lines and the lites and darks and starkness of David's  paintings , this style is very difficult for me as I like a more expressionistic approach , but heck it's work a try ! 
Though this is not finished here is "Mike's"