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I am temporarily settled into a very diminutive studio space. It’s one wall, in a small room.  Although this may seem a challenge, I have embraced my work wall and all it’s demands. I refer to it as my “petite making space”. It’s has a poetic feel, and calls for me to be very organized, and to thoughtfully decide what  tools and materials I need for any given project. Gone are the days when cardboard was strewn all over the floor or leaning against the walls, and a painting was in progress at all times on the easel.  Now the easel is the work table,

and the scaled back cardboard collection is carefully housed and neatly stacked in plastic tubs against a wall.

The larger cardboard larder is in a heated dry storage, which I visit weekly for picking and choosing. Now I either paint, or work on cardboard, but I must chose which to do when.

It’s either one or the other.  This all seems to work, as long as both are relatively small scale. So for now, it really is ‘petite making’.

The time has come to completely empty the studio space after postponing a much needed makeover for far too long. I will patch, sand, and paint the neglected walls and woodwork that have served me so well for years. Although I will be doing the painting myself, I admit to being very uncomfortable giving up the studio even for what I hope is only a week. Gone will be the space I need to physically work out an idea, or problem solve a construction solution I have been incubating. But in a week, I will have a new space to celebrate a new start.

As a salve for my anxiety, I  have decided to do a visual walk through. It will remind me that, although all the ins and outs, pieces and bits, in progress and nearing completion work is sitting in boxes everywhere, I will soon be back in that space in which I am most comfortable.

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Since there is never a good time to begin this, I am just diving in!

When I want a diversion from the kale and roasted veggie salads of winter, I start rummaging in my freezer.  I love the brilliance that Autumn gives us. It’s that last bright burst of color before the low gray sky and cold days of December through March. Yet I find Autumn bittersweet, because I know it offers the last local tomatoes of the year.

It’s my tradition to come home from the Farmers Market  at the end of Autumn carrying flats brimming with over ripe, slightly bruised, and imperfect end of season plum and heirloom tomatoes. I then dedicate a day to extracting that concentrated late summer flavor by roasting them. Although an all day commitment, it is so worth the hours! The roasted tomatoes then get parceled into portions and popped into the freezer.

It makes me so happy to be able to enjoy that bright, sweet, intense and slightly acidic flavor during the winter months.  I use my roasted tomatoes in every way possible: pasta sauces; on bruschetta as pictured below with my pesto, which I also make during basil season and freeze, and in soups.

Or I simply just plate this bright, delicious freezer find and finish with a drizzle of olive oil, a crumble of a good salty cheese like ricotta salata, and a sprinkle of fresh frozen parsley or the dried herbs we all turn to during winter.

On days like this, its no wonder roasting tomatoes for the long winter days ahead is a custom I always look forward to.

Late Summer Roasted Tomatoes

This recipe makes about 3 pounds.

Make as many or as few as you like and adjust the recipe accordingly.  I generally make 25 pounds of tomatoes and increase the other ingredients to taste.

On a baking sheet toss together:

3 lbs tomatoes washed, halved or quartered depending on the size of the tomatoes.
2 tblsp olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
1-2 tsps balsamic vinegar

Bake at 425 for 15 min or until tomatoes are brown and starting to caramelize.

Remove skins after baking. They slip right off.

We all have a personal palette.  Fashionistas say all colors are a go. But there are those colors that make us want to sink right in, and relax. Although my painting palette is a rainbow of color, my personal palette is earth tones, accentuated  with the warm side of the color wheel: reds, oranges and grays.

My palette also includes the color that contains all color, black, and the absence (so-called) of color, white.  Just look in your closet and around your interior spaces. You will  immediately recognize your personal palette.

I know that my fondness for cardboard grew from my personal palette: it’s the color.  I even see my palette in culinary choices. I love bringing as much color as possible to the food I prepare. But once in a while it startles me when I recognize the subtle overlay of my personal palette settling in, even in the kitchen!

These bars are a good example. An old fashioned cookie translated into a  simple, comfortable sweet treat in my personal palette. Perfect!

Snickerdoodle Bars

2 1/3 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cinnamon Filling

1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350˚.
Spray the bottom only of a 9 x 13 pan.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Whisk slightly to mix. Set aside.

Beat butter on high speed until creamy.
Beat in sugars.
Gradually beat in eggs and vanilla until combined.
Add dry ingredients and beat on low speed until combined.

Spoon 2/3 of the batter into the pan, and spread evenly.

Sprinkle evenly with the Cinnamon Filling.

Dollop teaspoons of the remaining batter evenly over the cinnamon filling. Gaps will show, but the batter spreads to form a marbled appearance with the filling showing through.
Bake 20-25 min, until golden and a tester inserted in the center comes outclean. Try not to overbake these.  Cool completely for 1 hour. Cut before glazing, but leave in pan.

Prepare glaze in a small bowl, stirring ingredients until smooth and adding more or less liquid as necessary to creat a consistancy that will drizzle.
Drizzle over bars, and let the glaze set.

Can be frozen with glazed.

“Eat! Design With Food” documents the results of creative projects that “in their own way have an impact on culinary tradition”.

“Eating is a cultural asset that reflects the spirit and lifestyle of a society, so there is great aesthetic interest in the preparation, display and marketing of food. Reason enough to feature this subject in the 6th edition of the EIGA trend diary series.
The design calendar documents the exciting results of creative work which, in turn, influences food culture. Be it product, graphics or interior design, an architectural project or fine art.”

Editors: EIGA Design, Henning Otto, Elisabeth Plass

I’m honored to be be included, along with 53 other designers, artists and typographers, in this beautiful calendar. Oysters On The Half Shell is the  featured art the week of May 21-27.  From the elegant laser cut and embossed silver cover, to the creatively delicious art and design, Eat! Design With Food:  it’s completely yummy!

When I was young, I would sit in the kitchen and watch while my Mother prepared meals. It seemed to me a very mysterious process. There were so many parts required: kitchen tools, books, time, and of course ingredients. I was  left to wonder how did it all fit together to create a meal.

Of course it wasn’t long before I jumped in too. I began by arranging the ‘parts’ into pleasing patterns on the table. These were abstract collections of books; spoons; knives; wrapped and fresh ingredients; pots and pans. Today I would  call this a still life set up! This early influence can be seen in my kitchenscape paintings.

I have never outgrown my love of kitchen bits and pieces. To my eye they are artful. And the only reason I haven’t over collected is budget and space. But that doesn’t stop me from looking.

One of my favorite ‘parts’ places  to look, and poke, around is Home Cake Decorating Supply Co. This is not your average kitchen store. It looks like a rather nondescript strip mall shop from the outside. But once you walk through the doors, it instantly becomes a magical place full of nooks and crannies with treasures waiting to be discovered. It’s also a  well kept secret  that this shop is visited by most of Seattle’s food professionals!

The owner, Greil, is the second generation of this family to run the shop. She happily dispenses  all manner of baking and pastry advice, while opening boxes and stocking unending shipments of products she receives from all over the world.  If you have been looking long and hard for special sized dragées, unique colored sanding sugars or ‘never been seen’ cupcake papers, this is the place. There is no web presence, email, or answering machine. But if you call, Greil knows every item in the shop and she ships worldwide.

Look what I couldn’t resist from the shop! I’m sure my Mother would understand.

Home Cake Decorating Supply Co.: 206-522-4300

I was recently contacted by Miss Heaton, a secondary art school teacher from the U.K. Her class wanted to create sweets as a project, but were finding it a challenge to draw two dimensional cakes and sweets.

Miss Heaton explained that although it was a challenge for the class to draw sweets, they found  “cardboard sculpture exciting and creatively freeing”.  After viewing The Cardboard Kitchen online, the class was inspired to set up their own Cardboard Kitchen.

So with a few tips from The Cardboard Kitchen cookbook, these young artists created an elegant selection of yummy desserts. I think you will agree, these beautiful treats are amazing!

Congratulations to all, including the gifted teacher Miss Heaton. It takes a talented teacher to inspire gifted young artists!

Above: Ahmed, age 13 (left); Shan, age 13 (right)

Above: Jack, age 13

Above: Tom, age 13

Above: LeShae, age 13

Above: Charlotte, age 13

Miss Heaton's art class bakery display!

From the perfect selection on a trolley that’s wheeled around ‘fine dining’ establishments, to the orange day- glow product extruded from an aerosol can, when it comes to cheese there is something for everyone.

Be it artisanal or lowbrow, melting creaminess or plastic wrapped slices, the variety of  choices is seemingly endless. And most astonishing of all: it originates from the same product, milk.

For the artist, all the usual descriptive qualities are present: color, texture and shape. If I then mix in the interpretive characteristics, such as creamy; sweet; complex; rich; sharp; etc.,  this ancient food that crosses all cultures becomes a still life subject of infinite exploration, deserving of canvas and paint.

The cheese, as they say, stands alone.

Warning all ‘Trekkers’: this is about blasting off but not from terra firma. It’s about space in the studio, and why I may not be as active on my blog in the coming months.

One of my favorite blog posts is by Smitten Kitchen, in which she describes how she maximizes, organizes and utilizes her less than galley sized kitchen.

It’s not working so smoothly in the Art On The Menu space. Here I have divided my space into stacks of cardboard; bins of colored cardboard pieces; an easel space which limits me to rather small scale paintings; paint storage; odds and ends of reference files and my lovely large pneumatic  drawing table

upon which I create all of my cardboard sculpture. I also bring up extra tables from the basement  which I then use for photographing sculpture and food. When photographing in the studio, all else gets pushed to the wall in order to create a clear center space for lights, table, and action!

It’s now so full,  I have expanded and I am currently packing art for shipping in the basement. My office is relegated to a 40 sq.ft. area previously used as a mud porch.

Alas, it’s time to move. The rest of the year will be spent prepping, painting, and remodeling bits and pieces of my current house. Between my regular posts, I will keep you all informed with updates.

Space is the final frontier in this little abode. But this  1,000 sq ft house has served me well.

Artists, musicians, writers, chefs and home cooks, or anyone in the midst of a creative endeavor would agree, inspiration is a mystery.

It can feel like floating through a delicious cloud, straining just a little to see an image that suddenly appears above the haze. Or, it can become a thick veil in which we become entangled. We thrash around with obscured vision until we break free and the image, word, flavor combination, musical notes, or theme becomes crystal clear.

So it goes in the cardboard kitchen. I recently found this lovely, deep cherry colored wine box.

What I envisioned was a towering, ambrosial multi- layered torte. My first inspiration was definitely the delicious cloud variety!

However, if there is a consistent theme in using recycled material, it is that cardboard is unpredictable. This beautiful cardboard would not cooperate. I was suddenly thrown into the thickly veiled cloud of inspiration, thrashing  around for another image.  Just when I was about to put this cardboard aside for another day, a friend gave me a box of Italian cookies. The cookies were so-so, but the box was the epitome of chocolate and vanilla, dusted with gold.

The solution: a scaled down version. I combined these two confection-flavored cardboard ingredients, and baked a ‘Swiss Pastry”.  Inspiration also works in mysterious ways.

And, I have lots of the  dark cherry cardboard left over, to bake with in the future!