Taking a Creative Vacation

What did you do on your time off? This winter break for me was all about resting up, going to see a few Christmas movies, napping, cooking, sleeping late, playing with my dogs, napping, spending time with my family, and napping. See a pattern there? How I will wake up tomorrow morning at 5:15 for school is beyond my vacation brain to imagine! I never did get to write those art report cards I was hoping to get a head start on for January, but I did add a few rows of stitches to my hand quilted throw blanket (it is so pretty!) and I finally did sit down at my easel to complete a few canvases.

"Cinque Terra"
24" x 30" Acrylic on Canvas

This painting is my interpretation of a scene from a photo Ricky and Barbara took on their trip to Cinque Terra in Italy. I started this painting back in February and it took me the better part of this year to complete it.

"I like painting big," I told Barbara. "If you want a canvas for your kitchen, I'll paint a large bottle of ketchup!" Instead, I was given this photo of a beautiful fishing town from their trip to Italy with hundreds of little tiny houses, windows and balconies. I grudgingly started it and then took a break from painting to learn a new hobby (as if I need another new hobby!). I always wanted to learn how to quilt and my family bought me an introduction to a quilting class for my birthday. The painting sadly sat on my easel with just a sky, a mountain and few cute houses painted in while I was learning how to measure, cut and piece together blocks of fabric with a new sewing machine.

Each month or so this past year, I sat down and worked on more sections of the scene. I was painting with a brush that literally had one hair. Did you know you could buy a 20/0 brush? Each window had shutters, or a balcony, or laundry hanging off the ledge. It was fun adding all the details but after a while, it began to resemble a cartoon more than one of my paintings. I aim for realism all the time with my work, but it is my interpretation of realism. I do not start outlining things like I was doing with these buildings. I finally made my way down the canvas to the cliffs and rocks and once again changed my painting style, blending colors and shapes to indicate a realistic scene. I loved this area of the painting because it was all me. Once the rocks were blocked in with color and shadows, I went back up to the houses and repainted them all. I was happy with the color choices, but simplified the scene, leaving just the windows and roof tops. It was finally coming together as a unified scene and I was once again painting regularly at my easel. This final scene had more adjustments made to the sky and the mountain as well as the rocks. The only fussy detail left is a tiny little person in a boat painted just for Ricky.

I knew it was finally complete when I realized that I loved it and felt bad that it was actually leaving my house for another. I wanted to make this painting so that when I went upstate to Yorktown Heights to visit my family, I would see one of my canvases on their wall. When is the next holiday? It is time for a visit yet?

Gluten Free Challah Bread... a work of art!

I was born in 1957. If, like me, you are a child of the 20th century, Norman Rockwell's painting of Thanksgiving often comes to mind when you picture a holiday dinner. This painting, created in 1942 for a cover of the Saturday Evening Post, is one of four paintings, "The Four Freedoms," inspired by the State of the Union Address given by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This scene depicts "Freedom from Want" and shows Rockwell's friends and family seated around a beautiful holiday table. Not only am I surprised, time after time, with Rockwell's uncanny ability to capture realism, I love how he breathes life into his subjects and invites us into the scene. I can almost smell the aroma of the freshly roasted turkey on the platter and I find the interaction between the diners so engaging. This is a boisterous family, talking over each other and enjoying a wonderful meal together. Just like my family. Just like yours?

In my house, a holiday like Thanksgiving will always be a celebration that gathers everyone around the table for a home-cooked meal. It can never be buffet style, it has to be a set table with real plates and your best silverware. It can never be prepared food from a deli, but food that was planned and labored over for days in advance, However "new age" my side dishes become... gluten-free, healthy veggies, and nontraditional ingredients.... it has to include the big turkey that you get up at the crack of dawn to roast. It is meant to be the star of the meal, simply because Norman Rockwell depicted it as so. I found over the years, though, that it does not have to be the best roasted bird ever (a little chicken broth will fix even the driest white meat!), but the mood, the company, the wine and the always amazing amount of dessert will make up for all that could go wrong. A holiday dinner is a work of art and a flavorful memory to treasure from year to year.

My latest feast was created for Rosh Hashanna. My scene did not look much like Norman Rockwell's scene except that I actually did have a Norman at the head of my table! Not everyone in the family was able to join us this year, but we reached out globally to more people than the seven of us could ever have imagined because photos of the meal were quickly uploaded to Instagram and Facebook... Is that our modern way to engage friends and family even if they can't be at the table with you? Would Norman Rockwell have added a cell phone if he painted the same scene today? I'm not sure I like that idea, but that is what art does best... it is ultimately a reflection of the times. In my reality, Norman Rockwell would not only have included a cell phone, but my gluten free challah bread too!


Gluten Free Challah Bread

Here is my recipe for a challah bread that even I could eat, and it is definitely a work of art! As Sam said at my dinner, "this cannot be gluten free!" Everyone preferred mine and not the round challah that we said the blessing over just for this occasion. With all the eggs and the honey, it is so moist and sweet. Delicious plain, even better as french toast!

1. In a large bowl that you first warm up by rinsing in hot tap water, combine:
    1 cup of warm water
    1 3/4 oz. packet of active dry yeast
    1 Tablespoon of sugar

2. Let this sit for about 5 minutes to proof. If the yeast does not start to bubble or foam up, the yeast is not active and you should start over with fresh yeast.

3. Meanwhile, whisk together in a small bowl:
    3 cups of gluten free flour (I like King Arthur brand)
    2 tsp. Xantham gum
    2 tsp. kosher salt

4. In microwave safe bowl melt:
      4 Tablespoons of butter

5. To the butter, whisk in:
     1/4 cup honey
     4 beaten eggs

6. Add the egg mixture to the yeast and then add in the dry ingredients, blending well until it creates a smooth batter.

7. Grease a loaf pan with butter or non stick spray. Spoon batter into loaf pan. Cover pan with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Let batter rise in a warm place (inside an oven that was not turned on is a good place) until doubled in size. This will take about 1 hour. Mine rose to the height of the pan but deflated slightly after the next step.

8. Run the tip of a knife along the top creating a braid-like design and gently dab the top with egg wash using a soft brush. (1 beaten egg and a splash of water)

9. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven until golden on top and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack (if you can resist cutting into it immediately like I did!).

Ranney School Faculty Art Exhibit

I always have to remind myself to step back every now and then and look at what I have been creating from a different perspective. It might simply be that I have to walk away from a painting and look at it with fresh eyes the next day. Sometimes I take a photo of the canvas with my phone or iPad and see how it looks on a small screen as opposed to real life. Does something need to be a different color? Do my eyes focus on what I want everyone else to notice?

I have created many canvases over the last few years and what I remember most when I look back at my work is how much of a challenge each painting was to create. I have learned something from each one that I not only bring as a skill to my next painting, but it becomes something I can share with my students at school. My art classes have never been taught out of a text book, but out of my own experience as an artist. I am inspired by my students, and hopefully I inspire them. It is vital to me to be a working artist and so important for them.

So, why does my latest painting sit abandoned on my easel for the better part of this year? Every excuse in the book, from exciting new hobbies like quilting to a beautiful day to be outside, crops up and keeps me from completing this canvas. I have to get back into the painting mode again! What do other artists do when they lose interest? It is a good thing that I have not relied on my ability to finish a painting as a source of income!

I am positive that all creative effort has to be inspired and inspiration can come from the most random things. I can see an image on a billboard or a magazine that might send me to the art store to buy supplies for a new painting. Visiting a museum will always get my creative juices flowing again. But this time I did not have to look further than my own school and my own artwork. The art department at school is putting together a faculty art exhibit this week. Installing my work on the carpeted walls of Panther Hall Gallery was just what I needed at this point. I was seeing my work through the wide eyes of my students who could not believe I painted the adorable beagle or the larger-than-life tennis ball. I was given an opportunity to see my work from a different perspective. Just like stepping away from the canvas and taking a look with fresh eyes on a new day. This exhibit reminded me about my experience as an artist, my growth as an artist, and I could not wait to go home and pick up my paintbrush again.

a day of inspiration: grounds for sculpture

Three days left to enjoy my summer vacation with my daughter Katie, and on this beautiful but hot day, we decided to visit Princeton for breakfast at our favorite pancake house (PJ's) and then make our way to Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ. The sculpture garden is on the grounds of the former New Jersey State Fairgrounds and is the most amazing place to be inspired by both nature and art. I was introduced to Grounds for Sculpture years ago when I took a trip to the park with a few of the other art teachers at my school. Being introduced to these beautiful grounds by other artists while I discovered the intrinsic beauty and creativity of every inch of the park was quite an experience. It is with this same excitement and delight that I still visit this place. Of course, my daughter shares my crazy thrill for all things creative, so this visit was just as special as the first time.

The landscape filled with distinctive plants and trees changes with every season. Nestled into this natural setting are pieces of artwork, sculptures in wood, metal, glass and concrete. As you walk along a bamboo lined path, or meander into a hidden trail, the sculptures take you by surprise. They make you think, they often make you smile, and they always make you take yet another photograph as a reminder of the unique and beautiful vision you just happened to discover.

Seward Johnson, a present-day American sculptor, is the founder of Grounds for Sculpture, and there is a wonderful retrospective exhibit of his work at the park. Katie and I saw so many of his signature pieces in every corner of the place and half the time we were guessing if the people up ahead on the path were sculptures or actual visitors to the park! Johnson is best known for life size pieces of bronze-cast people, posed in typical everyday activities. While I am always fascinated by the creative process, I tended to gloss over the technique and skill with how he created his realistic and dimensional forms, and instead was drawn into a staged world envisioned by the artist, each time feeling a bit strange to be occupying the same space with his sculptures. If a couple of real people sitting on a bench in a park were engaged in a conversation, you may notice them from afar, or even come closer to ask them a question, but you certainly could not invade their private space, peer closely into their faces, or reach out to touch an arm or leg. At the Grounds for Sculpture, you are welcome to come close and touch even though it feels quite strange, as if you are defying an unspoken rule of social etiquette.

Seward Johnson was a painter before he became a sculptor and this is most evident with his "Beyond the Frame" series. With these pieces, he built elaborate sets based on the artwork of a well-known painting (often an impressionist work of art), and you are invited to walk through the space and become part of the painting. Not only are there natural highlights and shadows in the dimensional folds of the sculpted clothing, his subjects are painted to show dimension as an impressionist artist might have done with soft, visible brushstrokes. The effect of his surface brushstrokes is most amazing when you photograph the scene and the flattened image reverts back into a picture of a flat painting! I am an artist who enjoys working most with two dimensional forms and this exhibit challenged me to appreciate space and dimension in a new way. I was blown away with the irony of Johnson's vision and the recognition of the paintings that inspired his sculptures and sets. Today, I walked through van Gogh's room and caught a glimpse of dancers made famous on a Renoir canvas. What a thrill!

On exhibition this summer are also huge, 20 foot sculptures of popular icons created by Seward Johnson. Marilyn Monroe caught the eye and the camera lens of many visitors. But I love the incidental pieces, ones not displayed on a pedestal, but regular people just placed into the landscape as if they belong there, such as a man washing a window, another man painting a fence, a hot dog vendor, and a young art student sitting on the grass drawing a picture of a sculpture. What a great place to be inspired!

My father, the artist

When you think back in your life to your earliest memories, it can be confusing what is a real memory or what you might have seen captured in a photograph and claim to remember. My mother kept a shoe box full of black and white early photos of our family in the closet, so there were certainly many of those moments saved for prosperity. But my first 'actual' memory and the one there is no photo of, just the image in my mind, is me standing in the basement of our house in Whitestone next to my dad's drafting table. I was not any taller than the table and I could barely see what he was drawing. To this day, when I think of an artist, I think of my father, his ideas, his projects, and his views on creativity in a very changing world. When I think of a proper art studio and the tools you would need to have to be an artist, I do not think of a computer screen and a stylus, I remember his drafting table, his brown metal lamp angled over the table, and his file cabinets filled with magazine clippings of pictures. Consider Pinterest, the best social media tool of all! That was his file cabinet, a place to keep everything and anything visual that he might want to refer to again at some point.

Although they claim differently, all the members of my family were talented, creative people. My grandmother, Baboo, was a seamstress. I still have her wooden singer sewing machine table with the treadle base that you pedal to make it go. I still have and treasure her handmade beaded evening purses that I am afraid to use because they are so fragile. My mother was a fantastic artist with a crochet hook, knitting needles, and embroidery thread. My dad would design projects for her that she would lovingly sew and then display in the house alongside his paintings. Talk about collaboration...a goal they try to teach us at school every year, as if it was a new concept! And my brother, Rick, who believes the creative gene completely bypassed him altogether was at one time a glass artist, and today, as a retired elementary school principal, he is a very creative chef and so passionate about anything that interests him...a sure sign of creativity waiting to happen at any turn.

But it is Daddy who we all think of as the artist. Robert Fisher grew up in Brooklyn, went to school for art when that was not quite the thing to do, and earned his degree in Industrial Design. I remember him working as a package designer when I was really young. At the end of the day, he would bring home a big poly bag of cheese because he was designing the container for Friendship cottage cheese. The little blue bird on the Friendship container that kind of looks like today's symbol for Twitter? That's my dad. For many years, he was also an art director at Ideal Toys, but it is not the brilliant toy package designs and illustrations that I remember, it is his score of creative hobbies at home that captured my interest.

We used to take long walks together in search of the perfect rocks. On these rocks, my dad would design an abstract painting and sit for hours with his ruling pen filled with acrylic paint and a magnifying lens strapped to his head, ruling perfect lines and arcs onto the surface of the rocks. These beautiful little specimens of art were displayed around the house along with his huge painted canvases with the same inspired designs. He always kept a sketchpad on him at all times and told me how important it was to draw every day.

Eventually, photography became his favorite medium. Taking his camera out on a Saturday morning in the city was only the first step in the creative process of photography for my father. He worked mostly with black and white film and in his self-constructed darkroom in the basement he became a scientist experimenting with chemicals and light to develop his own prints. His study of a manhole cover found on the streets of Manhattan became more of a beautiful abstract design than just a mounted photograph. His photo of an older man sitting outside a building in Soho who Daddy struck up a conversation with that day, turned into a dimensional image in a shadow box that pulls the viewer into the scene through its pure whimsy and unbelievably brilliant construction. His solitary black and white photograph of a chair on the beach became a lovely colorful image that he hand dyed with Dr. Martin dyes. The creative process in photography, to Daddy, was so much more than just taking the camera out for a walk.

"Boys of Summer"
one of his computer illustrations that reminds me
so much of his paintings and rock designs

These days, he no longer owns his beautiful drafting table or has access to a darkroom. About to celebrate his 88th birthday, my father is a true renaissance man. New developments in technology are simply new tools for him to explore and experiment with. Just last night our phone conversation was all about how he is playing around with the latest version of Adobe Illustrator 'on the cloud' and is learning how to do a particular style of computer illustration by watching YouTube tutorials. I was immediately inspired to try this out as a graphic art project with my students at school. To hear the thrill in his voice over doing something creative makes it hard for me to believe how many years he has inspired me and the next generation through my daughter, Katie, to appreciate art, to fill our lives with art, and to find our own creativity. I love you, Daddy.

me and my dad

katie and grandpa

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Quilting, a new art form for me

For my birthday, Norman gave me a gift certificate good for a beginning quilting class at my local fabric store, Fabric Inspirations. I have always loved creating things out of fabric, yarn, or any kind of fiber, and although I learned how to sew as all of my generation did in an 8th grade home economics class, I never did try my hand at quilting. I adore handmade quilts, soft and cuddly ones with imperfect but lovingly sewn stitches. To me, each quilt should tell a story, perhaps through the chosen fabrics as in a memory quilt, or through the comraderie of the quilters who came together as a group to make it, or even in the history of the lucky owners who enjoyed its warmth. Quilts should be practical but beautiful, and definitely something to treasure.

Kate's pillow for me (front)

Kate's pillow for me (back)

My daughter, Katie, took a costume class in her fall semester at Rutgers and learned how to sew, quilt and embroider. She made for me a quilted pillow with lovely fabrics and an embroidered letter B for my name. She is so creative and thoughtful in every gift she gives to the people she loves and I was moved to tears with this handmade present. I went right out and bought a new sewing machine to replace my old one that stopped working years ago, as well as rulers, pins, a rotary cutter and a score of other tools to start my own quilt. I stared at videos on YouTube for hours, watching experienced quilters demonstrate their techniques and eventually had my favorite online quilters and a list of favorite blogs to follow. We attended a quilting exhibit and that was fun to see what people are doing with this art form today. Although I am still in love with the older style quilts, I saw art quilts at the show suspended on walls like paintings and they opened my eyes to the possibilities you can do with fabric. The designer in me was inspired for sure.

My iPhone case

My learn to quilt class would not start until later in the spring, but I was anxious to put my new hobby to the test. With my background in graphic design and mechanical art skills I jumped right into the craft, thinking I could do this! Starting small, my first project was a tiny quilted cover for my cell phone, and then a pillow for Katie as a thank you for starting me on this new journey. What fun!

My pillow for Kate (front)

My pillow for Kate (back)

Katie's pillow began with a design I created on Adobe illustrator based on Robert Indiana's Love sculpture. Even with my inexperienced quilting attempts, I was able to figure out how to add seam allowances to the shapes in the design and managed to stitch it together even though my scant quarter inch seams were not so perfectly uniform. The back of the pillow has a center block that Katie created in her class, embroidered with the words, "Thank you." The sewing on our beginner projects was certainly not perfect, but our pillows are an enthusiastic expression of love and creativity between a mother and daughter and that is perfection to me.

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COOKING WITH GLUTEN FREE PASTA

We have a pasta dinner at least once a week in my family. Before my diet became gluten free, a favorite meal for us would either be a baked pasta like ziti or lasagna and we would have delicious leftovers for another day, or I would cook a pot of fresh pasta and pair that with a hearty meat sauce. Before the newer versions of GF pastas came out on the market, I could never just substitute brown rice pasta for regular semolina pasta and get away with calling it dinner at my table! It was awful in taste, gummy in texture, and could never stand up to leftovers. This meant making regular pasta for everyone else and boiling a separate pot of water for my portion of noodles. I was so happy to be able to eat anything remotely similar to pasta that I didn't complain much about the extra pots, strainers, and utensils to clean.

About a year ago, we were invited to our friends' apartment in Manhattan. Vicki's son, Ned, was in charge of making a dinner for us and he was sweet enough to make sure that even I could partake in the meal. He found a brand of GF pasta in one of the specialty shops in the city called "Bionaturae" Organic Gluten Free Pasta. What a difference it made! We could not tell that it wasn't "real" pasta. Reading the package, I saw that this pasta was a mixture of rice, corn and soy. A blend like this helps to create a better taste and texture. I was able to find this brand of pasta near my home at stores like Wegman's, Whole Foods and even Stop and Shop, and I now always keep packages of Bionaturae's penne, elbows, and fusilli in my pantry to grab for any night of the week. Thank you Ned!

• The biggest lesson I learned from this experience is to never buy a single ingredient pasta. Corn pasta by itself is just as horrible as rice pasta. Always look for a mix of at least two different grains for the best taste and texture.
• One of the most important tips I learned from watching my favorite chefs on television make their pasta dishes is something that becomes even more crucial with GF pasta. Rachel Ray, Mario Batali, and Lydia Bastianich all say it is important to cook your pasta a little shy of al dente and then let your pasta continue to "cook" in the pan with the sauce as you stir the entire dish together. This not only coats all of the pasta, but it imparts flavor into the actual noodle. By the time you are ready to serve a dish prepared this way, any kind of noodle would be delicious!
• I have also learned to use the salted pasta cooking water as part of the sauce. It somehow acts a binder, helping the sauce stick to the noodles and it makes a healthier addition (it is just starchy water after all) than using oil, heavy cream, or butter to make more sauce. In order to have this water on hand when I finish up the sauce, I find it easier to scoop my cooked pasta out of the water with a big spider (or a slotted spoon) and transfer the pasta into the pan with the sauce instead of pouring the entire pot of water over a strainer in the sink. This way, you don't have to go to the trouble of remembering to save some of the water.

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