Munkabean Coffee in Hopkins

This is a quaint little coffee shop with great color and character. On main street downtown Hopkins.

My kids enjoyed the games and the ice cream… who wouldn’t.

My show will be up till the end of the month, stop by and take a look. Dog portraits and my black and white florals.

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http://www.munkabeanscoffee.com/

Georgia on my mind….

The final of Georgia

NEW Painting!

Just starting to work on another dog portrait of a lovely little dog named Georgia. Here is the image, and I have just now done my under painting and then will start sketching the painting and tomorrow will do the base painting and then we will see what happens. I will take some photos along the way and keep you updated.

Just did a couple of hours of doing a base painting, that is a painting of just color on a canvas. I do this because it seems to provide a look of light and seems to give life to the final.

The next step is a rough sketch in, I usually use a grid to get a base grid down, then I put the first painterly sketch down, and start to work the foreground and the background on this piece.

The second lay down of color was to tighten up composition. I find the painting still looks pretty dead till I do the rough of the eyes, at that point is when you will see Georgia’s little spark.

On my fourth visit to the canvas I worked on the eyes and giving volume to the face, I sit with it now and step back and look  and meditate on the needs of the painting. The eyes are blown out in the photo and I have not met Georgia so I have to concentrate on how to convey the energy in the eyes. As usual I keep a very painterly stroke and I wrestle with detail and tightness and my very painterly style.

I finished Georgia. I had to have the owner send me more photos of Georgia’s eyes, the photo I had did not show something… I couldn’t put my finger on it but was very happy when the new photos arrived to give me an idea of Georgia’s precious personality.

I am very happy with the feeling of richness of the paint throughout the painting. It feels alive to me now that Georgia’s eyes have more life to them.

I meet Georgia as I dropped off the painting she is a rescue dog and would not come and greet me, I think I made her a bit upset. Her owner said the portrait represented when Georgia was quiet and calm and feeling very secure.

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Just mixing and painting.

Roughing out the painting.

4th visit to the canvas

The final of Georgia

Love Georgia’s ears in this shot.

The Hounds of Finn

The final painting

This new paintings is hopefully going to be used as an image for a friend of mines band called The Hounds of Finn. So in taking on this job I had ot find some Irish wolf hounds and come up with a composition that had two hounds, two hounds that are brothers. These two hounds are inspired from an Irish legend of Sadhbh. This is a wonderful story and here is a link to the story. http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/1Kids/StoryofSadhbh.html. These two twin hounds protected a deer who had been bewitched and was really human. The story is a beautiful one and is worth a quick read.

I found a couple of hounds and created a layout and started painting on a 30″ x 30″ canvas. This is larger than I usually work, but I have a show comming up in April and I thought this would  a nice signature piece.

The first photo is the base outline of the painting, again it’s the bones of the painting. Since this is a bit larger I have a few challenges with it. I have been painting in my living room because I no longer have a studio and this 30×30 is just a bit to big to not have an easel. I have to paint this second part upside down to be able to focus on the hounds face and structure. The dogs bones if you will.

With the background I wanted it to look like a continued field that would go back for a couple of miles. The band also wanted the color to be a deep green. I compromised and created paint that varied enough to give depth but trying to stay true to a deep green. In smoothing out the background I had to cover up some of the hounds and will have to go back and flush them out.

This is the base layout for the Hounds of Finn painting.

This is the second sitting of painting on this piece. I worked on the bottom hound I have named "downward dog" right now.

Smiling Dog Matti

I started doing this painting as a silent auction item I donated. This dog was wonderful to paint,  so happy, so much spirit. I loved painting Matti and it came easy. I don’t know why but the first round on this painting things fell into place. I was really happy with the first run. The second was just some tweeking and the the third sitting was about looking and viewing and finding what makes it really pop, as far as a painting can.

More details but not quite done yet.

I just had to do a few tweeks on Matti, what a happy painting. This last shot has a little less contrast but I think that is just the photo.

Cherry Dream

Cherry Dream

I am shameless about trying my hand a mixology. I must clarify that I usually only mix with Vodka.

This drink came from a craving for cherries, rich wonderful, albeit frozen, cherries. This drink is very simple and would be great on a summer day. I  really enjoy the colors of this drink especially if you have a beautiful tangerine or blood orange for a garnish.

Ingredients:
Frozen Cherries
Limeaid
Vodka
Juice of one half tangerine or orange.
Club Soda

Puree cherries and limeaid together, ratio one to one.
Add mixture to the bottom of glass.
Add Vodka to your liking.
Top with the fresh juice of a Tangerine or Orange and a Dash of Club Soda.
Garnish with orange and a cherry piece.

Cat Progressions

I have a difficult time painting cats, I don’t know why. I think it’s because they don’t show that special spirit in their eyes like their canine counterparts, I know a lot of people will disagree with me on that. I find that a cat’s expression comes from the movement in their bodies and more specifically their tails.

Take a look at the progression of these two paintings. What was nice that at every stopping point I liked where I was at. That is a good sign for me. I really develop a relationship with the piece as it progresses through each stage.

I kind of loved the freshness of this base painting. It reminded me of a watercolor painting.

This is the addition of more paint to give volume and work on shaping the cat.

This is the final painting. Here I tightened things up and put in some details. You can kind of feel his tail wiggling a bit in the back.

Again this reminds me of the freshness of a watercolor painting. It worked well for me as a start.

This is the final of Lucy. I love the eyes of Lucy and the way she is so content in a bag, it shows so much of her personality.

Porcupine Meatballs

My six grade friend Tracy sent me this awesome photo of her successful meatball.

I had a friend that I haven’t seen since grade school send me a note on Facebook about this favorite or ours as girls. I am so glade she brought this recipe back into my life, for me it is the quintessential comfort food.  When I was young this was a staple at our house while my mother was working. She would prepare them a head of time and have us put them in the oven an hour before dinner. For my recipe below I have you baste the meatballs to give them a wonderful caramelization.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pound lean ground beef
• 2/3 cup long-grain rice, uncooked
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 teaspoons Steak Seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups tomato soup
• 1 cup water

Preparation:

Directions for porcupine meatballs

Mix ground beef with rice, 1/2 cup of water, chopped onion, steak seasoning, garlic powder, and pepper. Shape porcupine ground beef mixture by tablespoon into 1 1/2-inch balls.

Brown Meatballs in frying pan. Place browned porcupine meatballs in an ungreased 2-quart shallow baking dish. Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over the porcupine meatballs. Bake at 350° F. oven for about one hour. Basting every fifteen minutes.
Porcupine meatballs serve 4 to 6.

These meatballs can be served over rice or are pared nicely with potatoes.

Make sure you baste the meatballs in the oven to get the wonderful glaze that makes this recipe rock.

My six grade friend Tracy sent me this awesome photo of her successful meatball.

Wheatberry Pomegranate Waldorf Salad

Close up of the salad to see all the wonderful little pieces and show how beautiful the colors and textures are. Wait till you tastes it!

I love this salad for it’s textures. The chewy wheat berries (also called kalmut) give the salad a strong base, these kernels are loaded with nutrients and are easy to prepare. Wheat berries have a delicate nutty flavor, and have fiber, protein, vitamin E, and magnesium. When the wheat berries are pared with fennel, pomegranates, apples and a tart vinegrette you get a full meal deal.

The recipe below is “loose” with its measurements, simply because I rarely measure anything. I know it’s a bummer if you want to recreate things, but just roll with it and use ingredients you have on hand. One rule, do not forget the fennel it is a must!

Delicious and nutritious.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup cooked Wheat, Hard White Berries, Organic
• 1/2 Cup Green Onion, chopped
• 1/2 Cabbage red or green or a mix of both
• Pomagranate seeds to your liking
• ¼ c.  sunflwoer seeds
• 1 lg. red apple, cored and cut into ½-inch cubes
• 1 lg. green apple, cored and cut into ½-inch cubes
• ¼ c. dried cranberries
• Sliced Fennel Bulb
• Vinaigrette Dressing

• Vinaigrette Dressing:

• 1/2 Cup Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp. Lemon or Lime Juice
• 2 Tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. Parsley chopped
• 1 Tbsp. Honey
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
• 2 Tbsp. Shallot or mild onion, minced
• 1/4 tsp. Season Salt
• 1/4 tsp. Black Pepper (Medium Grind)

Directions:

Mix the vinaigrette by combining all the ingredients with a whisk or blender.

Add all the salad ingredients except for the sunflower nuts and pomegranate seeds and mix well. Let chill overnight or for several hours to let the flavors blend. Before serving add the sunflower nuts and pomegranate and serve chilled on a bed of leaf lettuce.

Beet Salad

The Dijon dressing creates a beautiful magenta color when mixed with the beets.

I think I had a version of this salad at a restaurant about twenty years ago and found it a lovely fall and winter salad. I believe the color of the salad is what has always inspired me. The fresh large beets at the market help too.

I first boil the beets over a low heat with the skins till a fork goes all the way through. Then rinse and let sit in cool water till you can handle them with your bare hands. Then just gently rub away the skin and cut away skin that does not come loose. Set aside.

While the beets are cooking I also cook a couple of hard-boiled eggs. Standard cooking for this is putting enough water to cover the eggs in the pan and bring it to boil and then simmer for twenty minutes. The eggs are better if allowed to cool as are the beets. Both beets and eggs can be made ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator.

For salad dressing first take 1/3 cup mayo, 2 Tbls. Djon, 2 Tbls. Vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Just drizzle over beets, eggs and greens. What is so great about the dressing is that when it is in combination with the beets and eggs it can turn color on the edges to a fantastic magenta.

I use simple spring greens for the base but you can use any green to suit your taste. Arugula would be fantastic.

Back to Painting

Tonight I have to start on a couple of paintings. I should say begin again on a couple of paintings. This is the after holiday rush, all that didn’t get through need to start working on. I have two cat portraits and two additional paintings. One is part of my Martial Arts series and the other is a portrait of a boy and his dog. I would love to do an oil with this last one but I don’t have a space to keep oil up right now. I work from home and with the dogs and the kids oil at such a large size may prove to be a disaster.

I will post photos of the progression of these paintings.