the last door down the hall: Three Muses Challenge

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Three Muses Challenge - The Chicken or the Egg

Which came first - the chicken or the egg?

This week the Three Muses Challenge was to use a chicken in your art. I decided to work on backgrounds and I always think of eggs and feathers when I think of chickens. I first painted a piece of watercolor paper with just a simple landscape. Very fast. Then scanned that. I then added the eggs and feathers digitally. I decided to add a little chicken wire. The rooster and chicken are from my glorious book of Cassells Poultry. This was a fun challenge.

24 comments:

Eila A said...: Oh, Elizabeth, your stunning work is absolutely elegant! I love your strong colours, too, and I admire your skills in combining various elements. - Thank you for the freebie, too!; October 28, 2009 at 12:03 PM
indybev said...: Thank you, Elizabeth, for sharing your process for the background. The vibrant colors are wonderful, and you've achieved depth and texture. The chickens, of course, are absolutely magnificent! Thanks for playing along this week.; October 28, 2009 at 12:06 PM
Martina said...: How incredibly gorgeous this one is, i love the beautiful colours and design and it looks totally gorgeous!; October 28, 2009 at 12:23 PM
BadPenny said...: such vibrant colours lovely !; October 28, 2009 at 12:33 PM
johanna said...: love all the elements you combined in this collage! wonderful digital piece!; October 28, 2009 at 12:41 PM
Yvonne said...: Gorgeous collage!; October 28, 2009 at 12:53 PM
Terri Daugherty said...: this is stunning with with bold colors, handsome rooster and pretty hen.; October 28, 2009 at 1:13 PM
Mary S. Hunt said...: looks vibrant and rich!
nicely done; October 28, 2009 at 1:48 PM
Lori Saul said...: Fabulous depth of color and content - a brilliant collage Elizabeth- wow!; October 28, 2009 at 2:00 PM
Wildflowerhouse said...: Now that is beautiful. The colors are stunning. Sharon; October 28, 2009 at 2:36 PM
Faye said...: I was just going to say how absolutely gorgeous all those colors were and I went back and reread what you had written. You painted that wonderful bright background!!! Just beautiful.; October 28, 2009 at 3:08 PM
Taluula said...: Fantastic depth of colour and what a beautiful range of colours at that. Elizabeth, this is an awesome piece of art.; October 28, 2009 at 4:09 PM
"MOI" Freubel said...: WOWWW. What a POWERfull piece Elizabeth !! It's jumping right of my screen. LOVE LOVE this !!; October 28, 2009 at 4:48 PM
Lucy - By the Hill said...: Cool!! Love it and so kind of you to give us the eggs background to use! You are truly inspiring to me, I'm new to digital art. I have left you an award to pick up on my blog. Thanks for the inspiration!; October 28, 2009 at 6:37 PM
Anonymous said...: Stunnning! I like to read the steps taken to complete the artwork.... Great composition.; October 28, 2009 at 7:41 PM
Judy said...: WOW, Elizabeth, what a vibrant piece of art, clever idea the chicken wire & eggy b/g, outstanding!; October 28, 2009 at 8:28 PM
Ozstuff said...: Oh, wouldn't we all love to have your glorious book of Cassells Poultry!! Those chooks (that is what we call them in Australia) are the most magnificent I have ever seen. Your background is sensational. The colours are just superb. This is an amazing piece in every way. Thanks so much for the background freebie.
Wow!; October 28, 2009 at 9:55 PM
LivArtNow said...: Very elegant piece!! love your colours and the eggs in the background, great piece!!

Linda; October 29, 2009 at 3:20 AM
Unknown said...: these are some really cool hens!!! lovely work!!!; October 29, 2009 at 11:16 AM
vintage wil said...: What a beautiful piece ! great colors!!!; October 29, 2009 at 11:55 AM
peggy gatto said...: Gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!; October 29, 2009 at 2:04 PM
Shopgirl said...: Since I am a fan of chickens and have raised some, I love this piece. The color is amazing, love it! Hugs, Mary; October 29, 2009 at 5:23 PM
Astrid Maclean said...: Wonderful colourful piece. These fowl look so full of it. I'm sure they think they were there bebore the eggs....; October 29, 2009 at 6:20 PM
nancy said...: This is a stunningly beautiful piece.; October 29, 2009 at 9:37 PM

Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

This is great on grilled shrimp salad!

1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon chopped green chile, jalapeno or chipotle pepper
2 tablespoons honey or sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/3 cup olive oil

In a blender, pulse the lime juice, vinegar, garlic, chile, honey, salt, and cilantro to a puree. With the machine running slowly add the oil to emulsify. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Whisk before serving to make sure all is mixed.

This is also a good marinator for steaks and chicken.

Back Porch Lemonade

I am g0ing to warn you this is sweet and tart and very Southern.

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
8 cups cold water
1 1/3 cups fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest,grate fine
lemon slices and fresh mint leaves for garnish

Combine sugar and one cup water in small saucepan over medium heat. Watch and stir till boils. Reduce heat and simmer for three to four minutes, stir every once in awhile. Remove from heat and cool completely. I pour it into lemonade pitcher and stick in frig for a half hour or so. Then combine the rest of the ingredients and stir well. Serve over ice with garnish. Makes about 2 1/2 quarts.

Blueberry Pie North Carolina Style

Crust:
2 cups finely crushed Vanilla Wafers - I stick them in a ziplock bag and use the old rolling pin
4 tablespoons butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine crust ingredients . Press into 9 inch pie plate. Bake 10 minutes. Cool.

Filling:
2 cups NC blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon ginger
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Place blueberries, 1/2 cup water, sugar, ginger, in saucepan. bring to a boil. Mix in cornstarch into remaining 1/2 cup water and pour into mixture. Cook till thickens. Stir constantly so doesn't burn. Cool.

Topping
1-5.1 ounce instant vanilla pudding
2 1/3 cups milk
Beat pudding mix and milk until thick. Spread layer of blueberry mixture in bottom of pie crust. Top with 1/2 pudding mix. Add more berry mixture. Top with the rest of the pudding. Chill for 2 hours. Garnish with whipped cream and fresh blueberries.
Dig in.

Art Tip

From the kitchen to the studio is what I call this. I am sure you have seen or even own one of those revolving spice racks with all the jars in them. Spices are only good for a few months. So when they are all stale, clean out that spice rack and fill it with embellishments. Buttons, jacks, even fibers - those little plastic tops make ideal holes to thread your yarn and fibers to neatly pull them out as needed. The revolving part is cool because they are just fingertips away. I keep two in my studio and one on my sewing table. I found two at a garage sale for under five dollars.

Hot Crab Dip

This is a staple along the coast here in North Carolina. Almost every restaurant or get together serves this in some variation.I thought this might be a nice addition to your Mother's Day festivities.
Serves 6 to 8

8 ounces of lowfat cream cheese
1 stick butter
1 pound white crabmeat, check for shells and discard
1 small onion, finely chopped
tabasco sauce, to taste, a few shakes
garlic salt, to taste
cayenne pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons white wine or sherry
1 teaspoon old bay seasoning
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
[use more to stretch recipe]

Melt the cream cheese and butter in a topboiler over simmering water. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Heat all the way through and serve in a chafing dish.
Serve with crackers or my personnal favorite those mini french bread loaves thinly sliced and warmed. Enjoy!

The Swans

Birds are my thing. I am fascinated by them. Always have been. If there was just one thing I could wish for it would be the ability to fly. To soar. I would like to share some of my bird friends with you along with some bird art. These two swans are Nicholas and Alexandra. They live in one of the lakes in my neighborhood just about a half a football field away from the intercoastal waterway. We have around nine to twelve pairs that live here. These two own this lake an usually have around 11 to 13 cygnets. Only about half survive. After almost four years they come and swim right up to me on my daily walk. It is amazing. Nicholas has to check me out before Alexandra is allowed near. She is easily bored. Nicholas being the typical male lets me admire his strength and beauty. He is quite the poser. North Carolina has one of the largest winter population of birds. Swans in particular. They all go to a place called Pocosin Lakes. It is a huge wildlife refuge. More Info http://www.fws.gov/pocosinlakes/
Can you imagine seeing a 100,000 tundra swans?

Art Tip

Do you have some crusty brushes you can't use laying around? or how about stamps with dried acrylic paint on them?
A little Murphy's Oil soap will do wonders. Soak your brushes in Murphy's Oil Soap. You will see the paint or gel medium start to dissolve. Rinse with cool water. Repeat if necessary. For stamps pour soap into a flat tray or dish, set stamp in tray. Let soak. Use a tooth brush to gently dislodge paint and rinse. Good as new. Also, the soap helps keep your wood mount from drying out.

Fresh Cilantro Salsa

Yields around 3 cups
2 garlic cloves
1 large onion, quartered
1 green pepper, seeded and quartered
3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and quartered
wash hands with soap after this step
6 fresh tomatoes, peeled,seeded and chopped
or 2 cans 16 ounces each of plum tomatoes, drain and chop
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
squirt of lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Put the garlic in a food processer until minced. Add the onion, peppers and process with on and off pulses until barely chopped.
Add the tomatoes and cilantro and process until combined but sort of chunky. Add lemon, salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate till time to serve.
Serve with large tortilla chips.

Art Tip

Keep a camera handy at all times. make it a habit to take it with you even if it is to the grocery store. Some times even the most mundane things if captured the right way can become art. The line of a chair, the way the weeds look in fall, an old door falling off its hinges. You can also use it for remembering color combinations. The way that rusted barrel looked next to the purple salvia. Things like that. We often think we will remember that scene, those lines, the way those textures mixed together, but we don't. Think of your camera as a visual journal. You can print small thumbnails as reminders. Just enough visual reminder to re-inspire you.

Art Tip

What do with all that junk jewelry that is laying around in boxes and drawers. Just waiting to be that perfect embellishment piece for your latest art project. I found that if I displayed some of them I was more likely to use them. So I have this ugly lampshade in my studio - just plain white, but very big. So I took ribbon and hooked it to the top of the lampshade with decorated bobby pins and pinned all my junk brooches on them. When the light is on on the jewels shine and I am constantly reminded of what I have.

Onion Cheese Bread

This is a great bread to serve with a fresh salad or marinated tomatoes or olives.

1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup biscuit mix
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 teaspoons parsley flakes
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Saute onion in a skillet till soft, not brown. Set aside to cool.
Combine milk and egg in bowl. Add biscuit mix, stirring just enough to moisten. Stir in cooked onion, 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese and parsley flakes. Spread batter in greased 8 inch square baking pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese. Bake in 400 degree oven 20 minutes or until done. Serve warm. Makes nine servings.

Art Tip

Speaking of scraps...now is the time to pick up denim and fabric scraps. Yard sales are a great source of inexpensive fabric. You can usually purchase a dress or shirt for under a dollar. Where can you buy fabric that cheap? Also keep an eye out for clothing with unusual buttons or beading that you can use. I like to buy jeans and cut them up. They make great background for fabric books and can be cut up to make homemade paper. So get a couple of art buddies together, map out a route, split the gas and go bargain hunting.

Pepperoni Dip

1 pint sour cream
1/2 pound pepperoni, finely chopped
1 round loaf of bread, plain, sour dough, or rye

Combine sour cream and pepperoni. You can add 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt or onion salt if you like. Store covered in refrigerator for 2 days. To serve, allow dip to come to room temperature. Carefully hollow out round loaf of bread, leaving around 1 inch around sides and across the bottom of loaf. Tear this center section of bread into bite size pieces. Place dip in loaf and surround with bread pieces.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Three Muses Challenge - The Chicken or the Egg

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