Saturday 24 October 2009

Special breakfast day!

A tradition in our home is that Saturday is always special breakfast day, which consists of a yummy spread of homemade banana pancakes with fruit, maple syrup and butter and freshmade juice. And it's really not that difficult!

If you can't tell, I love Trader Joe's!

Ingredients:
1/2 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 C. All Purpose Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon (I'm very generous in my measurement of cinnamon)
1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract (same here)
1 Egg
1 C. Milk (after mixing the ingredients you may need at least 1/2 C. more depending on the consistency of the batter)
1 Banana

Step 1: Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.

Step 2: Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl or measuring cup.

Step 3: Mash banana within skin. Peel and place in bowl with dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix well. *note* after mixing the ingredients you may need at least 1/2 C. more milk depending on the consistency of the batter.

Step 4: Set burners at medium-low heat. This may vary depending on gas/electric and how sensitive your burners are. Be careful to not set the heat too high - the pancakes will cook to quickly and burn.

Step 5: Using a ladel, pour the batter onto your preheated non-stick griddle or frying pan.

Step 6: When pancakes begin to bubble, flip them over to cook the other side. They should appear golden in color...

The final result:

I make medium size pancakes and this recipe yields between 10-14 of them. You can easily make more by just doubling the ingredients. If your batter is too runny, add more flour. If too think, add more milk.

Between keeping up with projects and every day life (and a little boy who likes to sit on my lap when I paint) I have no art to post this week.... sigh. Last week the topic for IF was "frozen". This week the topic is "fast". We'll see...

Thursday 15 October 2009

IF: "flying"

I've done nothing this week. Well, not really nothing. Just, a lot of things not relating to art, unfortunately. Cleaning out, downsizing, organizing, cooking/baking... juggling lots, plus a sweet little boy and wonderful husband who both deserve my attention. Good things.

I did work on a few sketches in preparation for a handmade arts/crafts marketplace I'm hoping to be a part of in late November. Anyways, I thought I'd submit this painting for IF this week. I guess it works for "flying"? I hope to be much more focused next week. I haven't even finished my Watercolor Wednesday projects, so I'm really falling behind. Self discipline... stay focused... don't eat the chocolate cake in the fridge...

Thursday 8 October 2009

IF: "germs"

This week's topic for Illustration Friday is "germs". How appropriate! We have all been battling colds and as I held my little boy and wiped the boogies from his nose I realized I was holding my inspiration for this week! :) Stuffy nose + blankey + pacifier = germs!


PS my son hasn't used a pacifier in months, but I thought it was fitting for this illo.
In other news, I am now a member of Watercolor Wednesdays! So in addition to IF, I'll be posting WaWe illo's as well. I'm thrilled at the opportunity and eager to work on the challenges for October!

Sunday 4 October 2009

Pumpkins!

One of my new favorite websites to follow, besides Illustration Friday, is Watercolor Wednesday - an artists blog on blogger. They are a members only group, but I love the work (and would love to aspire to be as skillful as those artists!). For extra practice, I thought it'd be fun to follow their topics and participate on my own blog. For today, the topic was 'pumpkin madness'.

I had this concept idea of photographs of a couple during the changes of season in their lives... get it, changes of seasons? The first illo they are engaged, second they are married, third they are pregnant, and fourth they have a baby. In part, it is biographical of how my life has changed these past four, almost five years!

I used Picasa 3 from Google to create the collage above, giving it the feel of Polaroids.





Thursday 1 October 2009

"Oh, bother..."

I think of Winnie the Pooh every time I say that. Silly old bear.

IF's topic this week was "pattern". In spite of numerous ideas from the inspirational word, I had absolutely no time to think about IF this week... oh, bother. SO, I'll just give a sneak peak for something I've been working on, which I think happens to work for "pattern". Whew.


I prestained the paper with black tea for the background color. Everything else is pencil and watercolor (and watercolor pencils).