it's been a project makin, food eatin, good times having summer

I can't believe summer is on it's way out. We had such a very late start weather-wise this year it really seems as if it just arrived.  Yesterday morning was a dark and slightly dreary day, but instead of being depressing it was like being embrace by a big comfy gray wool blanket. Cloudy days are so comforting and familiar to me. As sad as it will be to see the summer come to a close, I am eagerly awaiting fall. The day I get to take all of my scarves, sweaters and mittens out of their summer hibernation is always a favorite. 

I've been trying to make the most out of what is left of the summer by working as much as I can and playing even more all before school starts up next month. I had high hopes for my productivity this summer, and as I assess my time spent, I feel pretty good with what I've been able to accomplish. The biggest let down of the summer, not to be a negative nancy, was finding out the Portland pie-off will not take place this year. My pie baking has not been in vain, for I feel like I have a legitimate skill with my pie baking and have had enjoyed stuffing both mine and other's bellies with pie. It turns out the heat of the summer months does not provide the best environment for pie baking. Caitlyn, my comrade, & I are trying to come up with a pie extravaganza we can have in it's place. Until then, I will keep "baking a ribbon winning pie" on my to-do list.

The lack of the pie-off has provided me with more time to work on other projects. Most of my projects have been recycle oriented. Not due so much to my desire to "be green"  as much as it has been to use things I already have (read: save money). Skirts have emerged from old shirts that would have otherwise wound up at goodwill, experimenting with image transfers on old pieces of wood and plastic, puppets out of old hangers and fabric scraps, and even a robot costume out of cardboard and left over curtain fabric. It's so much more exciting to have to think outside the box and forces even more creativity when you only use materials at hand. 

 

 My first image transfer using caulking. It's a tricky process, but the more I experiment with caulking the more I like it as an image transfer medium. I'm going to try and do some double images over this one and add some translucent print around the sides. I'm excited to get a completed project that I'm happy with. Learning a new process for transfers has been a lot of fun.  

 

Two of my modified light plates.

This is a project Ben and I worked on together. We bought this hideous canvas at the goodwill bins for $6, a huge brag bag of half empty bottles of bright paints for $5 and went to town. 

 

For the newspaper collage background I made a flour paste for the first coat and mixed it with paint for the second coat to give it color but keep it translucent.  The moon and mouth were painted by Ben (he let my not so steady hand help a little) and are from my favorite album cover art of all time, David Bowie's Images. It was great fun to collaborate on a project together and having a huge piece of art to hang for less than lunch would have cost us both is pretty exciting. 

This little guy has a special place in my heart. 

 

He's my first paper mache sculpture and has been a work in progress for quite sometime. Getting the textured detail has been difficult, especially for his little tail feathers. I need to find a way to help anchor heavy pieces on to his body, as besides the fluff I've stuffed him with, he's very thin and hollow. He has taken such a long time to complete because each little addition has to dry completely before I can continue to work around it. I had plans to make him a part of a bigger sculpture piece; a branch with several owls on it, but who knows what will happen or when I'll finish him. I sure like him though. 

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Last week was one of  the events I will always remember summer of 2010 for. While waiting to meet up with Ben for lunch at one of our favorite food carts (the meeting at the cart is pointless to the story, except to mention how amazing it is. it's the Flavor Spot- they have waffles filled with deliciousness.... maple, turkey, havari, oh my! and a must try for anyone who comes to Portland.) I was leafing through one of the weekly papers when I spotted an ad for... brace yourselves... a robot beauty pageant. If ever there was a beauty pageant tailored for me, it was this one. Forget swimsuits and high heels; competing with others in robot costumes? Yes please! First prize is awarded $500? Even better. With two days to prepare, I was pretty certain I could pull something fantastic out. I'm lucky enough to have a guy like Ben who is adventurous and creative  (and patient.... oh how I'm certain I tested his patience on this project. Despite my scatterbrained approach, he kept making silly ideas possible! ) and immediately jumped on board. In a whirlwind of cardboard, duct tape and spray paint, we came up with Rock-bot. 

Even though hanging out with other people in robot costumes is already pretty awesome, taking third was incredibly exciting. In fact, I don't know if I've ever been so proud of taking part in something.  With the only materials paid for being one can of spray paint and a roll of duct tape, it was a pretty cheap costume. Upon arriving at the contest, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to place. There was a guy with a jet pack for crying out loud. A JET.PACK. That my friends, is what one calls awesome. Most of these people had spent months on their costumes, I had spent less than 48 hours.  You can imagine my surprise when Rock-bot was called for third place. (I literally skipped across stage.)

To give one an idea of what I was up against, here are the first and second place winners:

Pretty intense, and pretty stinkin rad. I was completely honored to be in the top three with these guys, not to mention the only girl to place! It was an extra thrill to beat out the scantily clad, dare I say slightly classless, lady bots. I take a certain amount of pride to be in the running with the big boys without having to show off any lady parts (okay, with exception of my record robo-boobies).

I now have tasted the sweet sweet flavor robot victory (with the $150 prize to boot), and I have every intention of being the Robot of the Year in 2011... and this time I'll get started months in advance. This was just another reminder of why I absolutely adore Portland. There always seems to be some sort of crazy event or another taking place encouraging people to let their freak flags fly. Strangers gathering in outrageous costumes is not only uncommon but highly encouraged. It's never felt so good to have a freak flag to fly.

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The best part of summer (well, of any season, really) is of course, the food. I have certainly had my fair share of such. As I don't do well in the heat, and cooking indoors isn't so helpful with keeping the house cool, grilling has been a particular favorite. The tastiest accident so far was the grilled cherries Ben conjured up. Coat them in a little olive oil, honey and cinnamon, kabob those suckers pits and all and ta-da!  The tastiest little juicy buggars you'll ever put in your mouth.

I sadly lost a whole camera card full of (mostly food) photos when I accidentally deleted them during an upload. I realize I take entirely too many photos of food though, so it was probably for the best. The one I wish I still had to drool over was of my favorite dessert I made this summer. It was a blueberry pie with ginger, black pepper and orange zest ice cream. It may have been my best pie yet, and the ice cream was unbelievable. It will definitely be a reoccurring sidekick of many pies to come. I changed it up a bit, but used this recipe as a spring board if you'd like to give it a try, which I highly recommend. Nothing beats homemade ice cream.... 

except maybe Ben & Jerry's Boston Cream Pie

If you have not tried this, go, nay-- run, to your local grocer and devour some today. The only regret you will feel is not having tried it sooner. Heavenly. 

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Another of my favorite memories from this summer was nothing out of the ordinary or crazy exciting. Ben and I went to one of my favorite places, an Oyster Bar in the NE part of town. We hung out for hours enjoying the sun and munching on fried pickles, oysters and po-boy catfish sandwiches to die for. 

A

I don't necessarily believe in luck, but I'm a pretty lucky gal to have such an amazing partner in crime whose companionship I can enjoy endlessly. Eating and good conversation just go better together. Being able to spend hours over bowls of popcorn and never cease to be entertained by one another is quite a feat.  It's fun to watch as Ben's inner foodie emerges more and more... cooking together has become one of our favorite past times, second only to perhaps eating. We both get a rise out of making something divinely good out of dirt cheap groceries or fixing up something boring like beef stroganoff into something amazing like a creamed gorgonzola beef pasta that belongs in the pages of Gourmet Magazine.  It doesn't get much better than sharing good food with someone you love. It makes me think of the quote "it's better to eat soup with someone you love than steak with someone you hate".  That I occasionally get to also eat steak with someone I love just makes me feel plain spoiled. 

But I like it.