Dizzy Swallows

Spicy Thai Eggplant and Basil

September 29th, 2010 1 Comment

I love Thai food. Love, love, love. Some naysayers may argue that Thai is the new Chinese food, greasy and fit only for late night take-out. I beg to differ. Honest to goodness Thai food is fresh, bright, and can even be high-class if handled correctly.

It is with great remorse that I find myself in an environment sadly lacking in anything even remotely resembling good Thai food (Austin has it, yes, but then there are so many other choices!). Thus, I am left to my own devices to appease my cravings. This recipe represents one such foray in the attempt to placate my widely underfed Thai food belly. I am quite pleased with the results, if I do say so myself. Let me know what you think!

Spicy Thai Eggplant and Basil

Ingredients:
  • 1-2 Tbsp. sesame oil
  • 1 small sweet onion, chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp. fresh

… Continue reading

Shadows

September 27th, 2010

Hello my dears, happy start of the week. I’m excited to share my latest painting with you! This piece is part of a set I am working on for submission to an upcoming Seattle show with the theme of “couplings”. There are so many complexities and contradictions between two people; I wanted to explore some of the darker underbelly of romantic relationships. There are always hidden shadows.

Unfortunately, since Jacob and I are my only readily available models, it had to be us. Ever supportive, he obliged to sit for this piece, despite me making that horribly troubled face. Thanks love!

Oil on canvas, 30″x32″… Continue reading

Friday Sights

September 24th, 2010

Since we started the week out with sounds, I thought it only appropriate to end it with sights. Here are a few inspiring and beautiful images I hope you will all enjoy as much as I do. Wishing you a lovely Fall weekend!

Tilt-shift photography has been popping up everywhere lately. If you’re not familiar with the practice, it is a way of adjusting light and focus to make real world scenes appear as miniature models. These amazing images were created by the peeps of Artcyclopedia who simulated the effect on the paintings of Van Gogh. These were all done in Photoshop, without adding or subtracting anything from the paintings, simply adjusting light and focus.

Spotted at My Modern Met

Photographers Jean-Louis Klein and Marie-Luce Hubert, both of France, spent over 12 months painstakingly capturing images of the secret lives of tiny harvest mice.

Spotted at Daily Mail UK

California … Continue reading

Fist City

September 22nd, 2010

This is a little sketch exercise from a few months ago in which I was playing with focus and showing depth of field.

Happy Fall my dears! Break out the scarves and boots!

Graphite on paper. 5″x5.5″ Photo from “Anatomy for the Artist” by Sarah Simblet… Continue reading

Monday Sounds

September 20th, 2010

The skies are gray and the week is young. Thought I’d share some of the sounds in my head with you this fine morning.

I very recently became addicted to the genius of Radiolab and found the clip below absolutely mind-blowing. If you have the time, stick with it to the end. It goes a long way towards explaining why we each have certain music that just speaks to us.

Lastly, I wanted to introduce you to the lovely band, SCHOOL. Full disclosure, the drummer is my sister’s boyfriend, but I think you’ll agree that the unique timbre of untrained voices mixing and finger-picked guitar is merit enough. Some of their musical inspiration includes Dirty Projectors and Vampire Weekend. Unfortunately I could not embed any of their songs directly, but you can find a few here. Also, if you get that sparkly feeling, head over to their … Continue reading