Nourishment

Making art is definitely nourishment for the soul.

I have resumed painting some of the canvas plates that I printed a few weeks ago.  While rolling on the ink and making the prints I had been imagining different ways of finishing the plates.  

In between the imagining and the doing, I got caught up in making books!  Somehow I was inwardly compelled to print 5 editions of 75 prints in 5 sketchbooks, before I could come back to painting my stitched canvas plates.  *laughs*   Well, that's how it goes.

I really like the visual effect of painted canvas plates beside their prints.

As I may have already mentioned, these plates and prints are part of a larger project that will take several more months to complete.  My excitement about this project is on a constant low simmer; it's a bit like making a really good stew.

Speaking of stew, here's a basic recipe:

chicken thighs with skin & bone in

salt & pepper

butter

homemade crabapple sauce - really tart!

a good chunk of fresh ginger, grated

a bit of cayenne or other chilli pepper

a dollop of honey

an onion or two, chopped or sliced

Rub meat with salt & pepper, place in a buttered baking dish & brown both sides under the broiler.

Meanwhile mix applesauce, ginger, chilli and honey, adding water to make a runny sauce.

Remove meat from baking dish, scrape up any drippings and stir in half the sauce.

Layer onions and browned chicken pieces, and pour the remainder of sauce on top.

Cover and bake for 1/2 hour or so.

Or you can stew it in a crock pot if you prefer.

Last time I made this dish, I added smoked paprika, basil, a wee pinch of cumin and a chopped sweet red pepper.  

If you do not have tart applesauce you could use sweet, with a bit of cider vinegar or lemon/lime juice.

Note: If you make this dish in a crock pot in the morning, you can then spend all day in the studio nourishing your soul, and when you emerge from the studio there is your bodily nourishment.  A nice balance, n'est-ce pas?