Cooking Day Today.

I had a day in the kitchen today.  While I was waiting for the oven, I fooled about in my sketchbook and while I waited for paint to dry, I fooled about in the kitchen.  A pretty good combination I reckon.

I did a bit of experimenting.  I painted the cheap paper (possibly cartridge...or maybe I got it from Spotlight...shame!)  with gesso on one page and Golden absorbent ground on the other.  Then a watercolour wash, then white gouache.  The gouache was really shiny like acrylic paint, so nothing would stick to it.  And my permanent pen wasn't permanent!  Oh well.

My experiments in the kitchen however were YUM!

More Botanical Papers

I spent the afternoon preserving images of my Mother's Day flowers onto some watercolour papers which are destined to be bound into another journal.  Of course first I had to choose just the right paper which took F.O.R.E.V.E.R.

It was just so hard to choose because I'm getting down to the wire now.  Mostly I have only very special books left...gifts from lovely people and hand bound little morsels from people I think are pretty famous. 

All these papers and journals came out of that little cubby-hole on the right, but did they go back in?  No.
Don't be ridiculous.  

So now there's a bunch of papers snuggled under the spare room bed.  Honestly.  Perhaps I should join a 12 step program for Bookaholics or Journal Addicts Anonymous.

My faithful old aluminium pot is ready for another session.  They don't make pots like this any more (I sound like my mum). 

I should have taken a photo of the bouquet of flowers before I got to it with scissors.  I just get caught up in the moment.  In the zone...you know?  Each time I clamp plants and papers together it is so exciting I just can't wait to see what happens.  

I know...I have no life.

Apparently as an artist I have a rare and privileged opportunity to 'make a statement'.  So?  Who cares.  I just like to put on my pinny,  poke my face into the cauldron, breathe in the delicious aromas, and chuckle away to myself.

Can somebody please let me know if I grow a wart on my nose?

How could anyone not be blown away by nature?

I must admit, when I received this bouquet, my mouth was almost watering at the thought of what I could do when the flowers were spent.

I made my family a yummy home made slice.  We enjoyed a beautiful Mother's Day celebration.  I waited a respectable amount of time.  Then I decapitated the flowers.  Pure bliss.

A candle making afternoon.

I spent the afternoon with one of my daughters, making candles. The first time for both of us.  Exciting.  Apparently soy wax is very safe, melts at low temperature, washes up with water and is good for the skin in case you splash it on yourself.  

Wow.  What could be simpler?   

This is going to be good fun.

We came up with the brilliant idea of holding the wicks in place with pegs.  So clever.  Who needs those stupid fiddly 'weighted candle wicks'?  Not us.

Looking good ladies......

Wow.  All lined up like little soldiers.  This is easy.  Bring on the Mason jars - we could really be hip!

By the way.  This is the sight that greets anyone game enough to open my old antique roll top desk, expecting to see 'office stuff'.  Wrong.  It's full of potions.  Just waiting for me to fire up that cauldron.

We chose 'Island Kiss'.  Yum.

Ok.  Here we go.  Nearly ready.

......hmmmmm.

Danger Danger "Hold onto your wicks"!!

This is the part where we really should have used the stupid fiddly weighted candle wicks.

Our wicks got away.

It was a very strange phenomenon.  Once we poured, the bottom of the wicks just smoothly rose up to greet us....seemingly with a mind of their own.  I know, right?
Hence the following photo is after we emptied the glass jars and started again.  Sheesh.  (Believe me, it was a race against time and a very tense moment).  This time we poured only a little wax in first to hold the wicks in place.
(Shut up.  I know we should have used the weighted ones). 

Trying to set the wax quickly in the fridge.
By the way, on the shelf below you can see what's left of our yummy asparagus and mozzarella tart with a cauliflower crust.  Thankfully this time the tart stayed in the baking tray and not stuck to the roof of the oven where it ended up last time....but that's a story for another day.

Ok.  Making progress.

Yay.  We did it!  Except for a little hole or two.

C'mon....you can hardly see it.

And the finished product.

Yes I do believe those dots on the wall belong to a spider.  Spider poop.  Great.

Perhaps I should be cleaning instead of playing with potions.