Bear Linoleum Block

I love everything about carving linoleum blocks.

This is the first of a new series I'm doing with linoleum blocks based on the fairytale Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Robert Southey.  It's unfinished, and I tried printing it last night but my Papa Bear is cut too deep, so I'm going to have shave down the diamond wallpaper surrounding it to get it to show up.

In Progress 2

Interestingly, in the original story, the trespasser of chairs, porridge, and beds is not a little girl, but an old lady...  I haven't decided yet if my linoleum Goldi will be an octogenarian or if I'll stick with the younger and more popular version.

In Progress 1

French Lentil Casserole

This is my very favourite recipe, found via google by Jeremy a few years back. Only recently did we successfully retrace his googling steps and locate it. I'm posting it for safe-keeping. It is extremely flavourful, hearty, and delicious, and it fills your apartment with the most delightful aroma...

Here's the original link (thanks to the original blogger, Cecily, whom I don't know personally).

Cecily's French Lentil Casserole
2 cups white wine
1 t thyme
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 T white sugar
1 t salt
1 tsp Herbes de Provence (see below)
1 cup water
1 cup red, green, or French lentils
1 bunch chopped swiss chard
8 small carrots, diced
1 leek, cut into small rounds
1 cup loosely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup butter
olive oil

For Croutons
5 slices country bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
4 T olive oil
3 cloves minced garlic
2 t Herbes de Provence
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425.

Make casserole
Mix wine, thyme, bay leaves, sugar, salt, Herbes de Provence, and water in sauce pan. Add lentils for 40 minutes on medium high. Saute vegetables in olive oil. Mix all ingredients in casserole dish (can also do individual casserole dishes) and bake for 15 minutes at 375, covered with foil.

Make croutons
toss all crouton ingredients together until evenly coated with oil. Bake at 425 for 7-10 minutes.

After baking each - the casserole and the croutons separately - add croutons to top of lentil mixture. Add melted butter over croutons. Bake for 20 minutes at 425.

Serves 4-6. Serve with another vegetable side dish. (Greenbeans, potatoes...)

*If you don't have premixed Herbes de Provence, mix the following:
1 T thyme
1 T chervil (I didn't have this, so I skipped it)
1 T rosemary
1 T savoury
1 t lavender
1 t tarragon
1 t marjoram
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t mint
2 powdered or chopped bay leaves

"Whisper"

The Illustration Friday topic this week is whisper.

A whisper shared in American Sign Language (as depicted below) must be a secret of the most sacred kind.

I chose an 18th Century figure to do the whispering because that era strikes me as having plenty to whisper about.

"Whisper"

Linda Beck

Pencil with digital enhancements

"Dandy" for Mary Mallon Social Club

"Dandy"

Linda Beck

pencil and vintage wallpaper

As I was drawing this lion, I became more and more fixated on the absurdity of his coif.

It seemed only right to give him some form-fitting stockings and a walking stick.

He is a dandy lion indeed.

(originally posted on Mary Mallon Social Club.)

"Wool"

I found about Illustration Fridays on Twitter.  A new topic is posted each Friday and participants have one week to come up with a piece of art reflecting the theme.

This week's topic:  Wool

This started as a pencil drawing but, as the texture of wool is so rich, I couldn't resist adding some digi-collage photo elements in Photoshop.

Peppery Muenster Biscuits

These were the biscuits that launched my biscuit frenzy.  I originally posted this on my pal's blog: http://fillthebelly.blogspot.com in August of 2010.  They still stand as my favourites.

A friend of mine brought over some amazing biscuits from Little Buddy Biscuit Company in Brooklyn the other night and after greedily devouring them, I was determined to recreate the deliciousness. Here's what I came up with. They are scrumptious and don't need butter or anything as a topper.

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
10 oz. Muenster Cheese, coarsely grated (1 1/2 cups)
2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
1 cup well-shaken buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450°F.
(I put the Muenster in the freezer before making this recipe to make grating easier)

Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, salt, and ground pepper in a bowl, then blend in butter with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in Muenster cheese. Add buttermilk and stir until just combined.

Spoon dough into mounds (size depending on how many you wish to make) about 2 inches apart onto a buttered large baking sheet. Bake in middle of oven until golden, 18 to 20 minutes.

These are best eaten right out of the oven. The next morning, they were delicious, but the texture was less like that of a biscuit and more like a crumpet.

Otters

I've never been a big football fan, but I enjoy the sounds and the coziness of watching the game with friends.  Years ago, I decided to use the time in front of the tv as art time.  This time I was interrupted by kids and my own food and beverage reups, but I managed to scratch out these two otters.

Bear character sketches...

This little bear surprised me on the page after I'd been sketching out some otters.  I'm not yet sure if it will be a children's book character or if I'll take a stab at animating...

tall skinny

lichen

linda cooks

This is a more subtle recipe than any of my other biscuit experiments. They're a good brunch biscuit and would be great served with eggs and fruit.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 teaspoon dill (I used dried because I didn't have fresh on hand)
1 cup well-shaken light buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, salt, and dill, then blend in butter with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in cheese. Add buttermilk and stir until just combined.

Form dough into 1 1/2" round balls and place about an inch apart on a large buttered baking sheet. Bake in middle of oven until golden, roughly 10 minutes.

Self Doubt?

I shot this last Sunday to show my nephew and nieces how you can animate with a digital camera. It was also a great excuse to play with my new camera remote and reacquaint myself with my old buddy After Effects.

One note:  My website (mentioned at the end) is no longer up...

Owl Quilt Panel

A quilt panel I contributed to a baby shower gift for my friend in Atlanta years ago.

Program Art for Kennedy Center & Refugee International's production of George Packer's "Betrayed"

This is the program art I did for the 2009 Refugee International Kennedy Center co-production of "Betrayed".

Morgue Photos for the Kennedy Center and Culture Project's production of George Packer's play "Betrayed"

In one of the scenes in George Packer's play "Betrayed", the main character goes to a morgue in Iraq to identify the body of a fellow Iraqi working as a interpreter for the Americans in the green zone. The director, Pippin Parker, had the digitally distressed versions of these photos projected onto the back brick wall of the stage to aid the character in his search.
I did all bits of the "distressing" in Photoshop. These are actresses who are all perfectly healthy and weren't harmed in any way.

Create Culture's "A Conversation with Nature"

This past Saturday, I hopped on the train and trekked to Prospect Park in Brooklyn to have "A Conversation with Nature".

The walk was highlighted in Time Out, but a better description was in The Prospect Heights Patch and reads as follows:

What is Mother Nature trying to say to you? Engage in deep listening with musician Kaoru Watanabe in beautiful Prospect Park. As you move around, blindfolded, in a safe environment, you will hear the sounds of Japanese drums and flutes weave in and out of the music of the wind and the trees. With your perception of sound and space becoming radically altered, what sounds you contribute, in this conversation with nature, might surprise you.

A few things made this a really unique and mind-extending experience.

Being blindfolded and "guided" over different terrain, reacquainted me with my feet.
I walk on them every day, regularly force them into uncomfortable shoes, occasionally whack them on dressers, ottomans, and other objects, step on bees in the grass or splinters on the hardwood floor, and all the while, I've never considered their talents as "eyes". It was tremendously empowering, and I imagined myself as a caterpillar, following safely behind my antennae.

I accepted water from a female who appeared out of nowhere.
At the start, I was the only female in our group. About 30 minutes in, still blind, a female voice offered me water and I said thank you and drank it with no concern for possible poison. Newly sightless, I felt safe on my journey. It was lime seltzer too, which was an unexpected sensory experience. She thankfully turned out to be a part of the team.

I allowed myself to just be.
I rarely do anything without simultaneously doing something else. If I watch a movie or listen to a podcast, I draw... When I'm on the treadmill, I read... In my conversation with nature, I had no choice but to be fully present and to allow my senses to have their moments to shine. Afterward, I felt centered and refreshed. I believe the entire experience ran about an hour, and I felt like I'd just invented Yoga.

Lovely, earthy music enhanced the experience thanks to Kaoru Watanabe and to the natural inhabitants of our big blue planet.

In short, I highly recommend this! It's only offered for the next three weeks, so book now! Here's the Create Culture link and the brownpapertickets link with more info.

"What Now?" (detail) for The Mary Mallon Social Club

This month's theme: LOST
(Click Image)

bee

blue lips

corset and dress frame