be someone else.

This is it folks. This is the part in my academic journey where I have to take on the role of an athlete and sprint to the finish line. I am not a runner, but Zach tells me this is the best part of the competition. This is supposed to be the energizing, uplifting, soul soaring part of the race. You see the finish line, now go get it!!!

credit: Norman W. Lewis

... except I'm not athlete. I've never competed in anything. I imagine the finish line and I feel the burden on my shoulders double in weight. My feet are dragging, my brain is empty, my eyes are straining, my body is tired, and my spirit falling fast. I want to rejoice, but then I remember this is only the qualifying race. Boo.

Freedom Now.

I love this piece, Freedom Now, by Reginald Gammon. Painted in 1963 at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, the message is as valid now as it was then.

Brilliant. Poignant. Stirring. Urgent.

Orange blossoms

The weather outside is frightful, but inside,

this orange plant is blossoming.

Ad Reinhardt on Art

from the studio: 2.23.15

Some work-in-progress shots from the studio today ...

It looks magical out there ...

We drove home from Portland in this beautiful sunset ...

A 2015 take on Seurat's 1884 Masterpiece

Zach finished carving this big block a few weeks ago. It's an updated take on Seurat's Sunday on La Grande Jatte. Notice the monkey on a leash? That's my favorite detail in the original painting, and I'm in love with Zach's rendition ...

I tried to take a picture of Zach with his print to give you an idea of scale, but he kept making me laugh so every shot I took was shaky and blurry like this:

The Year of the Sheep/Ram/Goat

Happy Lunar New Year! I'm not sure if I should say it's the year of the sheep, ram, or goat. I guess you can decide that for yourself.

Last year, I shared five Chinese new year traditions that I love. Since we don't get to go back to Singapore for all the festivities, Zach and I decided to come up with one of our own.

A couple of days ago, I went online and bought us some daruma dolls.

Daruma dolls come with no eyes. The point is assign a goal to each doll, and color in one eye. That signifies the start of your working towards that goal ...

You color in the other eye when you have achieved your goal. This may take weeks, months, or even years, but it doesn't really matter as long as you keep working towards your goal.

For the year of the sheep/ram/goat, we have four dolls, and four goals we are working together to accomplish!

Happy (almost) Lunar New Year!

Both Zach and I have been so busy lately, but we decided we'd take a day off to partake in our usual tradition of a big meal on the eve of the lunar new year.

This may be a larger than usual meal, but the preparations are relatively simple. We've been known to overdo our new year eve dinners in the past, so we made it a point to keep things pared down this year. It's so comforting to sit in front of a steaming hot pot when it is 3°F outside.

Over in Singapore, my family is celebrating the new year, as well as the addition of a new family member. My brother Leon and his wife welcomed their second son on February 15th. Welcome to the world, baby!

Happy Valentine's Day

Have you seen the images Google put together for Valentine's Day? You'd especially love them if you're an art history buff ...

They're really pretty fun to look through. Click here to check them out!

{Five for Friday} 5 Reasons to Stop Obsessing Over Your Phone

1. Improve creativity! Contrary to what you think, being bored is good. Boredom stirs creativity. If you engage your phone as a means to overcome boredom, you inevitably squelch your imagination, and subsequently, your creativity.

2. Connect with the REAL people around you!

3. Helps you sleep better! The blue light that your phone emits is capable of disrupting your sleep. So if you already have problems sleeping, stop looking at your phone in the bedroom!

4. Safety. Duh. You might think you're risking just your life when you use your phone on the road, but in reality, you put everyone around you at risk too. Be considerate.

5. Living honestly. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and all those other social media sites may have you believing that everyone is leading a better life than you. The truth is, these sites project nothing more than our carefully curated lives. Trust us, our lives are far from perfect. 

Recipe of the Week: Picadillo with Rice and Beans

i love making dishes with parts because they can be combined and recombined in lots of ways.  i made this dish and ate on it for about a week making tacos of different kinds by switching out the condiments. try it with some fresh pickled slaw or just straight up with chopped onion and cilantro.

picadillo
ingredients
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 onion
1 pepper
2 cloves garlic
ground beef
1 c tomato sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 c chopped olives with pimentos
1/4 c white wine
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves

directions
make a sofrito by chopping the onion, pepper, and garlic up very fine, and sauté in coconut oil. add the ground beef.  add the spices.  and sauté until cooked.  add back the sofrito, and deglaze with white wine.  reduce, then add tomato sauce, and paste.  cook for about 30 minutes. add the olives and cook another 10 minutes. top with chopped fresh onion and cilantro. done. eat. save for later.

beans
ingredients
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
bay leaf
bean broth

directions
using whatever beans you have, leftover, canned, or dried, prep them to cook.  then fry the onion in a bit of coconut oil.  add in the garlic and bay leaf.  deglaze with a splash of wine.  add the beans and bean broth and simmer.  smash the beans with a masher and continue to simmer until the beans have created a thick paste.  done.  eat.

red rice
ingredients
1 c of long grain rice
1 onion
2 ripe tomatoes (or about 1 c of tomato sauce)
1 c broth
1 tbsp chili powder
3/4 tsp salt

directions
put it all in the rice cooker and cook until the rice looks dry.

from the studio: 2.7.15

 A late night in the studio working on and thinking through some ideas for a new series ...

{harvest} winter rainbow carrots

A couple of days ago we noticed aphids on our carrots, so we decided to pull them up.

Pulling carrots makes me think about starting plants for the garden ...

Clement Greenberg

Today, while the rest of the country gathers to watch grown men fuss over an oilve-shaped ball, I'll be in my red chair, hiding away in a room, buried under piles of paper, and stacks of books, trying to keep the cat off the desk and write something worthy about Abstract Expressionism.

(picture of Jackson Pollock via ChicagoNow)

So much has already been said about this esteemed movement in the history of art. It's a challenge to lend a new perspective to something so household and familiar. But I'll give it my best shot.

In the meantime, here's a cool animation featuring the not very cool Clement Greenberg:

Happy February!

Happy February! This month, there will be exactly 4 Sundays, 4 Mondays, 4 Tuesdays, 4 Wednesdays, 4 Thursdays, 4 Fridays, and 4 Saturdays.

We hope all your 28 days (not just the weekends!) will be lived to the fullest!