fun things lately...

My Spoonflower fabric arrived in record time. It is so gratifying to be able to keep a painting I made and sell it too. This was done using the image of the painting in a mirror repeat creating a kaleidoscope effect.

Pillows coming soon.

"Wet words" 24 x 30 oil on canvas by Kerry Steele

I have been working on a large commission but there are times with any painting that I need to put it aside for drying or to refocus. I often use those times to paint other things. "Wet words" is one of those.

 I started this a few days ago using a new glazing medium to spread the yellow on the canvas. It seemed to nearly paint itself and I loved the effect. While it made one layer go on nicely it made it nearly impossible to put on another color without it all blending together. I was a little frustrated. Yesterday, I picked up some Liquin impasto. It is a gel that you mix with the oil color to allow fairly quick drying texture to your painting and it stretches the paint. I was able to do some knife painting over the glaze with it and parts of the glaze had dried enough for brush work. The two products are new to my work and have counterparts for acrylic painting that I have used but they behave so very differently.

In other news, I am no longer married to a butcher. *gasp*

Its still the same old guy but he changed stores and departments and is now bringing home all manner of unusual produce.

Last night we had fiddleheads. They are baby ferns and I had eaten them pickled before but never fresh.

I sauteed them with olive oil, butter, salt, and garlic for about 5 minutes. I took them off the heat and tossed in a about a tablespoon of minced fresh thyme and basil. We topped them with a bit of parmesan.

Totally yummy!