When the Color Fades

This week has been super busy in my life as a teacher.  I am sad to say that it has sucked a lot of time out of my studio and art time.  However, I have been taking some photos and readying myself for my next creative endeavors---transferring black and white food images on to a variety surfaces.  As stated in previous entries, I love food photography.  I think with Luke's background in the culinary arts and fine arts and my love for photography and post modern/subtractive art, this concept seems to be evolving.  Food is so much about color, but what happens when food is stripped of its vibrant colors and placed in a completely different scenario.  Do we act the same?  

I have been looking forward to exploring this concept of my artwork so much this week that I went out to buy hodge podge and gel medium just to keep myself to accountable to doing this on Friday night in the studio!!!  I even found a piece of scrap wood to experiment on!!  

Anyway, I am looking forward to exploring this concept on my blog next week and discussing more fun styles, books, and recipes we have tried!!

What Food Photography Means To Me

As I see more and more instagrammers photographing their food (including myself), I have been digging deeper in the idea of what food photography means to me.  It is more then photographing food, it is photographing the experience of food.  And not just any food, real food.  The food that makes you feel good about it eating.  The food that is colorful.  The food that you associate with great memories-those are the kinds of food I love to photograph.  Farmer's markets, wine, morning coffee, mimosa's at brunch, salads, brown eggs, etc.--the food that I see that is real and represents the best parts of the real food movements (food that is unprocessed and well, the real deal).

I love seeing that there are people out there who want to share their food experience via art.  It is beautiful to see that people want to share their healthy, whole food to a wider audience of people in a culture where food   of convenience is more popular then making food from the heart. The blend of the real food movement, photography, and instagram is best advertisement for people to begin considering what foods they eat are photo worthy both in looks and for their bodies. It makes me think critically about making good choices in the food I give myself and the kids. It also reminds me that food is less about diet and more about bringing people together.  If food photography is a consistent reflection to my own health, then there is something to all these people photographing their breakfasts and dinners on instagram.  Keep it up.  I get it.  Let's share the experience and keep growing in our understanding of real food.

When You Know Enough to Know Better

 I had the awesome opportunity to explore North City a bit the other morning and photograph N. 14th st.  I love that part of town.  It reminds me of the concept of change and how God can change even the darkest parts of any city--if we make better choices.

As Luke and I continue to explore the world of parenting and disciplining Shyla, it gives me ample times to explore my own heart as I tell my daughter to "make good choices."  This feeling is magnified when your almost three year old states back "Make Good Choices, Mommy."  And the human inside of me is like "Crap, my three year old knows her own mom's bad choices."

Make good choices.  The more I tell my daughter this, the more I have started to examine the way I spend my time and money.  Am I making a good choice?  I think the real gut wrenching feeling is when I know enough to know better about the choices I make.  This has been evident in the way our family eats.  I found myself last week asking, "What would it take for our family to begin to eat grass fed meat and cleaner foods on a regular basis and what would I need to cut out to make this happen?"  I know enough of the facts to know better.  Here are some small changes I have made:

*I am starting to modify my Saturday morning workout routine to be able to go to a farmer's market in lower income neighborhoods to buy from the farmers who have dedicated their business to serving this population (that issue is an entirely different blog entry alone).
*Planning ahead and making a menu.
*Seeing these small changes as an investment in my children and understanding the concept of healthy, clean food.  I am convinced that contaminated food is my generation's version of cigarettes and smoke.  I can just see Shyla and Asher asking Luke and I how we could ever stand the taste of fructose corn syrup when they are older just as I asked my grandma how she could ever stand the taste of cigarettes.
*Blending food into my social life and community.  When more people gather together to eat clean food, it  as an investment and opportunity to discuss why grassfed, clean food is so important to this generation. It is another deposit into the heart and soul of wholehearted fitness and wholehearted living--when you know enough to know better and you can't live the rest of your life the same way.

It has taken me a long time to come to this place.  But I have come to realize that I can only turn my head for so long before it is time to make small changes.  Asking God everyday, "what choices do I need to make in order for us to eat and live well?"  It starts by making better choices.  It goes even deeper for me: who do I spend my time with: (hint:  Iron sharpens iron).  What do I spend my time doing?  Is it helping me propel my life in a forward motion?  What is the condition of my heart?  "Make good choices, Julie"  

A Reflection of Motherhood

This is my third mother's day on the record actively living out this daily role of my life.  I have to say, every year reminds me of the heavy connection that exists between our culture and the concept of mothering.  It makes me sad that our culture blames mothers for almost everything wrong with society because women, as a species, whether they have children or not, women are the deepest feelers, lovers, and caretakers. However, with this intuitive power also comes the ability to voluntarily take on a significant amounts of shame and guilt. Mothering is a minefield of shame and guilt.  I don't think I ever really understood the concept of shame until I gave birth to my daughter. 

As a teenager and young adult I was always very sure of myself.  I thought I knew who I was, where I was going, and who I wanted to be for the rest of my existence (I can just see my mother blinking and nodding in agreement as she reads this, probably thinking "I told you so.").  Then, I gave birth to my daughter.  Becoming a parent is like graduating from college all over again-rediscovering yourself all over again--except this time you have this little offspring that carries your DNA inside of you that you are required to care for and mold into a responsible adult who accurately reflects our job performance in the parenting role or so society tells us---or so this is the lie we tell ourselves OR, more accurately, this is the lie I told myself.  But I don't write or create photographs on the blog to talk about lies, I create to talk about truth.  So here's the truth that I have come to understand: 

Motherhood has less to do with the way we relate to our kids and more about the way we model acts of faith, hope, and love in the relationships they see us in.  

Children learn to love significant others by watching us relate to our spouses and partners.  They learn about the power of friendships by watching us take time for our friends.  They learn to understand boundaries by watching us create boundaries for ourselves.  Children learn about living life, when we accurately show them the way we to do life.  You want to be a good parent: go live the life that you dream your children to live.  We are going to fail, but we can model resiliency.  Our job is to do life with our kids and in front our kids, in all its messiness, confusion, beauty and complexity. It also our job to model the value of character defining moments and where God meets us in the process.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Kinfolk Magazine

I absolutely love Kinfolk Magazine.  It is magazine that encompasses everything I love about life.  It is literally a magazine about bringing people together for the sake of community.  For example, there is an article in Volume 7 of Kinfolk Magazine about why it  is important to check in with you neighbors and friends on a regular basis.  The article goes in depth on why simple check ins with our best friends carry so much weight to feeling like we are a part of something bigger then our isolated issues.  It is also a magazine that gives the reader ideas on how art, food, and gatherings can create opportunities for vulnerability and connection.  Oh yeah, and this recent issue also gives ideas on creating flower bouquets in ice cream cones!!  Oh and the photos in this magazine are beautiful!!  If you love good food, art, and getting together with your friends, then this magazine is seriously worth a buy!  Plus, it is just a pretty publication to have on your shelf!

Crispy Pork Carnitas

Our friends Dan and Lacey came over for dinner tonight and we made these in honor of Cinco De Mayo (belated).  I got this recipe from Let's Dish, a food blog that I found off Food Gawker. It was super easy.  

I got a grass fed pork tenderloin from Trader Jo's and put it in the slower cooker while I was at work today. 

Then when I got home Luke and I prepared the onions and peppers an hour before Dan and Lacey came over.  It was super simple and super good!!  

Please go check out more awesome recipes from Let's Dish.

The Art of Mary C. Nasser

I ran across Mary Nasser's  Blog when I was on my maternity leave this winter.  I always get super excited when I meet other art bloggers in St. Louis.  Anyway, I am a huge fan of her mixed media paintings with maps and directional themes.  She blends mixed media painting with thematic text and typography.  So today,  Mary is sharing a little bit about how maps have contributed to her creative process:

Maps are always the very first layer of my painting. I use maps because I love the way they look – their lines, rhythm, movement and patterns. I’m intrigued that maps are tangible, portable guides to places and that they impart information much like a painting…they translate what is three-dimensional into two dimensions.

To create my art, I layer maps and scientific illustrations. I add thick and colorful layers, then wipe, scratch and scrape to reveal underlying sections. All of my art is inspired by nature, especially landscapes and geology. I am captivated by the idea that geological shifts seem to parallel people’s lives and relationships. They are continually changing, varying, shifting and developing.

I know my work will continue to change and evolve, just like the very landscapes that inspire me. My curiosity always gets the best of me, so I keep experimenting by adding additional media and ephemera to my paintings.