WonDerLust painted Photos

I give you photographer and artist Alexandra Valenti::

http://www.alexandravalenti.com/

Pick Your Jam

A sweet summer favorite, fresh fig preserves. I had been searching for months to find a suitable fig tree to pluck, putting a bug in friends ears, posting regularly to Facebook trying to find a tree. And then, it simply fell into my lap. I was visiting momma bee in Roebuck and she mentioned her neighbor posting on their community page about some ripe fig trees ready to be picked. In return, the owner simply requested a jar of fig preserves?! The trees had to be 30 years old, and it begins. 

This preserve uses whole figs that have their stems removed but I keep their skins because I like them. If you are not a big fan of the fruit's skin, then by all means peel them off with a paring knife. 

Ingredients: 
25-30 figs1 cup organic cane sugar 
1-2 long sticks of cinnamon broken into two (or a BIG pinch of cinnamon) 
Juice of one lemon and zest of one lemon
One lemon thinly sliced, with rind

It's just this simple: 
Wash the figs and then cut them in quarters. Place them in a thick bottomed pan, sprinkle the sugar and lemon juice over it, throw in the two pieces of cinnamon and keep it on a low flame for about 25-30 mins. Cover it for the first 10-15 mins, but keep checking on how fast it cooks. There is no need to add water (rookie mistake)  The lemon juice and sugar work well enough for this. You can go ahead and add the thinly sliced lemons at this point. Once the figs start to break up, stir them a bit, if there are very large chunks of figs, break it down gently with a fork and continue cooking it till it all done and there is not much liquid remaining.

Sterilise the jars that you will be storing the jam in (you can boil them). Once the fig preserve has cooled down, transfer it to the jar and store in the refrigerator. Eat every day for two weeks! Then make some more. 

- Carrie Fagan 

SuMMer SiZZles

Summer is unofficially/officially here! Sunny days, walks in the gardens, riding bikes for 

coffee on the weekend, and HATS! 

And I seem to find myself doing this: 

Handwritten Letters to Famil & Friends I miss TERRIBLY! 

Beautiful Cards from Local designer: LONDI Press

NEW Necklaces in my ETSY shop Reeves & Fagan.

Or you can purchase additional at Naked Art Gallery. 

Maple Bacon & Bourbon popsicle work breaks. 

YES please. STEEL CITY POPS 

Lots of online ETSY shopping. 

I found these beauties for a friend's b-day recently. 

Bamboo Silhouette Diamond Ring

tangled glass and fractal veins of fall

  
Tangled Glass
The world has sat, frozen, for centuries.

 It does not think to make the right move, merely

moving in the direction it is going,

slowly forming into what is necessary.

 What belongs slowly sliding in place

natural, cozy, perfect.

 Something tells me this world is hiding something.

 I don't know what it is, though I try and uncover.

But what I relinquish

 I always am indebted for,

 and what I control

 is always unpredictable.

 So I sit and wait

and try and comprehend

hoping one day

I will uncover the mystery.

-Lily Reeves

The changing fall foliage never fails to surprise and delight me. I constantly find myself pulling aside on the road to pluck a few bursts of color from a tree. I was simply stunned by the color and capacity these leaves held. Birmingham, AL had such a beautiful fall... so I thought I would share a taste.  Chlorophyll: the green color that dominates and masks out the colors of any other pigments that may be present in the leaf, which results in some fantastic fractal like veins of intense color. 
thanks nature.

up up & away

I can never pass up a D. Droukas video/photo project. 

So when he texted me on a Wednesday afternoon...

Droukas:Wanna help me put a camera 300 feet in the air

ME: Is there a getaway vehicle involved?

Droukas: Duh! You in?

ME: Absolutley, 5pm my place 

And this the the results:

Thanks D for the fun. 

Studio 2300 Open House

Studio 2300 had their first open house a few nights back.

Faculty members in the UAB Department of Art and Art History and the College of Arts and Sciences celebrated the opening of 10 new artist studios a few nights back @ Studio 2300. 

What  a beautiful facility filled with some talented folks. I am more than a bit jealous of their expansive space, filled with every tool, brush & trinket imaginable. Yet, one of the best quirks of the space is the vast open windows/walls that line each studio. Not that you ever stroll down 7th Avenue South, but if you find yourself in the neighborhood, be sure to pass by the studios and take a sneak peak. There's total transparency, literally and figuratively, you can see straight through into a handful of the 10 studios. Thus far, the studios have remained spotless, we'll see how long that lasts. 

Snapshots of the studios below: 

COLLABORATIVE ART

I was fortunate enough this weekend to coordinate the KIDZONE for Artwalk, among many ideas I had one in-particular that deserved a proper test run..an interactive art experience a.k.a collaborative birds nest. I may have been inspired by an event I have been preparing for @ BMA. Our last summer series Art on the Rocks was themed around the city's yarn bomber. She ended up covering an entire SMART car in a splendid car coozie that would make any granny drool. Check out the photos here!

Too often kids art activities are focused on a single work that can conveniently be taken home or worn & tucked away or forgotten in mom's purse. I had something different in mind, the supplies were simple, yarn and sticks, the end result- a collaborative and vibrant bird's nest. I encouraged the volunteers to engage with the kids and have them think about this creative process and how it could not be possible without the support and talent of plenty of others. It was awesome to watch the kids interact with each other, sharing techniques and stories on where they collected their stick and how they were making it their own. Sharing and communication seems second nature when you put a pile of sticks and yarn in front of eager kids. I loved every second of this weekend. It also gave me a great idea of a larger scale piece I want to work on. More to come of course. 

This was an example of one of the other kids area projects: OK, my "test" run was not exactly G rated, but I simply had to use the awesome Adam & Eve cartoon clip I found in the New Yorker- what a great magazine. I will also certainly be making plenty more of these. No worries- the kid's magazine cut-outs were all butterflies, stripes & bumblebees. I am all about practical and recycled art!