Archive for the ‘Things I’m a Fan Of’ Category
A Circle in Time
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010
A Circle in Time by Amy Crook
Insomnia brings art experiments! I had a ton of trouble sleeping last week, and around 3am one night I got bored with sitting around in bed and started wandering around the apartment, looking for things to do.
I had put this quote on the white board, plucked from the Storm Constantine book I was re-reading:
“A circle in time; we begin again.”
So I picked out one of the little pre-torn squares of soft, thick watercolor paper I had left from my printmaking days, pulled out a pan of Japanese watercolors, a brush, and a matching blue fountain pen, and this was the result. I waited until the watercolors were mostly dry — but not fully — before writing in the quote, so it blurred and became as much image as text.
A Circle in Time, 5″x5″ watercolor with pen and ink on Arches cover white paper.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: blue, for sale, pen and ink, watercolor
1 Comment »
Amy’s Mum’s Pumpkin Cookies
Monday, October 18th, 2010
It’s fall and time to make one of my absolute favorite treats! These cookies are practically little cakes with their fluffy texture and delicious icing, and while they’re a long process to make, it’s absolutely worth it.
I make these a little differently than my mother, so I’ve marked my own variations with a * in case you’re not quite so much of a spice nut as I am.
Amy’s Mum’s Pumpkin Cookies
Cream 1 cup of butter or shortening
Add & beat:
1 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin (puree or canned)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Sift together & add:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
*1 teaspoon ginger
*1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
*1 teaspoon cardamon
*1/4 teaspoon cloves
Drop on greased cookie sheet (I use parchment paper instead), bake at 375°F for 10-15 minutes. Check frequently for burning. (They will still seem a bit wet inside when they’re golden brown on the bottom, but will finish baking into a cake-like consistency as they cool.) Makes ~2 dozen.
Ginger Brown Sugar Icing
Start with:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter
Put in small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. Boil for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and let cool.
Stir in:
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
*1 teaspoon ginger
*1/4 teaspoon cardamon
1 cup powdered sugar
Add more powdered sugar until the consistency resembles a thick glaze, then frost your cookies. Icing will get everywhere, so i suggest you frost them on parchment paper. *grin*
Enjoy!
For those not in the US, when making your own pumpkin puree, use the smaller pumpkin varieties (approximately 5-7 lbs., 2 1/2 – 3 1/2 kg.). Cut the pumpkin in half lengthwise, remove seeds and stringy fibers, and place cut-side down on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) for approximately 45 minutes to 1 1/4 hours (depending on size) or until easily pierced with a knife. Scoop out the pulp and puree in a food processor until smooth. Can strain through cheesecloth to extract all the liquid. Cool before using.
Categories: Daily Art, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange, Words Words Words
Tags: autumn, cookies, food, pumpkin, recipe, sharpie marker
4 Comments »
Random Recipe: Pancakes
Monday, October 11th, 2010
I made delicious banana pancakes the other night, and I thought perhaps you’d like the recipe. It’s taken from the King Arthur Flour website, and then altered to make it extra delicious.
1.25 cups (5.25 ounces) self-rising flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1-2 dashes of cinnamon (depending on the fruit)
1 cup (8 ounces) milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) melted butter
1 banana, 1 peach, or a bunch of berries (about a cup)
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and cinnamon. I have a totally awesome heavy ceramic mixing bowl that I use that has Piglet on it, the smallest of a set of 3.
Measure the milk in a 2-cup measuring cup, then add the egg and whisk it in. While whisking, pour the melted butter into the measuring cup, and whisk them together until blended.
Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until blended.
Cut up the fruit. Bananas can be sliced, peaches should also be sliced into flat chunks, blueberries can just be tossed in as is, but strawberries also need slicing. Flat is good, so it doesn’t make weird lumps.
Lightly grease a skillet and heat it over medium heat until a drop of water dances or you get too impatient to keep waiting. I use a one-third-cup measuring cup to pour batter onto the skillet, making one pancake at a time. Place the fruit, if using — I usually get about 4-5 banana slices per pancake, or half a dozen berries, or 3 blueberries and 3 chunks of peach (heavenly).
Cook until the bubbles on the surface begin to break and the edges are starting to look dry. Turn the pancakes over and cook until lightly browned, about one more minute. This will also deliciously caramelize the fruit.
Remove from the pan and eat while you make the next one. The last pancake is always either really big or really small. I usually make an extra big one to eat with a big grin at the end.
I usually get about half a dozen big, delicious pancakes, eat half, and save half for the next morning. And yes, I eat them with syrup so they’re extra super sweet.
Categories: Daily Art, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: food, pancakes, recipe, sharpie marker, yum
Better Than Snail Mail
Saturday, October 9th, 2010
Better Than Snail Mail by Amy Crook
I drew this snowy owl several years ago for the program book at a convention, and then ended up making Cafepress swag out of it on a whim. I have it on a coaster and some greeting cards, actually, though I never bought the t-shirt for myself.
It also was the basis for my shoulder tattoo, although that owl is carrying a book rather than a letter.
Categories: Daily Art, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: Harry Potter, nfs, owl, pencil
Weeble Wednesday: Dagon
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
Weeble Dagon by Amy Crook
Today I’ve got another of HP Lovecraft’s creations, made into a creepy-adorable weeble. Dagon has his very own eponymous short story, but he also is alluded to in “Shadows Over Innsmouth,” the short story from which I illustrated a fishy Deep One earlier in the year.
Lovecraft had a real horror of all things fishy and oceanic, and it shows in the tentacled, scaley (and often quite overblown) descriptions he gave in his stories. I’ve tried to mix the macabre with the cute in my depictions, and I’ve had a lot of fun choosing which creature to cartoon next.
I’ll be adding him to my series of Lovecraftian Greeting Cards on Etsy as well, which are perfect for this spooky season.
Weeble Dagon, 5″x7″ pen, ink and copic marker on watercolor paper.
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Tentacles, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: coloring book, copic marker, etsy, for sale, lovecraft, pen and ink, weeble
2 Comments »
Endless: Delirium
Friday, October 1st, 2010
Endless: Delirium, 1/2 by Amy Crook
Today’s print is the last in a series of 4 which were inspired by Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, and the only one that I printed twice, once in a single color (below) and once in a sickly rainbow of shades (above).
Delirium was once Delight, though the story of how she went from one to the other remains untold. To represent this dual nature, there’s two intertwined sections of the plate, with butterflies fluttering in the light and — though they’re nearly impossible to see now — frogs hopping around in the darker sections of the image. Delirium was in many ways the most whimsical of the Endless, but at the same time represented a social loss of innocence.
Delirium, 2″x2.75″ etching on 6″x6″ watercolor paper, edition of 2, $199 each with free shipping.
Endless: Delirium, 2/2 by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: etching, for sale, intaglio, sandman
Endless: Despair
Thursday, September 30th, 2010
Endless: Despair by Amy Crook
Today’s print is the third in a series of 4 which were inspired by Neil Gaiman’s Sandman.
This plate represents one of a pair of “twins,” Despair, the sister to desire. I went entirely abstract with this one, as Despair wears no clothing, squatting in her domain of mirrors, listening to people’s murmurs as they look at themselves. The dripping aquatint shading grows dark and darker as it goes down the image, layer upon layer of the illusions we build to cover up the darkness inside.
Despair, 2″x2.75″ etching on 6″x6″ watercolor paper, 1/1, $199 with free shipping.
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: etching, for sale, intaglio, sandman
« Or Head Back That Way
More Art This Way »
