I just discovered a new gem of a blog, written by Ruby Re-Usable out in Washington. Olympia Dumpster Divers is all about where reuse and art come together. I’ve gone dumpster diving a time or two myself. The best time of year to go around here is in early May when all the university students are heading home for the summer. I’ve gotten wood, furniture, rugs, clothes, all kinds of things in great shape. I feel surprisingly subversive as I... Read more

So here is a couple of my finished prints, learning to mat them was a trick, but I’m starting to get the hang of it. Cutting on foam core board and using c clamps to hold the straight edge to the table seem to be the secrets. Read more

I love this song. It makes me move when I feel like a sloth and brings to mind memories of good times with my friends. http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer.swf/track=2216663054/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/ Read more

It’s that time of year here in Michigan when we’re inundated with apples. The cider mill is in full swing, and the Michigan State University Horticulture farm is selling off bushels of them for 12 dollars a bushel. We already got a bushel of apples, from my husbands work, and I’ve been busy making them into apple crisp and apple sauce. Since we’ve been eating wheat free for my daughter, it’s an experiment to make the crisp topping. I’m finding... Read more

I got this fire screen from a friend years ago, and since then I’ve tried to find a place for it because I love the fretwork. It had three spots where candles were supposed to go, so I used it for a fancy candleholder. But it’s big and awkward, so I noticed that the bottoms of the candleholder were shaped like hooks. So I took my hammer and knocked off the candle holder part, flipped it upside down and hung... Read more

It’s been a few weeks since I posted anything from my art journal, though I have been working on it. I also posted a peek at a big painting I’m working on. So far I’m still just working on sketching and adding papers to the canvas. the last pic is of a painting I did late at night a couple of weeks ago, I posted pictures but they were really bad, so I thought I post a better one. One... Read more

I just wanted to share some of the awesome stuff I’ve been picking up at estate sales. I’m becoming a real fan of them. It’s an odd thing though. I know I’m rifling through a life that is gone. As I move from room to room or table to table, I feel like an archeologist, piecing together clues. One house belonged to a woman who liked to travel, who studied social work in the 50’s. Pamphlets about teen sex with... Read more

I’ve been asked for my kimchee recipie a couple of times now, so I though I’d post it here. If you don’t know, Kimchee is a Korean fermented pickle, it’s really spicy, so if you like spice you’ll love it. It also is filled with all those probiotic things everyone is talking about, as well as being high in vitamin C and B vitamins. If you make it let me know how it turns out! I wish I had pictures,... Read more

Yesterday I gave a workshop on how to make your own raw sauerkraut out in Grand Rapids for the local Weston A. Price group. They were lovely, and I hope I helped them out. I really believe that it’s important for everybody to be eating raw foods, particularly fermented ones. We evolved within a matrix of bacteria and other “germs” and “parasites” and I think that in becoming obsessed with anti-bacterial everything we’ve essentially thrown the baby out with the... Read more

I wanted to share these pictures I snagged. Sadly I don’t remember where I snagged them from. I do remember that they are part of a series of pictures taken in the 1940’s of women workers. I like the looks on their faces. There is a strength and determination I don’t associate with pictures of women from that time. They are strong enough for their work. I imagine them going home, taking a shower and putting on a pretty dress... Read more