12/10/2009

Anatomical Heart Painting

Here's a sneak peak at my newest painting. I've been facinated with anatomy since I was a kid. I even had my own dissection kit which I brought to my biology class in middle school. That's probably why I didn't have very many friends...

12/09/2009

Turkey Stock

I'm making stock today with the bones I saved from my Thanksgiving turkey. I'm following the recipe in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and using fresh thyme grown in my Aerogarden. I can't wait until it's finished!

7/15/2009

Sausage and Barley Soup with Swiss Chard

Ingredients

Olive Oil
2 Carrots - Chopped
2 Ribs of Celery - Chopped
1 Onion - Chopped
2 TBS Minced Garlic
2 Italian Sausage Links - Cut Into Small Pieces
1/2 Pound Mushrooms - Quartered
1 Can of Diced Tomatoes
1 Cup Dry Red Wine
5 Cups Beef Broth
1 Cup Pearl Barley
1/2 Pound Swiss Chard - Chopped
1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1 tsp Dried Thyme

In a large pot heat olive oil (2 or 3 tablespoons) over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent.

Add sausage and mushrooms, cook until sausage begins to brown and the mushrooms release their liquid. Add all of the other ingredients except for the chard. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.

Add the chard, it looks like a lot but don't be scared - it cooks down! Give everything a stir and continue cooking for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Enjoy your hearty, scrumptious soup!

7/09/2009

Dulcimer - All together but not quite there.

Everything is put together and looks pretty good, but the nut and bridge are in need of work. I'm getting lots of buzz down by the bridge, it sounds almost like a sitar. (there's another project!) My fret placement is correct so that's at least good. Even with the problems I'm still happy, and it's nothing I can't fix! I'm thinking some string trees and a new bridge are in order.

7/06/2009

Cigar Box Dulcimer Ready to Finish

I added a 6 1/2 fret today after doing some more research on dulcimers. I also added some t-nuts to hold the strings, they seemed to work pretty good for my last build. So it's all glued together and ready for a tung oil finish!

7/05/2009

Cigar Box Dulcimer Frets and Body

I cut the notches out of the body today and stained it. I also drilled a few sound holes. For the frets I used matchsticks! I don't know if it will work, but they seem pretty sturdy. As a long time guitarist I have to say that the fret spacing for a dulcimer looks pretty strange.

7/04/2009

Cigar Box Dulcimer Neck

I carved the headstock, drilled holes for the machine heads, and rounded the back of the neck today. It's looking good so far. Now I need to clean up the mess I made since I work at the kitchen table and it's dinner time!

7/02/2009

Cigar Box Guitar T-Shirt

Cigar box guitar t-shirts, mugs, stickers and other goodies now available. They can all be found here.

6/30/2009

Hurray For Owls!

I've been working on an owl linocut. Part of my inspiration is childhood memories of some of the owl decor my parents used to have in the 70's. I was lucky enough to inherit this really cool cookie jar from my mom. I love that owl stuff has become popular again!


6/29/2009

Illustration Friday - Worn

Ink and watercolor on cold press watercolor paper.
Thanks to Anne Roberts for the amazing photo I used for inspiration!

Cigar Box Guitar #1

A few weeks ago I made my first cigar box guitar and I've been playing it everyday since then. I made it from an old wooden box I had that was once used to store chess game pieces. Here's a few pictures of my build: