California Sun Turkey Sandwich

Hello bloggy readers!  It's been an exciting month full of contests and hard work redoing my website.  I can't wait for everyone to see it! (hopefully by the end of the week)  I also wanted to share a new recipe I finished over the weekend.

 It's for another awesome contest put on by Salli and Nate over at They Draw and Cook!  They asked artists to use a recipe featuring a tasty Kraft product.  I had a fun time working on this and in particular using a spring palette.  I've also started experimenting with making my own brushes to create textures = super satisfying!  There are a lot of beautiful entries this time around and I can't wait to see who wins the big $$$   


Later this week I'll have an update on the REPEAT contest.  I've made it to ROUND TWO!  Thanks friends and family members for making an effort to vote for me in the reader's choice award!  You guys are the best!

Killer Guac!

Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope you're spending it with friends, family or someone crush worthy!  This is one of my favorite recipes to make when I have friends over or I'm visiting my family.   I've been playing with some new textures and hand lettering.  What do you think?

If you want to see more illustrated recipes head over to They Draw and Cook! It's an inspiring site full of illustrated recipes from artists around the world.  I always end up finding a new dish I want to cook or a new favorite artist.

February Sketchbook peek

I love seeing other artists work in progress, so here's a few shots of a new recipe I'm working on. I've been itching to incorporate more hand lettered text into my work.

And more pattern... always more pattern.

These colors make me very happy.

By now you've probably guessed what this is a recipe for... I'll have the final posted sometime next week!

Elle Girl Korea

안녕 or hello to anyone reading this blog in Korea! I was so excited to be featured in the August issue of Elle girl Korea!

When I was living in Japan I would spend hours in the bookstore pouring through the fashion magazines. I loved seeing the Japanese, Italian and Korean versions of magazines such as Vogue and Elle. They would have such cute and creative editorial spreads and the magazines always came with a little gift. Usually a tiny tote, or a headband!!!

I was honored to be featured alongside some of my favorite food artists such as Claudia Pearson,

Lucille Prache

and Nate Pavadick!

Thanks to editor Kim A Reum for including me in this issue!

What I'm working on....

I was very resistant to working digitally. I thought the computer was evil itself. Now that I've figured out how to use it as a tool... I'm hooked! Seriously... what was wrong with me before? It has allowed me to be spontaneous in my mark making, change around lousy compositions and experiment with color/texture.

So... I was a little nervous about going back to the basics of paint and paper. But as I started painting this week I felt more confident then ever. I still love it!!!!!

Gettin' Figgy wit it!

This week keeps getting better and better! In addition to entering the squid contest on Spoonflower I was working on an entry for California Figs and They Draw and Cook's Year of The Fig Contest! There were many tasty looking recipes on their website that you could choose from.

I looked at a lot of fig recipes but ultimately decided on this one from Serious Eats .

I snuck in my entry at the deadline. There were a lot of really great fig recipes: Ingvard the Terrible, Lucile Prache, and James Gulliver Hancock were among my favorites!

... I came in 1st for dried fig recipes!!

I really like having a warm bowl of oatmeal in the morning but I had never tried it with figs. Turns out figs are amazing with a bit of cinnamon, vanilla, and honey. I like adding brown sugar to mine too! I love the shape of the figs and I wanted to make sure they were highlighted in my recipe. In the past I have struggled with getting all of my directions to fit on the page. I decided to try to be minimal with the written steps and really focus on the imagery.

A big Thank you to Nate and Salli from They Draw and Cook! If you haven't seen the new website go check it out! It has all these great ways of searching for recipes by artist, meal, ingredients, art style and country. Anyone can submit an illustrated recipe on their site. So... if you also like cooking and drawing, what are you waiting for? Submit a recipe! It's fantastic to find a site like TDAC with so many other artists that are as passionate about cooking and drawing.

Fennel & Orange Salad

This week's CSA came full of tasty new veggies including: squash, zucchini, broccoli and the biggest kohlrabi I've ever seen! I decided to try illustrating a recipe this week for a change of pace. Although, this recipe doesn't require many ingredients, directions or accuracy its an effortless summer dish and pretty to boot!

This recipe is adapted from Red, White and Greens, The Italian Way with Vegetables by Faith Willinger, one of my favorite cookbooks!