T.J.'s Mexican Night and Knit Chair Covers

We had a Trader Joe's fiesta last night. Mini beef tacos, guacamole, sour cream, baked beans, and salsa verde, total yums!

 
Here is a pic of my dad kinda-sorta modeling the knit chair covers I made last year. They came out a little wonky and weird looking so I never posted them. But since I was getting rid of the chairs I wanted to take a photo before they go. I added removable pillows as the stuffing, so they were super comfy. I think this was a fun way to change the look of the chairs without making any permanent changes/damage.

Goal of the week: Not look like a dirtbag

It has come to my attention that I look disgusting.

Exhibit A: Small group of 20 something girls uncontrollably staring at me and whispering from one foot away on the subway. Perhaps they were impressed with my hobo-like ability to carry 4 full tote bags of stuff or perhaps they were trying to figure out what type of smiling animals were patterned on my t-shirt. More likely it was that I smelled like turpenoid, had paint-splattered denim on, and was wearing a cardigan when it was 90 degrees out.


Exhibit B: Elderly woman looked like she was either going to barf on me or call security when I was looking at some trousers in Banana Republic. You think strangers would try to encourage the purchase of a new pair of khaki trousers by a woman wearing paint-splattered denim and a holey black t-shirt (when it was still 90 degrees out). Sal said I looked like a "biker chick", which I guess is fine for the Fall but not for the Summer.

Ok, so I gave in to the societal stares and bought some new t-shirts and a pair of new jeans, and will try to incorporate some skirts into the wardrobe this week.  I just find it hard to be practical (wearing something that I don't mind getting paint on) and be season appropriate.

BUT my clothing practicality did pay off this week though...

I experienced my first train evacuation! The train was unable to enter the station because of a "police investigation" which I strongly suspect means "dead body on the tracks" so the whole train was forced to evacuate the train through the last car.  As the girls in front of me were freaking out in their barely there strappy sandals and mini dresses I was pretty happy to have my comfortable shoes and dirty denim on. You never know when you will have to navigate train tracks with subway rats... but I am determined to find a happy medium this week.

Prescription fulfilled

My dentist prescribed the Storm King Art Center in upstate New York as a good day trip from the city.

Three legged Buddha by Zhang Huan

It is primarily an outdoor museum located in the scenic Hudson Valley.  They had a small exhibition going on in the visitor center/ museum building. My favorite piece from the indoor selection was this round bookshelf below.

Unfortunately we didn't come prepared, especially for a hot day in the summer. We envied the other visitors who were all geared up with picnic blankets, food, beverages and even art making materials.

Pyramidian by Mark Di Suvero

On the way back home we stopped at Palaia Vineyards for my first (pink) wine slushie and some bread and cheese!

We made another stop at the Woodbury Commons Outlets for a little bit of retail therapy.  Overall a good day, not recommended for the super hot days of summer, but still a good getaway.

Tip of the week!

Do not consume any pastilles/candy/mints with this warning label, *especially* in a you-can-hear-a-pin-drop classroom environment. Ungodly groans from your intestines are definitely a distraction from making sure the proportions of your painting are correct. Ugh.  So I will blame my lackluster painting this week on Phenylketonurics  Phenylalanine. You heard it here first :).

2 new posts on the painting blog

Bucket seating for plein air painting (kinda ghetto, but I like the idea) and a little how-to about painting a figure composition by my teacher Max Ginsburg.

lemon& basil infused water

Great for a hot day like today! I am using a Hario pitcher that has a strainer on top, it is awesome!

Tiny espresso maker

Stove top espresso maker for making small shots of coffee. A gift from Italy.

First painting of the summer session

Yesenia detail, originally uploaded by m patrizio.

Here is a detail (taken with my super crappy ipad camera) of the painting I've been working on the last two weeks. You can see the full version here

Paying my bills in style...

with Bloodybunny's screenprinted stickers!

I recycled my shrunken wool J. Crew sweater :(  into some new slippers for Sal :). I took apart his raggedy old slippers to try to salvage what I could and to trace the existing material to make a new pattern.  I took out the foam insert, washed it and used it as a guide for the shape of the sole pattern. I added a seam allowance to the traced pattern and then cut it out of the sweater. I cut open the sleeves for the top parts and used the front of the sweater for the foot beds. I stitched on a piece of nubuck leather left over from my peasant booties onto the sole to avoid any super slippage and used tan wool left over from making Timmie cocoons for the lining. I added some more padding to the foam inserts with these:

Easily available at pharmacies, and saw them here for 99 cents.

I left an opening by the toes to slip in the foam insert and then flipped it inside out and hand stitched it closed.

basement mural

Here's how the paint sample mural turned out.

The storage bench on the right is actually 2 benches that I found in the trash that I stacked and had my dad add pegs to secure.

I still have a ton of paint left over after painting the wall and the storage bench. I probably only used about $6 worth.

The chocolate version

No, it is not a creepy roach party, it is the chocolate covered almond attempt.  For this version I used unsweetened cocoa powder, light corn syrup, sugar, water, vanilla extract, and a couple splashes of milk. Looks like a scene from a horror movie, but tastes yumsy.

Candied Almonds

A super quick sweet treat using ingredients I already had at home. In a pan I heated almonds, a little bit of water, maple sugar, and light corn syrup. When all the sugar dissolved and coated the almonds I flattened them out on wax paper to cool.

It's Pat...

My painting from the weekend workshop I just did.

Dipping into the oil paint...

I recently added images to my Painting & Sketch blog of some life studies that I did last week.  Above is a painting of dead roses from back in February.  It is kind of rough and abstract but I like how it looks in the rustic white wooden frame.  I am going to monitor another painting workshop this weekend at The Art Students League and will be working on a 2-day pose, I am hoping to get a more developed piece out of it.

First Knee-High Boots Results

Here's how the boots turned out with the chartreuse lining. I originally wanted to keep the zipper exposed, but it looked cheap so my teacher suggested I add a covering with snap closures. I learned a lot from making these (lots o' mistakes) that I can apply to my next boot.

A few of the bigger mistakes:
1. Not using a boot shaper /support caused the leather to wrinkle.  I bought the one I'm using now from Manhattan Wardrobe Supply.
2. Not creating a zipper cover for the inside. Metal teeth + foot heel = ouchy!
3. Not testing the wax finish on piece of scrap leather first ~ uneven dye job on the sole. :(

I feel like a highway patrol officer when I wear these. I might be tempted to make a few citizen arrests or give out a few fines for when dog owners leave poopage by my place... grrrr... or junior high litterers arrghhh...or disturbances of the peace by guido car horns...double argh.  Ok now I sound like a pirate, so I will stop.

breakfast is servvvved.

brownie ramekin, originally uploaded by m patrizio.

Inspired by the brownie in a mug in the microwave thing, I've been making myself these single serving brownies in ramekins in the oven (I don't have a microwave). I like it because 1. I am not tempted to eat the whole tray of brownies 2. I can add a small amount of extra ingredients, this one I added some chocolate chips on top and some walnuts in the mix.

At first I tried to add a small amount of egg as it asks for on the package (Trader Joe's Brownie Truffle Mix) but it came out too bready and Sal was concerned I was going to give him salmonella poisoning. Soooo I tested out adding some butter and a small amount of boiling water and it came out awesome!

first paint move

I decided on painting random angular shapes with the samples. First move- a shape in the color sea glass. I started to tape up another shape behind the desk, that is where I want the darkest gray to go, my idea is to try to make the desk disappear into the wall.  I think if I keep all the shapes under 16 ft, it will work out.

paint samples

*might* have over done it with the Martha Stewart paint samples. I want to paint a wall in my place a warm darkish gray. I may end up doing stripes or some other pattern with all the samples. I think it was an okay deal for 18-8oz samples for $24 including tax and shipping. Each jar is supposed to cover approximately 16 feet. I'm hoping to have enough to stripe the one small wall and then have extra to paint a furniture piece in a neutral color.  I ordered these from The Home Depot. It stinks that they didn't use clear plastic/glass so you can see the colors instantly instead of having to open them all.

Happy Easter from the Easter hamster!

Happy Easter from the Easter hamster!, originally uploaded by m patrizio.

peasant booties completed!

Knee-High Boot WIP

 

Here is where I am at in the knee-high boot making process. Currently they still look like dark brown garbage bags in a boot-ish shape. I still have to add the toe puff and counter for structure and then I can finish lasting (attaching the upper part) and attach the sole. Hopefully they won't look so garbage baggy when I am done.  Oh, and I still have to make a strap and attach the spur! Yikes! I think these boots will be ready in 2013 at this pace.

Next month I hope to finish up with the website projects I've been working on and get back to making new items for my shop, get my painting muscles back in shape and start doing Illustration Friday again. 

feeling minty

I'm loving mint for the Spring season. I really like how it looks paired up with neutrals. I think some gray, peach, dusty pink, tan...t-shirts or tank tops are in order.

A boot and a couple of new tools

This past week I've been working on a pair of nubuck boots. Well, really one boot. I wanted to make one first to test out the pattern/design and to see if actually fits. I've been walking around my place with one boot on all morning and I find it pretty comfortable except for where the big toe proximal phalange meets the metatarsals. I need to thin down or cut off the leather of the boot tongue at that point. 


My friend Mu Pan has a show up now at 3rd Ward in Brooklyn. While I was there I noticed they were selling a small selection of beeee-utiful tools, stationery, work wear, etc... I purchased this shiny red utility knife, not because I needed a knife, but because everyone knows that shiny red objects in your life make everything better. Also I bought it because it was embossed Made in America and didn't hurt the wallet at $5. I also purchased this metal scribe which I plan on using to mark seam allowances on my leather projects. Yaaaay tools!

Fair Isle Leggings

I would like to make a pair that look something like this. This is a photo of my legs squeezed into the arms of a slightly too snug hooded sweatshirt.  Since I haven't been wearing this sweatshirt anyway, I am going to take it apart and see if I have enough material to make a full pair of leggings for myself.  I think with some brown boots and a tunic it might look cute and less pajama-y.

New pattern in the fabric shop!

This fabric is now available.  I designed this Aztec-inspired pattern in blue and also a gray version in hopes of making a pair of leggings from it.  I am also working on a chevron style pattern that I will be adding to the shop soon. I found a great tutorial for leggings here.

vintage haberdashery

I found an awesome yarn shop on a short road trip to Pennsylvania yesterday.  It was called Tucker's Yarns in Allentown. It was a giant shop frozen in time, it was so amazing. I felt like I took a time machine back to the 70's. All the popular crafts from that time period were still hanging on the walls seemingly untouched for decades! Sadly, I didn't take any pictures because I forgot my camera home (and don't have a smart phone yet). The gorgeous packaging of the products kept my mouth agape for most of the time I was shopping.  They had these balls of angora yarn from France (from 1960-70?) packaged in boxes with an adorable illustration of a bunny on it. I was about to buy it just because of the awesome box but then realized it was 14.99/ ball, not per box. I'm definitely a sucker for packaging but $90 for the box was too rich for my blood. Anywhoooooo....if you are in the area you must go check it out...it is amazing. They were well stocked with new yarns as well.  I am already itching to go back. Also what was so cool is that almost all the vintage items were made in the USA or imported from Europe.

I picked up a spool of strawberry ribbon made in N.J., Candy colored safety pins made in Connecticut, and buttons from Garden City, NY.!

I want to go back already and keep treasure hunting! 

New headphones

Sal bought me some mint colored headphones so I can enjoy my new favorite pastime ~ obsessively watching how-to videos on YouTube ~ in silence.  Modeled by Mr. Bank Bear who moonlights as a free card peddler at craft shows.

Linen Project Folder

Here is a jumbo size (14 x 24 x 3") linen envelope I created for holding patterns and materials.  Right now it is housing the uppers for a pair of boots that I am working on.  This envelope has 2 compartments, one holds the fabric/leather and the zippered part holds pens, patterns and small supplies. Although it is starting to get a little wrinkly, I still think it is a classy and more eco-friendly alternative to a plastic folder and it doubles as a blankie on the subway on the way to class :)

D.I.Y. wood veneer table (first attempt)

The D.I.Y. in this scenario stands for Don't Irritate Yourself.  Have you ever thought that cheapy weirdly-hard-to-clean-surfaced Ikea laptop table would look awesome covered in cheapy cedar shelf liner...maybe not a good idea.  Self adhesive veneer sheets or tape would have been a better bet, but they are pricey.  If I try this again, I would first flatten out the lining with heavy objects for a day or so and then glue it on. I already had the glue,varnish, and pressure roller thingy in my studio, so for a $6 investment in the liner I thought it was worth a try.