Return to Studio

Moving has made it seem like it has been months since I have spent time in my studio, but in all actuality it has only been a few weeks.  The sketch books, brushes, pigments and canvases are calling, but before I can throw myself into a new canvas I am working on a project for the Long Beach Art Museum  http://www.lbma.org/Old%20Bags%20Luncheon.html.  They have asked several artists to create a bag that can be auctioned at a luncheon which will take place this month:  The 'Old Bags' Luncheon.    My bag will be intended for use at the market, be of painted canvas.  But I just cannot give them an empty bag, so I will paint the front of an apron to match the bag and include a small painting which will stand in an easel.  All of these will carry the theme of chile peppers. 

Here are a few chile pepper facts:

 The heat from a chile pepper is concentrated in the interior veins or ribs near the seed heart, not in the seeds as is commonly believed (the seeds taste extra hot because they are in close contact with the hot veins).

• Chilies can make foods safer - they are known to reduce harmful bacteria on foods.

• The burning sensation that makes chile peppers so appealing to culinary thrill-seekers comes from capsaicin or more accurately a collection of compounds called capsaicinoids.

• More than 140 varieties of chilies peppers are grown in Mexico alone.

• 1 out of every 4 people on the planet eat chilies every day.

Check back to see photos of this project as it moves forward.