Living to the timeline of bread
--the art of making time for bread, as bread waits for no one ...lucy
Clarice Beckett, Sandringham Beach, 1933
Art
The art above is a summer scene painted by an Australian artist, Clarice Beckett. This is from a newsletter and artist I subscribe to, Dan Scott. Dan lists some good point for us all in any profession:
‘Earlier this week, I published a post on Australian Tonalist artist Clarice Beckett. One thing that struck me about her life was how many obstacles she had to overcome in pursuit of her art career.
- Her family was largely unsupportive of her artistic efforts.
- She had limited time to paint as she had to care for her ailing parents and take on all their household duties.
- Her father destroyed many of her paintings as he deemed them unfinished due to their impressionist style.
- She lived in a time rife with discrimination against female artists.
- Sales of her art were inconsistent and unable to provide her with a stable income.
Yet, she was prolific and created around 2,000 paintings and held many solo exhibitions. She did what she had to do in order to paint.
This is an important lesson for us artists, especially those just starting out. There’s no easy path! There will be obstacles and there will be resistance. More for some than others. All you can do is make the best of your situation and do whatever you can to get some painting done.
If you expect it to be easy and for everyone to support you on your journey, you’re in for a harsh reality check.’
Celebrate the first day of the summer June 21st
June 21, 2023, 9:57am was ‘the summer solstice, also called the festival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere.’ Wikipedia.
Now here in Texas it feels like the middle of August with the heat and humidity vying for your attention. A sad reminder that after June 21st the days will start to become shorter.
Get yourself outdoors and sweat a little and breathe in the air and enjoy the sunshine.
Cooking
Recently I have taken up baking bread again and started with baguettes. My baguette pan went missing after hurricane Harvey – I guess he (Harvey) needed to make bread. I picked up where I left off and the bread came out perfect and lasted longer than store bought bread. Which leads me to another newsletter I subscribed to: From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy -  ‘On Bread’ published June 9, 2023. Alicia Kennedy is a writer from Long Island now living in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her work on food and culture has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Eater, Bon Appétit, and many other publications. She has a newsletter titled "From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy," where she publishes essays, cultural criticism, a podcast, and recipes.
First batch of baguettes
In the article she speaks of her dear friend Diego. He’s the owner and baker behind Panoteca San Miguel. The bakery is in Puerto Rico where Alicia lives and she goes on to say, ‘he’s one of the most enthusiastic and unflappably happy people I know, always up for a collaboration, and he deeply understands the significant intermingling of food and printed matter.’ It was Diego that she refers to the phrase ‘Living to the timeline of bread.’ He has a baker’s life of getting up early. She goes on about how she learned to love bread growing up.
 Alicia shares another friend recent cookbook, ‘Bread and How to Eat It: A Cookbook’.
And yes, I have this book on order – someone shot me! This is a book about bread: how to make it and how to eat it at every stage of its life cycle--from the James Beard Award-nominated owner of cult-favorite bakery Bread & Salt. "What happens when an all-important subject like bread is tackled by one of the most talented chefs and one of the most engaging food writers in the country? Magic." --Mark Bittman, author of How to Cook Everything.
Next step for me is to tackle sourdough bread making.
Jewelry
Rachael Compton is a jewelry designer in Philadelphia and discovered her love for jewelry at an early age, continuously exploring craft shows, flea markets, and antique shops in pursuit of her next obsession. Each discovery held significance, representing a chapter in her life's journey. In 2017, Rachael learned the art of silversmithing, teaching herself the craft and creating the jewelry styles she had always sought but rarely found in her searches. Her company is called: by Ren Jewelry
Rachael Compton
Like her thoughts: ‘Our jewelry serves as a reminder of moments lived and offers a sense of comfort and familiarity that comes only from the objects we wear daily. Each piece is a playful nod to the most authentic parts of our being, celebrating individuality and self-expression.’
Patriotic
On July 4th, the Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence, which had been written largely by Jefferson. Though the vote for actual independence took place on July 2nd, from then on, the 4th became the day that was celebrated as the birth of American independence.
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO
‘How to Fly the American Flag’ is an article in the Wall Street Journal from June 14th. Thought I would include this for a few reasons. One we are quickly approaching the 4th of July where we celebrate our independence. Second, we have a flagpole and Tracy is diligent in going out every morning to put the flag in place and at a certain time in the evening to take the flag down. He also has established a trend in giving flag poles as a gift to our friends for their home and you know who you are. Third, for the Rockport Center for the Art yearly Art Auction Gala will have decorated seashells with a portion of the American flag laminated on the inside. The shells are for a fund-raising aspect of the evening. Yours truly still has 56 of the shells to complete. So, the flag is on my mind.
Seashells for sale at the Art Gala
Float Therapy
Another article from Wall Street Journal, When Finding Your Bliss While Floating , about floating had me initially thinking back to the summer when we were kids and floating occurred either in the pool, river/lake or Gulf. I always like the fact that you could block the chatter of the world out once your head was submerged into the water.  But instead, the article talks more about float therapy where you float for 60-90 minutes in special float tanks and in a dark room. Float tanks are designed to relieve our brain of all auditory, visual, or tactile sensations. They’re dark and quiet inside. The water is so salty that you float like a cork. The air and water are the same temperature as your skin, which blurs your perception of where our body ends. With nothing external to process, the brain has no choice but to power down. All in a foot of water. Don’t know about you but I like the other way so I can pop my head up from the water from time to time to see what is going on.
In closing…..
Karkiv, Ukraine high school graduation photo taken in the ruins of her high school. Positive comes from the ruins.
Have a great weekend and enjoy your summertime.