FIBER... FOOD FOR THE SOUL - Fiber Art Master Pieces

FIBER…  FOOD FOR THE SOUL

Fiber Art Master Pieces

Lately the media have been filled with the latest nutritional discoveries… Wheat, not so good.  Fat, not so bad.  And fiber, a “must” for a healthy body.

Well, what about fiber for the soul?  And, no I don’t mean soul food, though many of your know how I love to write about food.

Back story: A few years ago our ‘hood changed drastically when dear friends moved to Ojai. But as the saying goes, one door closes, another opens.  And for my husband and me, the door to Ojai opened us up to a new and charming ‘hood – one that we visit frequently.

So what does that have to do with fiber? 

Well, it was on a visit to Ojai this past weekend that I discovered fiber “food” for the soul: Exciting textural, colorful fibers knitted, crocheted, appliquéd, quilted and sewn into works of art by such artists as Leslie Rinchen Wongmo, John Nava, Linda Taylor, Susie Swan and Kyle Crowner in an exhibit at the Ojai Valley Museum.

The museum, housed in a former Catholic church, is a charming mission-style structure...

 

... with sculptural art displayed right there in its front yard, my favorite piece being a limestone fence post from Kansas which has been transformed into a sleek sculpture by artist, Fred Whitman.

Before we entered the museum, we were treated to a new twist on graffiti or street art.  In the wee hours of the morning, the entrance to the building had been anonymously fiber “bombed” with whimsical yarn hangings and wrappings by Ojai night owls… the perfect introduction to the Fiber Art Master Pieces Exhibit inside.

 

Once inside, the first thing you see is an exquisite appliqué quilt which anyone could own by the mere purchase of a raffle ticket and the luck of the draw. I decided to go for it. The quilt was sewn by a group of Ojai women who love quilting and enjoy putting their talents into raising money for charity. A 21^st century take on the time-honored “quilting bee.”

 

In the alcove leading into the exhibit in the rotating gallery is a separate art display by Valerie Freeman titled, “Beatrice Wood, Duchamp & Chess.” 

 

This conceptual art chess installation made of raku (a type of Japanese pottery) and luster is an homage to renowned American artist, Beatrice Wood. Wood, along with lover and life-long friend, world-famous artist Marcel Duchamp, was involved in the ground-breaking Dada art movement in New York City in the early decades of the 20^th century and was dubbed “Mama of Dada.”  The sensual scarlet and gold sari displayed in the fiber art exhibit once belonged to Wood.

Purportedly a partial inspiration for the character of “Rose” in James Cameron’s, “Titantic,” Wood passed away in Ojai shortly after her 105^th birthday.

As you enter the rotating gallery you pass quilt hangings: “Sisters” by Susie Swan...

 and “Spirals” a 12”x12” raw-edge, reverse appliqué, then machine quilted piece by Kyle Crowner...

 followed by Ruth Marks’ colorful pancho and tunic and Lise Solvang’s knit dresses. 

 

On the opposite wall hung an intricately made sweater created by Fran Bulwa.

But, it’s Crowner’s faux chenille jacket that really dazzled me. The faux chenille technique involves layering fabrics (in this case 5 layers), sewing rows of stitching on the diagonal, then slitting between the rows of all but the bottom layer. When the garment is washed, the cut edges soften and blur. The jacket’s design, texture, and layers of subtle colors make it a work of wearable sculpture – not only aesthetically beautiful, but completely functional. I just wanted to slip my arms into the sleeves of this fiber sculpture and have it embrace me.

 

As I walked around the gallery room...

 

 I was treated to a patchwork of fiber design styles and techniques that included rich, vibrant crazy quilts from the 1800’s...

 

 “Still For A Moment” a still life by Carolyn Ryan using a quilting and fusing technique for texture...

and a vignette of dolls:  Eaton-Thacher “Toad,” “Native American Girl” by Swan, and “Sonny & Chair” by Bulwa.

Dominating the back wall was “R.E.” a huge tapestry of a woman’s face by John Nava that reminded me of the Vermeer painting, “Girl With The Pearl Earring.”  Nava, known as a figurative painter in the realistic tradition, has “translated” his portraits into jacquard tapestries. The effect is stunning.

 

He starts by creating a painting of his chosen image. When the painting is ready, he scans the image into a computer. He then configures the digital image for a special loom in Bruges, Belgium. The limited color palette of the loom and various textural considerations require special attention at this stage. When the specialized digital file for the loom is finished being prepared, Nava uploads the file via the internet to Belgium. A tapestry arrives several weeks later. Among Nava’s work are tapestries he created for the Cathedral of Our Lady of The Angels in downtown Los Angeles.

Another remarkable wall hanging was “Holy Thangkas” by Leslie Rinchen Wongmo.  Wongmo is one of only a few westerners trained in this rare intricate Buddhist art of silk appliqué thangkas, a technique that can be traced back to the 13^th century. The effect is a lush, multi-dimensional, beautiful piece of art.

Among other fiber artworks was “Answered Prayer” a pictorial quilt by Susie Swan...

 and “Sashiko Sample” (sashiko is a form of Japanese decorative reinforcement stitching) by Lynne Wood.

And then there was the red gown by Linda Taylor made from layers of paper with recognizable sayings and pictures of the Mona Lisa and other iconic women in art incorporated onto the paper. This diaphanous, romantic dress shimmers in the light, itself so light and ethereal it could only be worn by a princess in a fairytale.

 

More examples of fiber art in this wonderful exhibit:

So, if you’re up for a change in the ‘hood, head for picturesque Ojai, feed your body in one of the many lovely restaurants and bistros, then feed your soul at the Fiber Art Master Pieces Exhibit at the Ojai Valley Museum.

Ojai Valley Museum

130 West Ojai Avenue

Ojai, Calif.  93023

805-640-1390 x 203

www.ojaivalleymuseum.com

Open to the public: Tues – Fri., 10:00am – 4:00pm

January 19 through March 31, 2013

$5.00 for Non-Members at the door

 (This review originally appeared in the online newspaper, Studio City Patch - March 13, 2013)

 

AN ODE TO YARDLEY ...

AN ODE TO YARDLEY

A Dollar Tree Appreciation

Not long ago a change happened in our ‘hood that made me soooo not happy. Mainly Seconds, my favorite “go-to” discount store closed its doors, replaced by yet another dollar store. I was so upset, I wanted to picket.

Gone were the terra cotta and pottery garden pots, small and large, from Mexico and Eastern Europe. Gone were the pretty, colorful flowering plants for $4.99 that I plopped into pots and scattered around my deck…not to mention the beautiful poinsettias that I would buy by the hundreds (well, my husband thought it was by the hundreds) at Christmas time at prices nobody in town could beat. Gone were the “seconds” china, bouquets of artificial flower, greeting cards, knick knacks, and wicker baskets. And, gone were the aisles of Christmas decorations put out every holiday season. 

In its place are aisles of stuff you can find at the zillion dollar stores in the city and valley. Did we really need to have Mainly Seconds, a funky, eclectic store filled with treasures, replaced by a store that sells items that are a dime a dozen? These stores are multiplying faster than Starbucks.

So it was a huge surprise to me when I fell in love with our new dollar store, the Dollar Tree.

As I was tooling around the ‘hood doing errands with my husband a few days ago, he wanted to stop at Dollar Tree for something. I reluctantly joined him, resenting being there and resenting everything on display, no matter what it was. As I followed him up and down the aisles I caught the fragrance of a lovely, long ago scent that was mingling with the pungent odor of cheap deodorant soaps. Visions of my mother as a young thirty-something filled my head. As I explored the aisle for the odor’s origin, more and more youthful memories ran through my brain like a filmstrip…

…I watched my mom making supper on her cherished Chamber’s stove, saw her lovingly cleaning and bandaging my scraped knees, felt her warm presence as she taught me how to embroider, and heard her huffing and puffing softly as she ran behind me holding onto the seat of my first two-wheeler, making sure I maintained my balance as she taught me how to ride a bike.

Like a bloodhound, I found the source of those memories. There it was, piled proudly in a bin along with Irish Spring, Dial, Jergens and Palmolive: Yardley’s English Lavender Soap. 

  

I couldn’t believe it… Yardley’s English Lavender Soap!!! 

 

My mom’s soap! My mom’s scent! The scent I smelled every time I snuggled up to her for love and comfort. 

  

For years and years my bath soap of choice has been tuberose from Neiman’s – a far cry from the Dollar Tree. I love the way the scent lingers in my bathroom after I’ve showered. But, as much as I love the tuberose perfume, it doesn’t wrap me up in my mother’s arms. It may have been decades since I bought a bar of Yardley’s lavender soap (heck, I didn’t even know they still made it), but I had to have it.

No more Neiman’s tuberose for me and my bathroom after a shower never smelled lovelier.

A wonderful flood of memories… certainly worth a dollar.

Thanks Dollar Tree.

'TIS THE SEASON OF THE SOUP - Granmere's French Navy Bean Soup

‘TIS THE SEASON OF THE SOUP

Granmere’s French Navy Bean Soup

It makes perfect sense that the cold and flu season is soup season… Last week in our cold-ridden house lentil was the soup du jour… This week’s soup is navy bean…

OK, fine – I love navy bean soup, but my inquiring mind wanted to know.  “Navy” bean?  Why are those delicious, little white beans called ‘navy’ beans?

Well, I let my little fingers do the walking over to google for the answer.  First up:  they’re called navy beans because they were served on board naval ships.

OK, fine – but that’s just a tad too simple.  There had to be a better reason than that. So, my fingers did another walk over to google.  Second up: during the seafaring age in Europe, these little white beans could be grown on board ships and stored in casks for a long time without rotting or going rancid, so the European navies used these beans as a staple to feed its men on board.

OK, fine – that makes sense.  Fiber and protein for sailors… and it makes a helluva soup.

Here’s the soup Richard made for us this week.  Healthful, hearty, filling, inexpensive and oh soooooooooo good.  It’s called Grandmere’s French Navy Bean Soup.  The recipe doesn’t say whose grandmere, but you know the French, there’s always a grandmere somewhere making soup.

“GRANMERE’S FRENCH NAVY BEAN SOUP”

Courtesy of Cassoulets U*S*A

Ingredients:

1 lb French navy beans

2 quarts of water

1 ham hock or left-over ham bone

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 bay leaf

3 whole cloves

2 stalks celery (with leaves), finely chopped

1 carrot, shredded

Sea salt to taste

Pepper

spinach (optional)

Directions:

Prepare Beans according to the package.  

Richard used Cassoulets U*S*A beans: Rinse and pick over.  Pour boiling water over beans to cover by 2 inches.  Cover and leave for one hour. Rinse and drain.

In a large cooking pot, add the beans to 2 quarts of water, along with the ham hock, onions, bay leave, cloves, celery, and carrot.  

Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for about 2 hours or until beans are very tender and the soup begins to thicken.

Discard bay leaf and remove ham hock.

When cool, remove meat and cut into chunks.

Partially mash beans and vegetables to thicken soup.

Return cut up ham to soup.  Season with salt and pepper (Richard added spinach in these last minutes) and reheat to serve piping hot.   

Garnish with parsley.

Anchors away!!!

WOE IS ME & RICHARD'S FRENCH LENTIL SOUP

WOE IS ME

&

"Richard’s" French Lentil Soup

OK – it’s winter a/k/a the flu season.  But like the smart grown-ups we are, Richard and I got our flu shots early.  No way were we going to get the flu.  Well, as we all know, the flu isn’t the only “disease” you can get in winter… there’s always the tried and true severe winter cold, coupled with severe bronchitis.  And, for the past week, we’ve been house/couch/bed ridden with both.  Our house looks like an infirmary and sounds like a TB ward… cough, cough, cough – sniffle, sniffle, sniffle.  Woe is me.  Woe is us.

There’s an adage: feed a cold, starve a fever.  So, since neither of us had a temperature past 100, we entered into “feed a cold” mode.  We made improv chicken soup from box broth, frozen chicken dumplings from TJ’s and fresh veggies… even had a can of Campbell’s chicken noodle and tomato soup for a couple of lunches, but as our health improved slightly, our taste buds became more discerning. We wanted really homemade soup... something gourmet-y… But we were still too weak to make a run to a market.

Hence, Richard’s own lentil soup.  Well, maybe not his own, but his version of a French lentil soup.  We had about two tons of lentils in our ‘larder’ he bought for a dollar somewhere, so why not?  We had spices and some aging carrots, wilting celery, and a yellow onion.  Perfect for soup. And why not throw in the leftover fresh spinach at the bottom of the veggie draw. But we didn’t have a fresh tomato in the house… not even a can of peeled and chopped or stewed tomatoes.  We were tomato-less until he found a congealed jar of sun-dried tomatoes in the back of the fridge. After warming the jar to liquefy the oil Richard drained them, cut them up and added them to the mix.  A tomato is a tomato, right?

 

We’re still not better.  But, the lentil soup was sun-dried scrumptious and healthful (all that protein, iron and fiber, ya know).  Sometimes you just need a change from chicken soup when you’ve got a cold.

“Richard’s” French Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped carrots

½ cup chopped celery

2 teaspoons Kosher salt

1 lb. lentils

1 cup peeled, chopped tomatoes (or, per Richard, one jar of drained sun-dried tomatoes)

2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock

½ teaspoon coriander

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon pepper

 a handful (or two or three) of fresh spinach (a Richard ingredient)

balsamic vinegar (another Richard ingredient)

Directions:

Heat oil in pot.  Over a medium/low flame, add the chopped onions, carrots, celery and salt and “sweat” seven minutes or so.

Add lentils, tomatoes, stock, coriander, cumin and pepper and increase heat to high.  Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 35 to 40 minutes. 

Just before serving, fold in the spinach 

and let simmer another minute or two.

 

Then puree the soup with a hand blender til you get your desired consistency.  

Note: Before serving, Richard also added a touch of balsamic vinegar giving the soup a richer color.

Bon appetit!

A WEEK IN SHANGRI LA - Pt. Three - Osteria Monte Grappa

A WEEK IN SHANGRI LA

Part Three

(Osteria Monte Grappa)

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening, in the lane snow is glistening…

Well, not quite. I live in sunny southern California after all.  Oh, we had some rain over the holiday, but our annual Christmas Eve fete was a chilly but dry one.  The fire was ablaze and the trees and mantels were decorated and lighted as our 35 guests arrived for dinner to Christmas music playing softly in the background.  We ate, drank and were merry – then it was over and the music was turned off.

Now it’s that sort of limbo week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve where one often reflects about the passing year.  I’m not much of a reflector, but my book came out in 2012 to some pretty nice reader reviews from people I don’t even know and Richard’s softball team won its league championship, so I reflected on that with a smile. 

One truly pleasant 2012 diversion was our week of house sitting in Ojai, Calif., so I thought I’d take this “lost week” to finish my Ojai trilogy and tell you about our last day in “Lost Horizons’” Shangri La.

As we waited for our friends Stu and Kyle to come and reclaim their home later that evening, we spent the day walking around the neighborhood, further exploring the town’s “Main Street” saying silent farewells to the mission architecture

the local bijou...

 
the shops and walkways. Then we treated ourselves to lunch at Osteria Monte Grappa, a restaurant we had been dying to try.

The restaurant is simply but invitingly decorated with white table cloths, creamy walls, comfortable chairs and vibrant art...

but it’s the outdoor patio that really attracted me with its tables nestled under beautiful trees forming a canopy over the patio.

As we looked over the menu which is filled with a variety of Northern Italian dishes that all sounded wonderful, we dipped some fresh baked bread into really good olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 

Richard finally chose an egg linguini with diver scallops, spinach, pancetta and onion dressed with that good olive oil.  I love scallops, so of course I had to have a bite. Truly delicious.

I chose a pasta with grilled chicken and spinach in a light cream sauce. Rich, fattening, but oh, so good.

A soft breeze blew as we sat under the trees enjoying our lunch and dreaming of the time we can return to Shangri La and, perhaps, come back to Osteria Monte Grappa for dinner when the patio turns romantic with little white lights shining through the leaves above, like a million stars in the sky.

If you get to Ojai before we do, save us a table.

Happy New Year everyone!

Osteria Monte Grappa

205 Signal St.

Ojai, Calif. 93023

805-640-6767

www.Omgojai.com