3rd Highlight and some finishing work

The third highlight really brightens the faces and some darks were laid in. One of the highlights at the edge of the face is a bright apple green that Greek iconographers use to brighten the base tones of the skin. Some of the ground work for the garments is laid in and overall touching up.

The garments get the full treatment in this episode and the face gets the final strokes and touch of uncreated light. I may redo some of the Christ robes since I see them in photo now and am not completely happy with the forms created by the highlights. I still have to finish the border and check for any other undone parts I may have overlooked. Usually I like to live with it for a bit before the final varnishing. I place it somewhere where I will catch it off guard and see it with fresh eyes.

First and Second Highlights, Icon Progression

The process is slow now as we add the first highlights over the golden layer beneath. You may have noticed a blush applied to the cheek areas. Now we start to slowly build up the first highlight. A lighter version of the first golden color each applied with a liner brush in long strokes that contour the face. While theses photos emphasize the golden tone, in real life it is much more subtle that this. some of the lines are being laid in for the garments again and the eyes have been worked on. Darkening the eye "liner", whitening the cornea, deepening the pupils.

Now the second highlight is applied. A shade lighter than the first and a smaller area applied to allow each layer to show through at the edges. Again, a gradual blending in strokes, never looking solid and heavy and the lines always following the facial contours defining the curves and space. A third will follow, even lighter. The final few strokes in pure white "ozivki" will be applied lastly. They represent the pure "uncreated" light of Christ. traditionally some dark red will be applied aside the nose and cheek.

I am constantly overlaying the drawing on the painting to ensure that I have not wandered too far from the original forms. I have used white chalk to make guidelines for the garments. The chalk is easily brushed off after the paint dries.  The edges are looking rough right now but they will get a a coat of Red Earth paint and then left alone or possibly gilded. Depends on my mood at the time. If I use the Red Earth, there will be a final thick green line between the image and the red border.  Just a traditional thing.

You see there are no halo lines in this icon as the composition is so tightly cropped. The halo remnants are the gilded areas around the hand and behind he Maphorion in the upper right of the icon. Since Christ is so centrally located within another figure, this is a rare time where he has no halo at all. There will be no lettering on this icon either due to the composition. This would not be considered a "real" icon in this regard as the composition is too cropped for purists. This panel measures 9 inches by 12 inches, 3/4 inches thick. It is a plywood panel, birch with a prepared ground that has been heat finished onto the surface. The surface is very smooth and made for this type of paint. It is not suitable for egg tempera applications. It does, however, gild beautifully.

I am using a water based size and 23 K gold for the gilding. Normally I would use marine varnish and a 12 hour size. That produces a highly burnishable finish (polished) and makes the gold look like a mirror.

As I am online this a.m. (Tuesday) I can compare this with the original. The original is much more subtle of course. I am still and probably always will be a student with a much coarser hand and eye in the bitter end.  I make a lot of rookie mistakes that I see other students make. The over emphasis here and the incorrect form there. A failure to contrast light and dark. Takes a lot of practice to master these arts and I have neither the time nor inclination to be so disciplined. A sign of our times or a faithless lack of commitment?  Probably more the latter than the former. Just not willing to put in the hours. My kids are much more dedicated to their chosen careers than I am to my hobbies. I am afraid that if it does not come easy I lose interest or get frustrated (ask my saxophone). You would think that as many of these as I have painted, I would be better at it. The human condition.

Eating Omaha one weekend at a time...

Our friends, Mat and Lori and us decided the New Year is an opportunity to try all those fabulous Omaha eateries we never quite seem to get around to. Our first foray into the Omaha restaurant pool was Mark's Bistro in Dundee.

There are no reservations for a party our size so we took our chances. As I suspected there was a long wait but the hostess told us they could set up a table for 4 upstairs. Private and exclusive we took the challenge. The service was great (I felt a bit sorry for the poor waitress who had to climb those stairs a few time to serve us.) The regular menu is a bit light but the special sounded good for the night  (I KNOW....never order the special) so against better judgement I ordered the Veal Chops.

For starters we had the Tomato Con fit and Cheese Plate. Both were great served with generous helpings of bread and the Na an or Pita that was served with the Con fit was very tasty. They have a corking fee if you bring a wine not on the menu. A great way to save a buck or two.

The main course for all of us was a bit of a disappointment. Mat and I ordered the Veal which was under seasoned and not as caramelized as I would have liked. Lori's Salmon was OK and Brenda ordered a salad. Overall and OK experience. I would be willing to try once more, the others I am not so sure.

We have a long list to go and I hope for the best.

Coq Au Vin with a twist

Tonight was an all day affair. I love long, slow cooking with a Dutch oven and some nice country peasant ingredients. I wanted a stew with chicken but not red and tomato-y but white and creamy.

I have 4 large chicken breasts that I boned and cut into 4 huge chunks each. Skin on

1 cup flour
1 T salt
1/2 bottle Chardonnay
3 T oil
3 carrots rough chop
1 medium onion rough chop
3 salks celery rough chop
2 cloves garlic minced
4 cups chicken broth
8 baby red potatoes quartered
8 ounces white mushrooms quartered
2 t thyme
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper

Mix the salt into the flour. Heat the oil in the Dutch oven, medium heat. Dredge the chicken in the flour and cook unitl golden in batches. Set aside the chicken. Add a little oil if needed to the pot and cook a few tablespoons of the flour until it is a dark copper penny color. Stir the roux constantly. Once browned, add the wine and stir. It will thicken then add the broth.

Mix in the vegetables, spices and tuck the chicken pieces into the fray. Cover the pot and place in the oven at 250 for the next few hours. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.

I am re thinking leaving the skin on the chicken. It browned nicely but cooking it just made it limp and rubbery. I removed it before the final serving. In the future I might just skin the chicken before flouring.  The chicken was very tender and fallind apart. The potatoes held up nicely. If we were big Carb eaters I would have made some biscuits to serve with it. Yum.

Iconographical Progression

I layed in the "proplasmos" and the first layer of "sankir"  to the basic drawing. Basically I have painted the base coats before the highlights begin. I changed my mind a bit about the red and made it darker as well as the maphorion which is almost purplish. Trying to decide if I want to just do all the lines in assiste (gold) and paint them in. The paint is still wet on the arm and hand which is why it looks a bit lighter. I think the Christ head is in a peculiar position on this particular protoype but it all seems to work compositionally. This model is called "Pelegonitissa" Mother of Tenderness. The Child in a playful position while the Virgin looks deeply sad.

After this I will make sure the drawing matches up and make any corrections that I may have colored outside the lines a bit. I will bring the flesh tones up in the next few sessions, essentially finishing the faces and hand before I work on the garments too much.

The Dessert Party Redux

You might remember last year we resurrected our Dessert Party with wild success. We are thinking about it again with Co Hosts Matt and Laurie Fangman. I have already started scouting possible additions to the menu. Last year's was hard to beat but there is always some confection on the horizon that can be a welcome addition. Space is limited and the guest list is not as big as parties past. I added a few recipes to my Pintrest account so I can track them in a hurry of I need a reference on the fly.

Lots of planning and listing ahead. Recipes and photos to follow but we still need to pick a date....

Shrimp Salad with Creamy Caesar

Chopped Romaine and Shrimps with a creamy Caesar dressing

1 t Dijon Mustard
1 T mayonaise
1 clove garlic chopped
3 T lemon juice
1 T Worcestershire
a good squeeze of anchovy paste
2 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup oil
1 T Tarragon vinegar
1 egg yolk
Milk to thin if necessary
Parmesan grated
Salt and Pepper

I put all this but the milk and Parmesan in a 4 cup measure and used the blender stick. Adjust the acidity with vinegar and thin with milk. Salt and pepper to taste. We grated Parmesan on the salad and added croutons and roasted shrimps.

Current Project

Haven't painted since we finished the kitchen and well before that so I decided to pick a new project. I ordered some boards, had a couple of inquiries for icons but the pricing seems to frighten off any commissions so I am choosing my own subjects to paint. I decided I need a bit of practice on face and skin so I choose a prototype that was mostly that. Kind of a close up view of an actual icon. The prototype is this:

I have already started but mine is closer yet to this and cropped more tightly but I am keeping true to the color scheme. Not much gold on this one but I am using one of the new thicker boards. I had hoped to run it through the router first to camfer the edges but I am too lazy.

A Quick and Easy Bread that won't disappoint...

Some of the ladies at work are having issues with yeast. Not sure why or how they can't get a decent rise  but I have a great recipe for a really crusty, great loaf of bread. You will need a very clean  hot oven (450) some parchment paper and a nice cast iron dutch oven (5 or 6 qt). Follow the recipe below. I doubled it for my oven but used just one packet of yeast (yeast is yeast large or small amounts should not matter.)

Yeast. I buy the 2 pound bulk yeast at Sam's. One goes into the fridge after opening in a sealed plastic container, the other in the cupboard. It takes about a year to use it all and it always rises for me. I don't fuss too much with sponges or proofing. I use lukewarm water or even ice water to rise in the fridge overnight. Even cool water will get a rise after a bit just slower.

I used my Kitchen Aid to mix this cause its really wet dough but you can easily mix it with a large spoon. Very high hydration gives the crust the steam to crisp while baking and creates a great crumb but the bread took longer to bake at double the volume. I always use a thermometer probe to about 200 degrees. So, Tara and Mel and whoever else...this bread's for you.

Watch out while cutting, that crust will fly! This is a double batch. Crusty outside and holey in the crumb. The toast is crazy good. Chewey and crunchy.

Speedy No-Knead Bread

3 cups bread flour
1 1/2 warm water
1 packet ( 1/4 ounce) instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Oil as needed.

1. Combine flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups water and stir
until blended; dough will be shaggy. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough
rest about 4 hours at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Lightly oil a work surface and place dough on it; fold it over on itself once
or twice. (This where I used some parchment to line the bowl to make the transfer easy.) Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes more. (I put the dough in a salad bowl lined with the parchment)
3. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a
6-to-8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as
it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. ( I lifted the parchment and all and dropped it into the hot pot. )  OR you can do this:

Slide your hand under dough and put it into pot, seam side up. Shake pan once or twice if dough
is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.

4. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30
minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: 1 big loaf.

New Year's Dinner

Roasted Tenderloin of Beef with Bearnaise,  "Gene's" Potatoes, Caesar Salad, Fresh bread. A meal fit for the grand new start of a Grand New Year.  So nice to have everyone but poor Ben who is working his 2nd of 3 twelve hour shifts. He will be home shortly though and there are plenty of leftovers for him to enjoy. Dessert was a nice Napoleon Torte from the local Lithuanian Bakery. A delicious meal before Brooke had to head to work tonight. Someone, it seems, is always on the move. The life of nurses.

So to start: The Beef

I had a nice 5 pound roast that I tied and seared in a bit of oil. I topped the roast with Dijon, olive oil, peppercorns and rosemary that I stirred into a paste and applied over the roast. Into the oven at 450 for about 35 minutes (meat thermometer firmly in place). I will tell you my new oven is a mess now and the house was a bit smokey. It was at 120 degrees when I pulled it out and reached 135 after 10 minutes of standing. It was perfect.

Now Gene's Potatoes. My Brother in law's brother in law was a chef, perhaps still is. He made these potatoes for some occasion we attended years ago and I have been shamelessly pirating them ever since. I am not even sure if the recipe is anywhere close to his, but I always give him credit. I have used these to cater weddings and dinners for years.

Gene's Potatoes:  Basically a very thick white sauce flavored with Swiss cheese.

4 cans of whole potatoes, drained

2 cups of 1/2 and 1/2

1 t beef /chicken bullion

6 slices or more of processed Swiss Cheese

I use a bit of Wondra to tighten up the sauce or 3 tablespoons of cornstarch in 1/4 cup o water. Should be a heavy cream sauce.

Generally I place all the ingredients in a microwave bowl and nuke till the cheese melts. Stirring every minute or so. Thicken with either cornstarch slurry (1 1/2 T per cup liquid) or Wondra (about 1 good Tablespoon)

The sauce should be very heavy cream consistency.

Place the potatoes in a greased casserole. Pour the sauce over the top, cover and bake 350 till heated through (about 40 minutes) Uncover and bake another 15 minutes to get a bit of color on top.

Now if you have never had canned potatoes, I think you are in for a treat. They are petite and creamy. I use them sometimes for really small batches of potato salad.

The Bearnaise Sauce

I can't have this type of meat without a bit of the rich, tart sauce. So tasty.

1 stick of butter
1 tbl lemon juice
3 egg yolks
1 shallot minced
1 teasp of Tarragon
4 T white wine
2 T Tarragon vinegar

Make the Hollandaise first:
Melt a stick of butter in a 4 cup glass measuring cup. Add the lemon juice to the yolks and beat lightly. Get your stick blender at the ready and start blending the butter. To this add the yolk mixture and blend till light and volume increase.  Set aside.

To a small saucepan, add the remaining vinegar, wine, shallot and tarragon. Allow to reduce to about 2 tablespoons. Get ready to blend again and with the blender running add the reduced mixture to your hollandaise. Now you have Bearnaise. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Fresh Bread

 Caesar Salad

I have made this for a long time and always have used this recipe I pulled from Bernard Schimmel's cookbook from the Joslyn Art Museum. Of course, I can't leave anything alone and added a bit here and there.

1 clove garlic, minced
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
2 t Dijon mustard
2 good squeezes of anchovy paste
1 lemon,  juiced
1/2 cup olive oil
2 T tarragon vinegar
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 coddled egg
1/2 cup Parmesan grated

Again I use the stick blender and the 4 cup measure and just mix it all up there.

2 heads of cleaned romaine
Croutons
Shaved Parmesan