Saturday, March 19, 2011

New Beginnings, x5

Tinky Winky's new beginning has put a smile on his face 
Tinky Winky, the "gay" Teletubby, lol, has come out from his longtime home in the guest room, to play in the light of the livingroom. My late mother bought him for me for my 40th birthday! He now prefers to sit next to my similar-colored violets, blooming more profusely as the days grow longer. For a bit of background on the Teletubbies, click here. "Uh, Oh!"

My flower gardens' new beginnings
Spring isn't quite here, and snow is in the forecast for Wednesday, but I've cleaned off several flower gardens of their fall leaves and winter detritus. This tiny Feverfew will grow to 3-feet tall, with hundreds of tiny white daisy-like flowers.

My chive pot is going on 25 years old this year. It has been backed into a couple of times, and hit with the snow plow, but is really none-the-worse for wear. I might sand it and give it a new paint job later this spring. I use these chives all season long, in almost everything I cook.

Tiny daffodils are just beginning to show their heads.

The "dead tree" garden's Myrtle, or Periwinkle, in front of Pink Gardens, is really spreading nicely at the base on all sides. This garden is nicely naturalized with several varieties of day lilies, iris, daisies, fox gloves, rose campion, tulips, sedum, and several other perennials.

Young day lilies, iris and Feverfew sprouting.

My culinary new beginnings
My great friend Mary surprised me with these lovely "bleue" eggs the other day when she came over. They are cage-free and organic and absolutely fresh, and besides the very artistic packaging, the eggs were various shades of teal and light blue. For the story of Platine Bleue heirloom eggs, click here!

I wanted to "experience" these special eggs as much as I could, so I used them in three great dishes. First I made a very European omelette with two of them, adding Gruyere cheese, mushrooms, scallions and a tiny amount of truffle oil. Ooh-la-la! Next I hard-boiled two of them, and made a very simple salad from them so I could really discern their flavor. I made a fresh olive oil mayonnaise (a LOT of hand beating; I used a "plain" egg for the mayo so I wouldn't waste a special one), and added a  few capers and a couple leaves of julienned tarragon to the mashed-up hard-boiled eggs. These blue-shelled eggs had very yellow yolks, so the egg salad was vibrantly colored. Very Hamptons! Lastly, I made my favorite simple egg dish, scrambled eggs. I used a spare amount of grated Vermont cheddar, again I wanted to make sure the eggs were the "star" of the dish, sea salt and freshly ground "rainbow" peppercorns, and made Pumpernickel toast on the side. I don't think I've ever enjoyed eggs as much as I did these Platine Bleues! A huge thanks to Mary!

My photoshopped cars' new beginnings, new home
I've begun a second blog, "artandcolourcars" just for my fake cars. I started it a few weeks ago, and have kept it very low-key, though the hits have started climbing in the last week. I will be posting my cars there as I finish them, creating a virtual parking lot as it were for my creations. Please stop by if you've enjoyed my cars in the past. Above is my "proper" 2012 Dodge Charger, the 2-door coupe with flying buttressed C pillars. Link to artandcolourcars here.

My personal new beginning
I've very recently been "discovered" and I didn't even have to sit at Schwab's Hollywood soda counter in a tight sweater—good thing actually, lol, for everyone involved! My car art, which Peter De Lorenzo has been kind enough to run on his Autoextremist site several times in the past few years, has caught the eye of Automobile magazine in Ann Arbor. I'm now working on my second assignment for them, which will be published in the June issue of their magazine. This is my first print magazine publishing credit for my photoshopped cars, and I couldn't be happier. It has been a dream of mine, forever, to have my car art published in a car magazine, but I had given it up a long time ago, along with several other dreams. Well, it's about to come true, and I hope everyone out there that enjoys "my" cars rushes out and buys the June issue of Automobile which is on sale in early May!

A big hello to everyone, and see you next month.

25 comments:

  1. Welcome back!
    Congratulations on your Automobile adventure. I wish you nothing but the best.
    I really enjoyed your Spring tour of the garden. We are a little bit behind Connecticut here in Michigan. Things are just starting to perk up. the daylillies are about 3 inches high and the water iris in my pond are peaking above the water but that is about it. But they are a sure sign of Spring - thank goodness!

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  2. Thanks PX. I think everything will slow down outside in the next week. The 8-day said we won't get over 40 for more than a week. It was just about 70 two days ago! But it's better than 0 like it frequently was this winter. I took my bike out today for the first time.

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  3. Well HOWDY Casey!! SO happy to see a new post on this blog! I knew it would come but growing impatient (especially since I have once again set my cell phone screen to your flower/garden pictures!
    I have been peeking in a bit to your new blog and have found it interesting...am so happy you are in the process of having a dream come true. That is SO exciting and SO well deserved.
    Thank you so much for the garden tour and the "bleu" eggs. I hope if you ever have a moment you will stop at my blog and click on the "mareblog recipe book" on the right side of the page and leave us a special recipe of yours (any will do as they all sound FAB U LOUS!)
    Hello to everyone who will be stopping by here...waving madly as I have truly missed you all!
    Thanks again for the new post and again CONGRATS! (standing ovation with LOUD clapping)
    Mare

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  4. Hi Mare, So good to see you here again! I'll definitely leave a recipe or two on your blog. One of my pet projects is gathering together my recipes... I just added a link to the Platine Bleue egg segment. I didn't realize the chickens had South American DNA...

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  5. It's GREAT to see your post, Casey! The egg segment was tres interesting! Big congratulations on your Automobile venture. I couldn't be happier for you! Lastly, your garden tour really made me smile from ear to ear. Buds and greens are starting to pop here and I think we'll have it just a bit warmer than you in the coming few weeks. I can't wait to see if my one pampered lilac finally blooms this year. It has tons of buds! It's 6 years old!

    Thanks for posting. I'm so happy you're doing well. Congrats, too, on your new car blog. :)

    Katie

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  6. Heirloom Eggs, well I'll be darn. I remember Martha Stewart talking about blue eggs once, I wonder if it was that same good egg. Casey, you come up with the darnest stuff at just the right time. The egg you don't have to dye for, lol.

    Congrats on all that good car stuff rolling into your life. I may have to cancel my Vanity Fair subscription and get Automobile instead.

    Happy Spring Everyone....

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  7. well don't go crazy, it will probably be just that one issue, lol.

    "...to dye for..." love it!

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  8. Let's hear it Spring. We all need a little hope and regeneration. Chives lead the way!

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  9. The "family" is back along with our new co-host, Tinky Winky! For a second, I thought the 4th picture from the top was taken from a lunar module, lol. Could it be from TW's ship, lol?

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  10. I'm sure it will be a one-time thing! But my chops have progressed a bit since Autoweek and MT, the first two places I posted 'em.

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  11. I'd love to say I knew you when, Casey, but the only surname I have for you is Artandcolour. Somehow I'm skeptical. ;)

    Katie

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  12. you never know, I use artandcolour professionally too! but it's Shain in my books.

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  13. Hello Casey,

    When you went away, it was like they cancelled the 4th of July. Now it's like they are having it every month!

    Congratulations on the Automobile Magazine assignment. I am a longtime subscriber and can not imagine a better pairing . Fantastic!

    I can not wait for the June issue ! I have never written a" letter to the editor " before , but I have a feeling I soon shall.

    Best of luck!
    AP
    Malibu

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  14. Hi AP! so good to hear from you. I hope you check out blog #2, also. I'm working on assignment #3 for Automobile. It's so much fun!

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  15. Hey Casey!

    So much to catch up to. I leave you alone for a month ,come back, and all Hellzapoppin !

    Have you met/spoken to/written to the (gulp!) mighty Robert Cumberford ?

    Anyway, #3!? So,we are talking June, July, August? I can not express how excited and happy I am for you .

    Best,
    AP

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  16. I'm 99% sure it's the June issue, that's why deadlines are so tight. I haven't corresponded with Robert Cumberford, i'm merely a freelance artist for them, BUT I HAVE been corresponding with an awesome retired car designer and we're going to be working on a real project. I'll have something to say about it in a future post when it's a bit further along. Suffice it to say I've been busy since my last February post, but not on anything I thought I'd be busy with, lol. That's the way my entire life has unfolded. I shouldn't even make plans.

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  17. That all sounds wonderful.

    Fingers are crossed and candles are lit for you.


    AP

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  18. Congratulations on turning a passion into a business! That is great!

    I used to "chop" cars when I was a kid. Back then I'd use multiple catalogs and razors and tape to do it. Got a ford tempo looking like a ferrari once :)

    Still like to do it now and again, but mostly when a car just doesn't sit right with me.

    I did this one recently:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/48325050@N04/5604555952/

    I'm not as meticulous or adventurous as you are, and I really like a lot of your designs. Who knows, maybe your next stop is designing some actual cars we see on the roads out in the physical world! At any rate, congratulations again.

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  19. thanks. I"m pretty sure it was a one time thing, but it was fun. I checked out your Flickr and left a comment. You're pretty skilled at photoshop as well.

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  20. You are too kind. I look forward to continuing to see some pretty cool cars on your blog.

    Ben

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  21. I hope you check out my blog just for cars. There is a link on the side of this blog or you can cut-n-paste this:
    http://artandcolourcars.blogspot.com/

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  22. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=214601808557262&set=o.115049121878498&type=1&theater
    I posted your 2 door Charger on the 2011 Dodge Charger Facebook site last year, had no idea it was yours! I have no idea where I found it at that time. The comments are interesting.
    Michael W

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    1. cool, Michael! Sometimes when I google my "brand," artandcolour, or casey/artandcolour, I'm really surprised how far flung my work is, lol. As long as they don't cut off my name or watermark I'm good with seeing them go out in the world. I've only had 2 instances where someone tried to claim my work as their own, and maybe 1000 instances of just good people sharing my work like you did. I'm good with it all. All my cars should go out in the world, lol!

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