A Bit of Comfort on a Rainy Day

Before I get to my topic, can I just say, I am so glad it is Friday evening. I am exhausted. My students were quite wound up after the 3 day weekend and then 2 days of rainy day scheduling (indoor recess...) I have been enjoying quiet and calm at home this evening.

Now that I have that off my chest, I am going to share a bit of what I think of as comfort food. It may seem funny to you. I am a Scots - Portuguese California native that finds everyday Japanese food to be comfort food. I lived in Japan for 2 years while in my mid-twenties. And yet I find myself at times thinking "when I was growing up in Japan." I suppose in some ways I did. I learned a great deal about myself while I was there. I love the culture, the people and the landscape.

Tonight, while wandering the grocery store aisles, I decided to make Okonomiyaki. It is a regional food found in cafes and train stations. It is a savory cabbage pancake. So I grabbed a coleslaw mix (shredded green and purple cabbage, with carrots) and a bell pepper. I had the rest of the stuff needed at home. Typically the mixture included shrimp or thin slices of meat such as ham/bacon. I am not a huge fish fan, so I dug through the fridge at home to add some tasty ingredients of my own. There was crumbled bacon, diced bell pepper, a bit of grated ginger and chopped garlic, and some cubed fresh mozzarella.

Oishii desu! (Delicious) I haven't made this in awhile but have to remember it is quite quick and simple. And YUMMY!

Here is the website I used for the recipe. I used regular flour, no starch additive. It was fine. Make sure not to over mix though. I was making only one for myself, I did cut the batch in half and it was perfect. Love the variations on this page.

I like it with the sauce they recommend.

Easy Okonomi Sauce Recipe:
Mix 3 tbs of ketchup, with 1 tbs of Worcestershire sauce, with 1 tsp of Soy Sauce. 

(Taken from Okonomiyaki World site)

On an artistic note, I sent out my first Etegami. I found some watercolor postcards in my stash of art supplies. I painted another umbrella and sent it off with a quick note to my mother in law. It is definitely winter and wet where she is outside Seattle. So a bit of color should bring a smile to her face.

Oh Great...Another Interest!

Yep, you read that right. I have another new creative interest. That AADD (Art Attention Deficit Disorder) is sure giving me a hard time lately. Thankfully, this one is easily combined with several of my current pursuits. What is this new venue? Etegami. Etegami (think Spanish for the vowel sounds and you will be able to pronounce this) is a Japanese Folk Art form. Simply stated it is E - picture + tegami - letter. So, put them together, a picture-letter. There is more to it such as how they are traditionally made, materials used, etc. But for my purposes here I will just say they are hand painted postcards that are not truly Etegami until it is sent to someone. I will refer you to Debbie Davidson's blog for a much better introduction to Etegami than I can give you at the present. Etegami by dosankodebbie  and her intro to Etigami post.

So naturally with the words painting + Japan + letter writing in combination I had to learn more. I spent one evening this week reading and viewing every single post on Debbie's site. I started with her first post and worked through to the most current. Though I lived in Japan for two years, I really don't remember running across Etegami. I wasn't really into sketching or painting at the time. So, it is no surprise that it didn't go past my radar. The style is simple and yet there is an element of elegance in the simplicity.

I grabbed my sheet of Moulin du Gue, (rough, heavy, art paper) torn a section off and then split it into smaller "postcard" sized pieces. I figured it felt similar to the descriptions of the Etegami paper and would work for practice and play while I find the right combination of tools...

Here is my first attempt.

The writing says, "the apple is delicious." or at least something close to that. Also tried to use my hanko (personal signature stamp) but my ink is all messed up. It is about 30 years old. Time for new ink.

Today, being a rainy day at school, I decided to share Etegami with my students. Because it focuses on drawing AN object rather than all sorts of details it seemed easier for young kids.

We used white construction paper and Prang watercolor paints. I wasn't sure how these tools would work. I had them only do the black outline. We went to lunch and then painted the color. I did the two Etegami above as my examples for technique... Here are some of the pictures my students created. You will notice some chose to just copy me. While others sought out their own images.

(OK, FINE....I cannot get the picture to load properly. Sorry they are upside down and sideways. - I will edit this post when I find a way to get them to cooperate.)

Even upside down, you can see that some of my students understood the idea of one object, minimal details and no background... But some just could not resist the urge to add more.

 I played some more while they painted and cleaned. My chosen subject, Leafy Sea Dragons.

Then I just had to try the technique again. I headed to my favorite hangout for coffee and some me time. I tried painting Sleeping Beauty in the style of Etegami. I was working in my journal so I had a 7 x 10 page to work on.

I like it. but it is too big, about 1/2 page. I want to try doing a postcard sized piece so that I am forced to focus on part. It was too easy to get carried away with adding to the picture. I think I am going to like this addition to my repertoire. Maybe some of you will even receive an Etegami from me in the near future. Off to order real paper... for just such purposes.