H O M E M A D E _ H A T

A little late, but here's a look at our first illustration project from this past fall semester. Starting our as a seemingly simple "get to know you" project, where we were to design a hat which would best embody ourselves (which I am always terrible at; I always find it difficult to boil myself down to one idea). The twist was that after having designed the hats, we to then construct them. Once constructed, we partnered with another classmate, and had to paint a portait of them in their hats.

I painted Kaiti Archambault in the woods, while my portrait was painted by Jen Allen. Have a look:

final painting, made with guache and acrylic paint markers

initial sketch for my painting

my hat, and my portrait by Jen Allen

S O - K R A T E S

"There is nothing more notable in Socrates than that he found time, when he was an old man, to learn music and dancing, and thought it time well spent."

Michael de Montaigne, 1598

L O O K _ O U T _ B E L O W

"Unless you take big risks you are not going to learn a lot... the interesting things that happen in life involve precipices."

Robert Storr, 11.19.10

A R M I S T I C E _ D A Y

S T R O N G _ T O _ T H E _ F I N I S H

"Olive oil has been more than mere food to the people of the Mediterranean: it has been medicinal, magical, an endless source of fascination and wonder and the foundation of great wealth and power. The olive tree, symbol of abundance, glory and peace, gave its leafy branches to the crown the victorious in friendly games and bloody war, and the oil of its fruit had anointed the noblest of heads throughout history." - Global Gourmet

B E A N S _ B E A N S _ A R E _ G O O D _ F O R _ Y O U R _ H E A R T

Eating and Drinking

The region that is home to Florence has one of the most versatile and varied-form cooking traditions in Italy, that we have already mentioned in our tourists’ guide to Tuscany. We are going to try and provide a more specific view, limiting ourselves to the city of Florence and the area immediately around it.

Florentine cooking is linked to a tradition of simple dishes prepared with genuine, tasty but plain ingredients, which has recently been reconsidered by the world of more sophisticated cuisine. Cereals, bread, vegetable and oil (which must be extra-virgin) are the basis of many recipes that just have to be tried in one of the many restaurants in Florence.

Simple food, such as cannellini beans and other vaguely repulsive ingredients such as tripe and livers are transformed into pleasant, tasty dishes, served on both stalls and in local inns and also in luxury restaurants. We can therefore find: fagioli all'uccelletto (beans), boiled and then fried in oil and tomato sauce; trippa alla fiorentina, (tripe) covered in tomato and grated parmesan cheese; lampredotto, the darkest part of tripe, used for soups and risottos, but also liked by many locals as a filling for a sandwich; crostini toscani with liver paté. And the unforgettable "fiorentina" a cut of meat from the Chianina cow, famous worldwide, to be tried in any restaurant in Florence.

F I R E _ B U R N I N G

Incendiary

by Vernon Scannell

That one small boy with a face like pallid cheese

And burnt-out little eyes could make a blaze

As brazen, fierce and huge, as red and gold

And zany yellow as the one that spoiled

Three thousand guineas' worth of property

And crops at Godwin's Farm on Saturday

Is frightening---as fact and metaphor:

An ordinary match intended for

The lighting of a pipe or kitchen fire

Misused may set a whole menagerie

Of flame-fanged tigers roaring hungrily.

And frightening, too, that one small boy should set

The sky on fire and choke the stars to heat

Such skinny limbs and such a little heart

Which would have been content with one warm kiss

Had there been anyone to offer this.