Melissa Iwai 2014
So… I started taking an intense online design course, called Make Art That Sells, taught by Lilla Rogers. This, along with several book assignments and prep for a gallery show and an art auction makes for some busy (though good) times! For any artist wanted to broaden their range, I highly recommend this class. Every week focuses on a different market. Last week, it was Bolt Fabric. Our assignment was to create a fabric pattern that had the theme “vintage kitchen” that is inspired by root vegetables and vintage casserole dishes. So this is the pattern I designed. It was really difficult for me, but I won’t bore you with the gory details. If you want to read about my process, you can do so on my website blog.
For the warm up — or mini assignment, we were to explore vintage casserole dishes and root vegetables. So the first thing I did was buy a bunch of veggies and the local green market.
After several days of drawing and drawing and more drawing and painting the vegetables in different media, they met their final destination: The oven.
This is three yams, one large parsnip, a bunch of carrots, one large turnip, and one beet (the beet is wrapped in foil). Unfortunately, my celery root had gone bad, and I couldn’t use it! Basically it’s about 5 cups of chopped vegetables. I coated them with olive oil, seasoned them with kosher salt and dried thyme, and roasted them at 400 for about 30 minutes, tossing them halfway.
The vegetables really shrink! But it was enough for a side dish at a pot luck dinner we went to that evening.
And here is my final submission to the class with more coordinating patterns (not so happy with these — it was a struggle!! But I’d like to do more and improve my craft…) If you don’t know already, there is a great site where you can upload your designs to be printed on fabric — Spoonflower.com. I’d love to use my pattern to make an apron or some tea towels. :)
Roasted Root Vegetables
Non-stick spray
An assortment of root vegetables, such as potatoes, yams, parsnips, turnips, carrots, celery root
about 1/2 to 3/4 cup olive oil
kosher salt to taste
1 – 2 teaspoons dried thyme
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with foil and spray with non-stick spray.
2. Chop vegetables into 1/2 inch cubes. Try to make them all about the same size so they cook evenly.
3. Pour onto baking sheets and spread out into a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil (right onto baking sheets is OK) and mix with hands to make sure everything is nicely coated. Season with salt and thyme.
4. Bake for about 30 minutes, stirring and flipping halfway through.
Roasted Beet
1 or 2 beets
olive oil
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Wash and dry beets. Brush with some olive oil and wrap in aluminum foil.
3. Set on a baking sheet (sometimes the juices leak out, and it’s not pretty if it gets on your oven!) and bake for about 60 minutes until tender. You can test it with a knife. It should be soft like a cooked potato.