It's our heritage...

...tomatoes, that is.

John has been growing heritage tomatoes in the 'back forty' for the past three years, and they are staggering in their colour, size, taste and variety.

From vine

 to vine,

 and then to cutting board, the colours vary from yellow and green zebra stripes,

to burgundy

 to orange, and everything in between, with shapes ranging from the bulbous

 to pear, and sizes from grape to gargantuan.
.

 Whether they go into the pot to cook or can,

get photographed for their glorious colour,

 or sliced for one of the five or six times a day we enjoy them, they're a feast in more ways than one.

I am thankful that there are farmers and gardeners around the world who are making such a huge effort to preserve and protect these heritage varieties so they are not lost to us.  They are beyond rich in their luscious taste and diversity.

It's NOT pork...

...but pulled paper instead!

You'll need some gloss medium, a support, paint brush, paint and any paper from a magazine, disused book, tax package or telephone book.

Coat your support with a good layer of liquid gloss medium (I use Golden),

and slap on your sheet.  Here I've used a sheet of very light newsprint from the provincial portion of the Canadian tax package.   Only in Canada would they use a colour like this for taxes!

In order to facilitate the pull, you can add masking tape to it - if you do it in different directions, you'll get a great array of effects.

After the medium and paper have dried for a couple of minutes (or to your preference), use the masking tape to peel off the paper in different directions.

Now that it's really ugly (sorry, make that distressed looking), you can add a wash of colour over the top of it all.

Since I'm not that fond of the result so far, I've spritzed/splashed/drizzled on another wash of paint afterwards.

I think this will make a great background for a painting.  How about you?

Here's an example of a painting utilizing the pulled paper technique - more taxes.

'...and Taxes '    Mixed Media © Win Dinn  2013 

Grab that pepper...

... or better yet, nine or ten pounds of them, directly off the back deck.

Place them on the counter to admire the fantastic colour,

and add a few pounds of tomatoes and whatever other vegetables are plentiful.  Seed and core the peppers,

and then give yourself a break by chopping everything in the food processor.

Cook it thoroughly, puree again in the food processor, add some spices and heat it again in order to can.

There's just nothing better than seeing a row of pepper soup quarts ready for the pantry and a cold winter day (unless it's tomato soup, or fruit puree or BBQ sauce, or pepper spread....well, I guess it's all marvellous).

It's so great to have a gardening fool in the family, isn't it John?!

It's so easy...

...I could even do it in my sleep!

Take any support (in this case, a well-used mat board 'tester'),

and sponge it with a paint-covered paper towel, sponge, plastic wrap, cloth, etc.  Here I've used a paper towel to add a turquoise to the mix.

Repeat the process with another colour (I've used  lavender here),

and another (greyed lavender),

 and another (purple).

You can continue the process until you're blue in the face (or purple, turquoise, lavender, grey, etc.) and you've got a wonderfully subtle background for your artwork.

Bodacious blossoms...

...are rife here in the valley at this time of the year, and there's no better place to see the best of them than at the Farmers' Market, where Jean Syroteuk displays blooms cultivated by her and her husband Merv.

Take a stroll

through Jean and Mervs' booth

from a recent market

to see why I appreciate

their work so much.

Whether individually priced  (look at this COLOUR)

or by the whole bouquet,

nothing says Creston summer

like Jean's floral sprays!

What says summer to you in your area?  

How do you get your summer colours on?

Where's that jar when I need it?

No, not alcohol!  It's Vaseline petroleum jelly I'm after - a handy tool to keep in the studio for this interesting technique.

All you need is a support, paint brush, paint and some Vaseline.

Daub or smear the Vaseline onto the support with your finger (one time when you won't get into trouble using that finger). 

 Paint a wash of colour over the top of the whole support.

When it's dry, you can first wipe off the Vaseline with a paper towel, and then carefully use a small amount of soap and water to wash away the Vaseline residue.

When it dries again, you can repeat the process with another colour (over and over if you wish) in order to build rich layers.

The trick is to ensure that you're careful with removing the Vaseline, and if you're planning on doing several layers, start with the very lightest colour,  progressing to darker values as you go.

Remember too, that if you do not want the original support to show through at the end, you'll need to start with a wash overall before you play with the Vaseline.  You cannot always guarantee your ability to eliminate it all with a careful wash...some supports defy total cleaning!

Wild and free...

It's Oregon Grape time here in the valley, and they're free for the picking along quiet country roads and pathways.

This dusky beauty makes a fabulous wild jelly, and the colour during the preparation just makes my mouth water.

Once the berries are cooked, the mash is dripped through some cheesecloth.

Then it's measured and

heads back into the pan with sugar and lemon juice to be made into jelly.

It's a satisfying feeling to see a parade of jelly jars on the window sill,

and know that I've had my colour fix for the day!

Some heavy lifting...

might be required in your next studio time.

With some slightly thinned heavy-body paint, a spritz of water, paintbrush, a support and some paper towel, you can create a really interesting background.

Here, I started with a mat board support that's coloured with some violent orange left-over paint.

Over this I painted a wild cobalt teal, spritzed it with a fine spray of water,

  

and covered it quickly with a paper towel.  A quick press with my hands, and a paper towel lift,

revealed a prettily patterned paper towel - you can use this in another project!

The pattern that is left on the support has toned down the orange and creates a vibrant background for the next piece of art off the easel.

You can, of course, repeat this process many times - I'm thinking a lavender over top of this one might be fun!