Why I'll Expand my Blog Topics to Include...more Fine ART!

"Fine Art" covers many sorts of things, right? There is the Fine Art of Conversation, of Listening, of Public Speaking, of Fashion, of Pottery, of Glass-making, etc...and most certainly, The Art of Fine Food. Real Food. Whole Food.

I'm pleased to announce additional material on this artistic blog! Anytime you see the following:
Sincere Sustenance - To Life! Real Food Recipes - it means I will be posting a personal recipe. A How-To-Make-It Blog. These will be interspersed with my continued thoughts about fine visual art.

I've realized in the past couple years I am equally passionate about helping people learn to eat high-quality whole foods (physical, mental and spiritual) as I am about color, light and creating artistic beauty. 

As a long-time organic gardener and cook-from-scratch, I've often noticed many people just don't know what food is anymore! 

While I recognize there are many emotional and spiritual factors to good health, I also know there is a great need for people to get back to eating real food. As Sean Croxton says, JERF - JUST EAT REAL FOOD!

How I Began Creating Food Blogs

Last August, while living and working in a quiet little town where I had good internet access and very few friends, I was busy in the evenings - either outside picking berries, or inside doing graphic design work on my new little children's book, Gos' Big Dreams.  Here's the final book illustration, below - a butterfly, feeding on echinasea flowers - symbolizing transformation:



But I was often distracted by my inbox, or online articles and blogs. This turned into a timely thing!

I subscribe to Nerd Fitness emails and was enjoying following the many exploits of Stephen Kamb, who runs this popular fitness & personal development site. I love how Nerd Fitness says a good diet is 80% of losing weight! I quickly decided to apply to be their new Chef Correspondent, after learning they were seeking one.

Had I not had lots of time online last summer, I really doubt I would have seen this request in time to apply.

That was August, 2013. I didn't hear any news for two months. But at the end of October, Steve wrote, saying 150 folks had applied for his job and asking everyone to write a sample food blog, just as if it were to be posted on his site.

I nearly froze my fingers off in a barely-heated room in early November to find enough internet access. I wrote and formatted for sixteen hours to produce something I thought was decent and sufficiently funny...you'll be able to see this blog next week. I sent it in, and waited.

And glumly, waited some more. I eventually stopped checking my email daily, looking for a response.

By late January, Steve wrote saying he wouldn't say how many I was now competing against, but he'd narrowed the field of over 150 down to "more than three and less than eight" - and I was in that number!  

Who wouldn't be thrilled by this news! I sure was!

A new deadline. More sample blogs were requested.

I got out my camera and cooked up a storm, making many excellent meals in the next ten days, to produce five more sample blogs. I found I LOVED the creative process of designing and writing each blog!

Sixty-four hours of work, over seven working days - with one day off to rest my eyes. I was so psyched! This was FUN! Aren't you glad to live in this creative, computer generation!?!

Again, the days rolled by.

I learned I had NOT gained the title of Chef Correspondent. However, Steve made a great choice with the Chef he chose. And I gained a new skill and another creative outlet!

I'm grateful to Steve Kamb. His generosity in caring about many people's lives has impacted my own life.

What Good Food Can Do

Artists, like athletes, need to maintain strength - physically, mentally and spiritually. How an artist thinks is often very evident in their work - seen by the amount of light or darkness depicted. Sensitivity to atmosphere and attention to detail is imperative!

There are many challenges to face and decisions to make in each work of art. Painting a large work reminds me of how life goes - you are excited at first and start off boldly, then you get tired and feel slightly discouraged. You have a difficulty and have to figure out how to fix it.

Having a mind that can concentrate and think clearly is essential to the creative process! I often use food to help me paint, similarly to how a student uses food to help them study.

My food blogs are presently hiding away in drafts and I've decided to post them. I have often said I'd someday write a cookbook. For now, I will "eat an elephant one bite at a time" by writing one recipe blog at a time, to share with those interested in how I feed my own brain!

Everyone tends to get in a rut with their recipes and food selection, so it's good to have new ideas - especially for those who have not yet made quality food a high priority. With toxicity, stress and serious health issues abounding in the population at large, investing time in this area can only help.

Elise

Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. ~ Psalm 103:5