Categories: design, drawing, Elysian Studios, painting, still life, tutorial, youtube
I was recently inspired by some peppers we had roasted, which got overly charred. I have completed a new painting and wanted to share a bit of my creative process!
Categories: Elysian Studios, family, food, painting, recipes, still life, The Artful Life
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| “The Lonely Peach” oil on canvas, mounted on board by Erin Fickert-Rowland |
Colorado’s Palisade Peaches are famous for their firm, juicy, delectable smelling flesh, and I am mourning the end of their season! At $0.98 a pound, I kept buying bags full, intending to freeze some, but they were just too irresistible! We did manage to save enough to make this delicious cobbler though!
Pecan-Peach Cobbler from Southern Living Magazine,
June 2010 Click here for printable recipe
*note, I only used 2 pie crusts and just sprinkled sugar and pecans on top of each layer. This was easier and much less fattening! Be sure to watch for browning on the nuts, and brush a little milk on the very top to prevent burning. I also did not cut apart the crust to make it look fancy…I don’t have that kind of time!
Ingredients:
12-15 fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups sugar
2/3 cup butter
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 (15 oz.) packages refrigerated piecrusts
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
5 tablespoons sugar, divided
Sweetened whip cream (or vanilla ice cream) to serve
1. Preheat oven to 475 F. Stir together peaches, flour, nutmeg, and 3 cups sugar in a Dutch oven. Bring to a boil over medium heat;reduce to low, and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat;stir in butter and vanilla. Spoon half of mixture into a lightly greased 13X9-inch baking dish.
2. Unroll 2 piecrusts. Sprinkle 1/4 cup pecans and 2Tablespoons sugar over 1 piecrust;top with other piecrust. Roll to a 14×10-inch rectangle. Trim sides to fit baking dish. Place pastry over peach mixture in dish.
3.Bake at 475 for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Unroll remaining 2 piecrusts. Sprinkle 2 Tablespoons sugar and remaining 1/4 cup pecans over 1 piecrust;top with remaining piecrust. Roll into a 12-inch circle. Cut into 1-inch strips, using a fluted pastry wheel. Spoon remaining peach mixture over baked pastry. Arrange pastry strips over peach mixture;sprinkle with remaining 1 Tablespoon sugar. Bake 15-18 minutes until lightly browned. Serve warm or cold with whip cream (or ice cream).
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| Pecan-Peach Cobbler |
Categories: Disney, family, Halloween
“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” -Walt Disney
In another life, I would have been a Disney Imagineer and worked with the creative teams that designed the attractions in the Disney Theme Parks. Only the truly brave, and those obligated because they are family, dare to accompany me through Walt Disney World. We arrive when the park opens and stay until it closes, and I am the one telling the kids, “Just one more ride!” 
I don’t enjoy “horror” but I do love adventure that gets a little scary, and “The Haunted Mansion” attraction is one of my favorite rides at Disney. After moving to the “dead center” of the waiting room for the ride, you watch the room “stretch” to reveal the morbidly comedic deaths of previous mansion guests! Because the constant motion of stretching is hard on the canvas for these paintings, they are sometimes repainted every couple of years, and the new artist will add their signature touch, while keeping the classic scenarios.
The attraction is a wonderful mix of humor and horror that makes it enjoyable for the whole family. Once you load into your “Doom Buggy” on the Omnimover system, you are thrilled with spectral sights within and outside the mansion. From beautiful dancing ghosts, to creepy graveyard zombies and the funny singing quartet of statues, the experience is wonderfully memorable. You can read more interesting facts about the ride at DoomBuggies.
Disney released the ride-inspired movie, “The Haunted Mansion”, in 2003, which starred Eddie Murphy. It is a bit scary, but my family enjoys it, and it is a great way to relive the magic of the attraction when Disney Parks are impractical to visit! 
I recently discovered these documentaries of the ride’s creation, and it was fascinating to see the inspiration, innovation, and rumors surrounding the ride’s development- but that’s what happens when “Grim Grinning Ghosts come out to socialize!”
Happy Halloween! Mwahahahaha!