Gravity With John Hudak

I forgot how I became acquainted with John Hudak's work. But I was instantly captivated by his sound compositions.  A few months ago John contacted me and said he was experimenting with sound clips from other artists and reinterpreting them.  I was intrigued an offered a clip from my grandmother's morning chant.  John's composition of the clip is called Gravity and it's a part of his newest release!  John also asked me to design the cover art.  This was a very enlightening process, thanks for including me!
You can listen to samples and download the album here: http://johnhudak.bandcamp.com/album/gravity



"I've eaten more salt than you have of rice" 2002
 You'll hear the chant in it's original form at the beginning of this video.  This short documentary is about a day spent with Ah-ma (grandmother in Cantonese).  I spent every single weekend and summer with her when I was younger.  Everyone else went to camp or hung out with friends.  I had Ah-ma... and I'm glad I did.  We would spend our days watching corny Chinese soap operas and making food.  She talked about her past and I kept her company.  It's been very hard watching her age.  Even at 83 she's a social bird and very active, but her body had definitely slowed down.

John asked me for something that I felt connected with and I immediately thought of this chant.  My grandmother adapted this morning ritual after having survived cancer.  She wanted a way to give thanks for the day.  I made this during college and this was a learning piece... I have to apologize for the shaky camera work!

There's a Chinese saying, "I've eaten more salt than you have of rice".  My grandmother said that to me so many times.  Basically it infers her age, wisdom and experience.  Because rice is the foundation of most meals you eat a huge sum of it... while only a little bit of salt is eaten.  Therefore if someone has eaten more salt than you have of rice, they've been around a great deal longer than you have.


The cover art is inspired by the faces of Buddha statues.  I wanted a meditative image.  I started with a sketch on velum then I transferred the drawing onto a piece of Soft-Kut.  Soft-Kut is like silly putty, just press it against any graphite drawing and the image will transfer.  Then I started carving in a spiral motion to create a radiating effect.


You can see the carved marks here.


Some test prints.

Peel Gallery, Houston

"Float" 2010
Organza, thread & porcelain plate

I have a show opening this Friday in Houston at The Peel Gallery!  I will have quite a few new pieces as well as a collaboration piece with designer Joey Roth.  Sadly I won't be able to make it to the opening this time.  Please come by if you're in town.

Walk The Line & Sounds Like
October 15th - November 16th
Opening Reception: Friday, October 15th, 6:30-9pm


Peel Gallery
411 Montrose Blvd
Houston, TX 77006


"Hands" 2010
Graphite on ceramic speakers
By Diem Chau & Joey Roth

Designer Joey Roth invited me to participate in his second series of the Sounds Like project.  Joey released his amazing ceramic speakers earlier this year and wanted to see how other artists and musicians would interpret his work.

Bemis Center Auction

I've donated a piece to this year's Bemis Art Auction.  The auction exhibit has already started, but the auction itself isn't until Nov. 6th.  The Bemis Center has been a great resource for artists locally and nationally.  If you can't make it to the auction they will also have live online bidding.   There's more information in the link above.

The 12th Annual Art Auction and the accompanying six week exhibition is the Bemis Center's largest annual fund-raising event. The art auction features over 200 local, national and international artists and spans 4 galleries and over 10,000 square feet of gallery space. The event is a kaleidoscopic survey of contemporary art, drawing over 600 people to the auction event and is truly the most anticipated art event of the season.  If you would like more information about the Bemis Center's 12th Annual Art Auction, please call 402.341.7130 or email info@bemiscenter.org.

Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts
724 S. 12th St., Omaha, Nebraska 
Auction Exhibition: October 8th - November 6th, 2010
Auction:  Saturday, November 6th

Yogurt Sauce - A Healthy Dressing

Yogurt sauce is a light and healthy alternative to Ranch dressing.  It still has that tangy cool flavoring without all the fat and calories.  I feel it's like a Mediterranean BBQ sauce in that there's so many ways to make it.  Every family has their own recipe and special ingredients.  I learned this while helping my Turkish friend prepare dinner.  Thanks Mehmet!

There are many variations to this sauce, but this is the one I've grown to like.
1 pint of plain yogurt
6 or 7 large cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoon of dill (fresh is best but dried will do)
1 teaspoon of salt


I've found the best way to peel garlic is to SMASH it with the flat side of your knife.  Place the knife's flat side over a clove of garlic and firmly press down.  Make sure you have a secure hold of the handle when doing this.  After the clove has been smashed, actually crushed is a better term... the peel will simply fall off.  No fuss no muss.  I believe this is a popular Chinese/Asian method, I saw my mom and grandma doing it growing up.  Martin Yan of Yan Can Cook is a great advocate of this method as well :P

I've seen those garlic peelers in the supermarket, but I've never tried them.  I don't like to clutter my kitchen with gadgets that only have a singular purpose.  Pretty soon you're swimming in silicone knick-knack and can't find your peeler.


Place yogurt, garlic, dill & salt in mixing bowl and mix!  I would recommend using good quality, thick yogurt.  A pint of this mix will last us about a week.  It's great in any garden salad or spooned over chicken or salmon.  You can also use it as a dipping sauce for veggie sticks.  It will stay good for the duration of the yogurt's date.  If it gets watery because the yogurt has settled, simply pour out the water and give it a good mix.


The yogurt sauce all mixed up.  I usually pour it back into it's original container for refrigeration/storage.


A typical lunch... Banh mi sandwich with greek salad & yogurt sauce.  The salad has cucumber and tomatoes from the garden as well as avocado and olives from the store.  The banh mi is from my favorite Vietnamese deli in Seattle called Seattle Deli.  I burned the sandwich because I was too busy taking picture for this blog to pay attention to the toaster oven!  Oops.

TUSH Winter 2010

The people at TUSH Magazine, German fashion/trend/culture/art magazine, did a little feature on my crayons in their Winter/2010 issue!  This was fun to flip through... I felt it had a harder edge than the typical fashion mag. Thank you for sending me a copy and also a big thanks to Hella!

September Garden Update -belated

The garden is winding down and fall is approaching.  It's been a lack-luster year due to our cooler than average spring.  Our mild winter has also produced an abundance of pests like slugs, snails and aphids... Literally every broad leafed plant I have is holey, it's been frustrating to say the least.
*The "W" was a little experiment I did for Wrigley's gum... the project fell through but I have another idea hatching!  It's made with gum.


My biggest success was the zucchini and cucumber plants!  I've been getting 2-3 large zuchs and cukes a week.  I planted 3 zucchini plants and 4 cucumber plants.  The cucumber surprised me the most and I've been enjoying Greek salads for 2 months now.  I'm not remotely sick of eating cucumbers yet and will miss them come winter.  The Burpee's Supreme is definitely welcome in the garden next year.

What you see in the picture above is my 2nd round of planting for the year.  I started with spinach, lettuce, peas, radishes, peppers (BIG FAIL), chard & tomatoes (which is just ripening).  The 2nd round consisted of zucchini, cucumber, onion more chard and long beans... also various herbs in gallon containers.  I'm toying around with a 3rd round of planting for winter harvest?  Maybe garlic, cabbage, kale and more chard???  It's supposed to be a very severe winter and I've never overwinter crop plants before.  If I am to do it I'd need to start now and pull out the plants that are slowing production.  I still have to wait for the tomatoes to ripen... but the zucchinis are starting to mildew and they've stopped producing...  So many decisions and so much to experiment with.  I'm learning as I go!


My latest haul... I'm getting less cucumbers and zucchinis but more tomatoes.  There's also a handful of basil, Vietnamese cilantro (rau răm) and shiso (thanks to Vic ^_^).  This is a weekly harvest with tomatoes coming in between.


The Tomato Jungle:
My tomatoes are finally ripening.  I pruned away the lower leaves so I can actually see where the tomatoes are.  Seeing this makes me happy!



Shiso
A good friend of mine gave me a few shiso plants this year.  It was my first time planting and eating it.  It has a very distinct spicy/pungent flavor.  It's hard to describe, but GREAT grilled with meats.  I pickled these leaves and ate them wrapped around rice (much like how you would use grape leaves).  I've had the Vietnamese variety before, which is purplish and much spicier.  My parents used to make Nem Nướng, only they would wrap these leaves around the meat before grilling.  The result is a nice infused flavor.
*Thank you Food for For for the amazing recipe!  A bit THANKS to Vic for the plants and pickling spices.


Rau Răm is another one of my favorite herbs.  We used to eat these with baby duck eggs (Hột vịt lộn - Warning the link is pretty graphic!)  You eat the eggs with a handful of these leaves and salt & peper for flavoring.  I've always been squeamish about eating a little duck fetuses... so I would just have it with a hard boiled egg instead.  It was a wonderful peppery taste and provides a nice kick.  I would recommend eating it raw.  The effects aren't there when cooked.

It's not all fun and games.  Here are a few FAILS from the garden:

Green onion FAIL!
The tomatoes overshadowed these poor guys and I have a pile of limp greens.  But the good news is the slugs and snails left them alone! :P


Malabar Spinach FAIL!
I started these from seed late in the season and they never took off... they were also heavily targeted by the slugs.  I was supposed to have a vast jungle of them by now, being that they are vigorous growers.  But alas this tender trailing vine is the only thing I have.  Maybe I can bring this one indoors over the winter and have a head start next year.
For those unfamiliar with Malabar Spinach it's like eating okra, very slimy with an abundance of mucus.


Maple Tree FAIL!
I think I killed him by digging around and disturbing his roots.  I had to clear off some bamboo runners and I transplanted another tree next to him.  I'll do a severe pruning and hope he comes back next year.

Hyphen Magazine Fall 2010

I'm in the Fall issue of Hyphen Magazine!  It's a great issue, you can see the preview HERE.  I especially like the tofu article.  I'm thrilled and honored to be featured.  I love the layout!

A BIG THANKS to:
Sita Bhaumik - it was great getting to chat with you.
Erica Jones
and everyone at Hyphen









They did an amazing job with the printing. The funny lines in the above scan is an image from the back page bleeding through.