An artist's date at a grocery store

Asian greens in Uwajimaya’s veggie section, ink and watercolor

I went to the store last week to buy groceries and had the most delightful time. I know, my life is exciting, right? Well, this wasn’t just any store. It was Uwajimaya, an Asian specialty grocery store. If you like food places, it’s a WOW! one. There is so much there to appreciate and enjoy on so many levels.

My daughter had asked me if I would make mabo-dofu (a spicy tofu dish) sometime soon. “Sure,” I said, “but I need to go shopping first” and so put together my Uwajimaya shopping list. It’s been months since I’d been last. I was amused to see that over half of my list was in Japanese even though I don’t practice it much any more. Clearly not when it comes to food though!

a recent shopping list

My trip to Uwajimaya was a bit like an artist’s date with myself as recommended by Julia Cameron in her book, The Artist’s Way. I enjoy the memories from living and traveling in Asia as well as soaking up the ambiance and inspiration that comes from being in that market.

The variety and quality of fresh fruits and vegetables on display is remarkable. I often take pictures in the produce section so I can draw from them later. I usually plan to get some of the Asian greens because they are so fresh as well as being my favorite kind of vegetable. This week I’ll be making mu shu pork with my Chinese cabbage, regular cabbage, bok choy, gai lan, you choy sum and daikon that I was tempted by.

Past the produce section and the artful displays, further in, the next aisle has prepared fresh and frozen meals to grab and go, mostly Japanese-style. This area brings memories and associations with people I’ve had meals with in the past. I always look for onigiri (rice balls wrapped in seaweed) which bring back memories of Japan where I had homemade ones on picnics. Some what strangely, but happily, paõ de queijo (Brazilian small cheese bread rolls) are found here too. I was introduced to them by a Brazilian friend and grab them whenever I can find them and think of her each time I make them.

Then it’s onward through the bakery section which is small. This is another memory area for me. I remember all the Japanese bakeries I’ve been by and the tempting goodies on their shelves. Here at the store I occasionally get the shoku-pan (thickly sliced bread) but pass up it most of the time.

The frozen section is full of Japanese, Chinese and Korean dumplings of various sorts. Never go here hungry. There are too many varieties to tempt with. One of my wish list items of things to draw are gyoza.

The next aisle over is where I find miso (soybean paste) for miso soup. Again, there are so many varieties of miso to try. I visited so many food factories during my 3 years in Japan but don’t remember seeing how miso is made.

Next up are where the ramen and canned drinks are. So many choices of ramen and instant noodles. It’s hard not to be tempted. Facing the ramen are canned drinks: coffees, teas, milky drinks, juices and soda. It’s a bit of a game to see how unusual of a drink can be found and then have a tasting at home.

And then, and then, and then… So much yummy goodness in the store. It brings back memories of when I lived in Japan, provides me good food and ideas for meals to have, and offers so much material for artistic inspiration. I left Uwajimaya in such a happy mood. I had an outing and without going very far felt like I had traveled the world. I went home and cooked.

Do you have a local place that you go to and get inspired by?

At the end of this shopping trip, I did get the seasoning for the mabo-dofu that was the reason for my outing, but forgot to get the tofu. Oops!

Artichokes Galore!

Here is a drawing I recently finished up of some artichokes I took a picture of at Russo’s, wonderful market in Watertown, MA. I do a lot of my drawings using reference pictures, and after I started sketching, I take my photographs differently so that I can sketch from them later. I love going to markets and seeing all the displays of produce piled up. I often go to a local Indian and Asian markets just to admire their fruit and vegetable displays. I sometimes will also come home with unusual things, for me, both to draw and to try to eat or cook - dragon fruit, bitter melon and drumstick beans have been some of my experiments.

Drawing and Painting a Chocolate Wrapper

Here are the two steps when I do a drawing. First I draw in ink and then I paint. I rarely do it the other way round, paint first then ink. With a wrapper I will also use pencil before hand to get the placement of the lettering and larger elements. In this particular case you can see the chocolate wrapper I’m drawing from.

Students' work from my Playing with Food in Your Sketchbook Workshop

My 6-week workshop of Playing with Your Food in a Sketchbook with ink and watercolor has begun and it has been so much fun so far! The first week was working with fresh produce and the images are some examples of my students’ work so far. They’ve done some fabulous work and I’m inspired to try drawing some of what they’ve done. This past week’s lesson was about drinks and I’ve given out the assignment to go to a coffeeshop and draw their drink. It’ll be fun to see what they draw.

I will be offering this course again in January 2019. Go to my workshop page and find more information and register there.

Taco Tasting Journey for the Sketchbook Project 2018

Here's a page-through of my taco themed sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project 2018 that will be housed in the permanent collection at the Brooklyn Art Library after a summer tour to various places. I like to food journal and document both my meals but also some of the surroundings and details of where I ate. The project evolved as I progressed through the sketchbook with more and more details getting incorporated and added. This was such a fun adventure and doing the research was not at all a hardship. It was like when I had to go to Hawaii for teacher training before I went to Japan to teach English!

If the video doesn't load, try this link: https://youtu.be/01-KP7VBSOA

If you like tacos, feel free to leave a comment of where some of your favorite restaurants or trucks are. I'd love to go and try some!

A Taco Tasting Journey for the Sketchbook Project 2018 Completed!

The deadline for submitting to the Sketchbook Project 2018 and having it part of a traveling collection for the summer is tomorrow, April 30th, 2018. I am done! My pages are all finished and scanned. I'm working on a video of the sketchbook to post a link here. This was my last meal that I had on a day in Seattle for jury duty. They gave an hour and a half for lunch so I had plenty of time to get to and sit down for an actual meal. This place was great. They have an open kitchen and I sat at the bar watching the activity. They make their own tortillas and it was fascinating watching the woman make, press and then cook the tortillas on the flat top. Great food, nice people, and interesting things around the restaurant for me to look at and draw!

First Taco Dinner for the Sketchbook Project 2018

This is my sketch from my first taco themed spread for the Sketchbook Project 2018. The sketchbook is due at the end of April and I have a couple more meals to record. I typically take a bunch of pictures in the restaurant or at the food truck to get images of the atmosphere and then a number of photos of my tacos as they were presented. Since this was the very first spread, the design is fairly basic. As time progressed and I ate more meals and have done more pages, I have added more and more elements and details. I am slowly digitally cleaning up the images from the sketchbook and will post them here as I go. These were delicious. Where is your favorite taco place?