Tjalf Sparnaay's hyper realistic paintings

You know when you look at a picture of a miniature and could swear it's a photo of the real thing? I LOVE that artful trickery!! Well, I don't remember where I came across this fried egg, but when I found out that it was actually a painting, I had to find out more! This is the work of Tjalf Sparnaay, a Netherlands born, UK based, self taught painter, and his pieces are simply mind boggling!! Check them out:


His website

More Halloween!!

A couple of these might look familiar. My yearly owl cupcakes became sandwich cookies, and my graveyard brownies became tombstone cupcakes ;-). I got an earlier start on making Halloween goodies this year, but I'm not out of steam yet! And my pizza obsession continues...which is good, because I keep getting orders for these!!

A few Halloween things

Is everyone letting their freak flags fly yet? I haven't gotten too freaky....yet ;-). These Halloween pieces are more of the "cute" variety then the gruesome, hehe. Ok, maybe the eggs are a little creepy. I also made a couple of potion/apothecary/botanical...ish boards, which I love doing! I think that if I were to choose what kind of roombox I'd want, an apothecary would be up there, most definitely.

Straight from Paris, HoKiou's tiny marvels under glass!

I was on etsy a couple nights ago, with half glazed, tired eyes, looking through my two most visited categories- jewelry and fragrance. I snapped out of it when I came across a little jewel of a shop...and when I say little, I mean LITTLE, though definitely NOT short on display of talent! Some people know that when it comes to miniatures, I have a thing for uber tiny, and HoKiou's work did not disappoint! She sculpts wee scenes and pieces on rings, then encases them in glass bubbles....AND, she makes crochet jewelry and mobiles! They are pure eye candy!! I love them all, but if I had to pic my favorites, it would be the haunted house with bats circling above, and the birds on a wire ;-). Check it out:

Her etsy shop

My original "Birthing Pumpkin", and more, to kick off Halloween! Also, my obsession with oils

This was one of those pieces I made, I believe almost two years ago, that I will never duplicate (although I've been asked, and really, there are enough "spawns" out there, so I've been told ;-)). Like all of my wacked out ideas, it came to me out of the blue. Yes, I'm twisted, in case you haven't noticed! I haven't launched fully into making Halloween stuff just yet, but I'm slowly inching in that direction. Even my tomatoes are darker (Black Krims).

The bottom three pics are of my oils...essential oils, absolutes, CO2's, and fragrance. I got interested in making my own perfumes about a couple months ago. It's fascinating and fun, but not as easy as it sounds! There is alot that goes into making your own fragrance...top notes, heart notes, bottom notes...finding the right balance, etc. As you can see, I go a bit hog wild when something interests me, so my oil buying has been nuts. In one of those boxes is a vial of civet, which is extracted from the perineal glands of the wild mammal. It's used for musk notes. another vial contains castoreum, which is taken from the castor sacs of the North American Beaver. In other words, near it's asshole :-/. By themselves, they are NOT pleasant smelling, believe me...but when added judiciously in a blend, they add a real earthiness, which I adore. I'm not really a sweet fragrance lover. I tend to like chyphres, orientals, fougeres, etc. Oh, and I like the marine, "oceany" types as well.

 

I chopped my ass off

no, not that ass, because there's nothing to chop. I spent all day today, off and on, chopping frigging rice! I wanted to make Risotto Milanese, since I made Osso Bucco (they're often eaten together). It seemed endless. When I make rice, I like to make it look bountiful, but my God...I chopped until the cows came home to fill this platter :-/. The other pics are of one more pizza and a bowl of (Italian) pears.

Osso Bucco and Stuffed Calamari

Surf and turf, dude! Italian style!! I made stuffed calamari and osso bucco. You know what I love? Bone marrow. So does my sister. There have been many times when mom has made something with bones, and by the time I get to it, the bones are hollow. Yep, my little sister strikes again!

I'd like an olive oil IV drip, thanks...

and maybe one for Sriracha hot sauce. And Diet Coke. Ok, scratch that last request, since I am trying to wean myself off of it :-/. Speaking of olive oil, here are two more Italian inspired dishes, heavy on the oil! One is grilled, marinated eggplant with pine nuts, and the other is something new. Something I RARELY make! Fish :-D!! They're sardines. I seem to be somewhat obsessed with making sardines, and I don't know why. I don't eat them much anymore, but sometimes, when I was little, gramps would open a can of them, add soy sauce, a side of rice, and I would tuck in, very happily. The little bones never bothered me...but then, I have been known to eat shrimp, shell and all, including the heads (my favorite part!). Try not to gag!! Actually, I have gagged before, on a shrimp head. You know those sharp, pointy things that stick out of it's head? It harpooned me in the roof of the mouth. There was a bit of blood, and a shitload of pain!!

Orecchiette with sausage

I forgot this one! Instead of rolling long, thin pasta, I made "ears".

Italian avalanche

At Lance's request, and since I haven't done a post in ages (kinda), here's some Italian food ;-)! The pizzas are a lot of fun to make...in fact, I had to stop myself from going nuts and making too many of them! Too many possibilities...