Fine Art Daily
Jean Dixon Sanders
Jean Dixon Sanders has been a painter and graphic designer for 30 years. A graduate of Washington College, where she majored in fine art, She lives in Florida. She contributes several weekly illustrations to The Chestertown Spy. Her blog, Fine Art Daily, can be seen at www.jeandsanders.blogspot.com
Every day I try to paint & share a bit of my world & work. This is life with Best Beloved, the Pouting Princess, Tall Boy, cats, the weedy garden and the dust bunny-ridden house. I also offer friendly and professional illustration & design services. Please email me at fineartdaily@gmail.com. Visit http://www.chestertownspy.com, too!
Blog entries from Fine Art Daily for January 2011
Fine Art Daily - January 4, 2011
Posted: January 04, 2011 06:06 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersHappy 2011! We had a quiet New Year's Eve. Best Beloved and I shared a chilled bottle of Prosecco with Cary Grant, Grace Kelly and all those marvelous jewels along the Riviera. On Sunday we took the Tall One down to Palm Beach for a little culture. Lunch at Howley's was a bit of an eye-opener for him. He had expected an atmosphere like the Colony, I fear. Instead we tucked into our club sandwiches and tuna melt side-by-side with some well-inked characters. There was one group, just out of church, with the requisite tufted pink Chanel and a very nice Hermés, but they were the odd duc...
Fine Art Daily - January 5, 2011
Posted: January 05, 2011 06:39 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersRun, do not walk, to the Norton Museum right away. You only have until January 9th to experience Nick Cave: http://www.norton.org/Exhibitions/Current/NickCaveMeetMeattheCenteroftheEarth/tabid/459/Default.aspx The Tall One's eyes were opened to the possibilities of contemporary art with this exhibit. You will be amazed by the wit and charm of Cave's creations. They are like Red Hot hats on acid!
Fine Art Daily - January 6, 2011
Posted: January 06, 2011 05:36 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersI realize that yesterday's video of the Nick Cave installation might have been slightly off-putting to some of you. The War Lord rattled his saber a little, and opined that the whirling Dervishes yesterday might make for some fine cannon fodder. There are a few of those wooly Muppet-like creatures in the exhibit, but there are also some incredibly intricate and artfully constructed arrangements with flowers and tea cups and this fellow – every square inch covered in white buttons, sewn so tidily with orange thread. Alice would feel quite at home. Amazing. Hippity hop to the Norton!
Fine Art Daily - January 7, 2011
Posted: January 07, 2011 05:28 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersJanuary 7, 2011It is the Tall One's birthday, and Gentle Readers will remember that Boston Cream Pie is our choice for family birthday cakes. Mostly because chocolate and vanilla custard are good on just about anything. I will disappoint the real food enthusiasts when I say that I use vanilla cake mix and instant vanilla pudding (don't narc me to Mia and Gloria from Crimes Against Food). And, the truth may be in the pudding most of the time, but with us it is the chocolate glaze. The glaze makes the Boston Cream Pie.3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate3 tablespoons butter1 generous dollop (...
Fine Art Daily, January 10, 2011
Posted: January 10, 2011 04:45 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersResolute cheer today! These are not snow boots — they are springy pink garden boots. Who needs dour Hunter green boots, when there are pink, polka-dotted boots by the score? My container garden has started to stir. The nasturtiums are beginning to bloom. There is a golf ball-sized tomato on one plant with several blossoms as well. And there are about 14 tiny little green beans. Something is eating the green bean plants, though. I don't know if it is the Evil Roxanne who chews every wire, cord and coaxial cable in the house, or if we have a very selective rabbit. I might have to harv...
Fine Art Daily, January 11, 2011
Posted: January 11, 2011 04:40 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersJanuary 11, 2011This weekend Best Beloved and I went trolling the hardware and garden stores for a new grill. The salt air here is particularly fiendish about rapidly reducing our outdoor grills to small piles of greasy rust, so this is practically a biannual event. The cotter pins, number of burners and BTUs, fold-away shelves and easy-to-fire ignitors were thrilling stuff,though I found myself drifting away to the garden departments and their shelves of geraniums and other Pantone color bright bedding plants. These Home Depot geraniums were particularly brilliant and heart-warming...
Fine Art Daily, January 12, 2011
Posted: January 12, 2011 04:47 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersWe were busy on the Jean Bean Farm the other day. It was time to harvest the first of several green beans. All 16 of them. And a tasty little bunch they were, too! I had to stay one step ahead of my mystery muncher, and pick the beans before they disappeared. I'll plant a new crop later this morning, while some of my Gentle Readers are digging out from under the snow, or wrapping up in blankets to spend the day with a good book (or their fab new Kindles). Stay warm!
Fine Art Daily, January 13, 2011
Posted: January 13, 2011 04:54 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersJanuary 13, 2011Today's Fine Art Daily is a little craft, to help you out of a jam in case you forget a co-worker's birthday, or it can be an activity for the snowbound in the gelid North. This is an ACEO card - Art Cards, Editions and Originals. It is a standard trading card size - think grown up baseball cards without that yummy pink, powdery cardboard gum. People exchange, trade, sell and collect these cards which must be 2½ inches by 3½ inches. That's the only rule. So print a few of these and keep them in your top desk drawer for that day when you find out it's the birthday of ...
Fine Art Daily, January 14, 2011
Posted: January 14, 2011 05:14 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersJanuary 14, 2010It's Food Friday!One of the best Christmas presents that Best Beloved received was a quantity of filets mignons. Which of course, he shares very nicely with me. It is equally fitting that sauce Béarnaise which we make to adorn the filets is acceptable to Atkins Diet thinkers, which is the way we are trying to go here in the second week of the New Year. We are walking every day, eschewing alcohol during the week and embracing Atkins. Thank heavens it is Friday!Sauce Bérnaise¼ cup white wine vinegar¼ cup white wine2 tablespoons shallots, minced1 tablespoon fresh tarragon...
Fine Art Daily, January 17, 2011
Posted: January 17, 2011 06:12 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersJanuary 17, 2011Here is one of my co-workers, the Evil Roxanne. She leads a pretty comfortable life, with lots of naps and "Me Time", though I have never seen her reading a book or the Kindle. She supervises my activities very closely. If I ever take a phone call away from the computer or the drawing table she sits in my lap and eavesdrops. She must be the company stooge. Often she comes to complain about something, but is always vague - forcing me to guess whether she needs a snack, a drink, a back rub, an ear scritch - it is a pretty sizable list of possibilities and permutations...
Fine Art Daily, January 18, 2011
Posted: January 18, 2011 04:44 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersHere is another of my co-workers, Hoover. Although the neighboring War Lord deems Hoover a thug, beyond his incessant demands for expensive tins of stinky winky cat food he seems pretty mellow to us. In fact, he is sleeping much better these nights. We bought a new, larger mattress a few weeks ago. It now accommodates the three of us. I am no longer encroaching on Hoover's space! It must be a great relief. Now if he could only get me to read his tiny little kitty brain more clearly, so I could perform my door opening functions with greater efficiency, Hoover's life would be very goo...
Fine Art Daily, January 19, 2011
Posted: January 19, 2011 04:13 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersJanuary 19, 2011Most of my Gentle Readers are the tweedy yet stylish without trying too hard, intellectual, Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle expert, bleeding heart liberal, East Coast bourgeois bon vivants such as yourself. I hate to shatter that myth so early in the morning, but our readership extends beyond those narrow generalizations. We had a communication from Sake and Tsunami, the handsome Siamese cats who are pictured in today's Fine Art Daily. Sake and Tsunami read Fine Art Daily, with Kate Middleton's cousin. And they weigh in that perhaps Hoover and Roxanne are not bei...
Fine Art Daily, January 20, 2011
Posted: January 20, 2011 05:00 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersJanuary 20, 2011Poor Hoover. Pitiful Roxanne. Sadly neglected Sake and Tsunami. All these cats think they are living the good life, with us, their pets, dancing obéissance. They do not know that some dogs get to have BMWs. This English Spaniel was sitting it her BMW earlier this week at the beach Publix. I hate to think what the cats will say when they read Fine Art Daily this morning.
Fine Art Daily, January 21, 2011
Posted: January 21, 2011 05:36 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersJanuary 21, 2011Congratulations to Nancy Turrell and The Arts Council! Here is some chilled Veuve Clicquot for tomorrow night.Tomorrow night is the gala celebration of 30 years of incredible creativity!DREAMS: 30th Anniversary Gala ConcertThe DREAMS Concert is presented by the Arts Council of Martin County as a fund raising event and celebration of our 30 years of service to the Martin County community.Date: Saturday, January 22, 2011 Time: 7:30 pmTickets $25 adult, $15 studentVisit www.martinarts.org for more information.Charles and Camilla are beside themselves! Charles can't decide w...
Fine Art Daily, January 24, 2011
Posted: January 24, 2011 05:08 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersJanuary 24, 2011As you hunker down in front of your computer this morning, Gentle Reader, I want to cheer you with this thought: Chinese New Year is just around the corner! February 3 starts the Year of the Rabbit! And it is never to early to start thinking about your wild celebratory plans for your New Year party, is it? Pearl River is an excellent source for party decorations and favors. (And it is a bonzer way to kanoodle for a few minutes...)May the bunny be with you!
Fine Art Daily, January 25, 2011
Posted: January 25, 2011 04:43 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersJanuary 25, 2011We celebrate the Chinese New Year in our neighborhood with Miss Morning Glory, the War Lord and a variety of colorful, description-defying neighbors and extras and flying monkey children. And since hats are necessary for any major party or event we have accumulated a veritable treasure trove of politically incorrect headgear. And while this hat looks oh, so charming on this wee bunny, you should see it perched atop the Tall One's explosion of curls. The long pigtail of shiny black hair is especially piquant.
Fine Art Daily, January 26, 2011
Posted: January 26, 2011 05:06 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersJanuary 26, 2011Some hats are a little outlandish. This is not a happy bunny. The New Year's festivities which we enjoy are not very formal or staid. In fact, pigs-in-blankets are one of the favorite traditional main dishes. Kosher, please. And yes, we do have fried rice and egg rolls, too. But Cheetos are also integral to the celebration. East meets West under the paper lanterns.
Fine Art Daily, January 27, 2011
Posted: January 27, 2011 05:47 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersJanuary 27, 2011The Year of the Rabbit sparks many fashion concerns. This is the ideal hat, unless, of course, you have rabbit ears. It is a perfect sun hat, rain hat or umbrella. It can cover a platter of pigs-in-blankets and it could probably provide shelter for a family of tiny bunnies. I dare say that if you added a couple of sprigs of springtime blossoms and some colorful ribbons it would be suitable for the Easter Parade in Newport.
Fine Art Daily, January 28, 2011
Posted: January 28, 2011 06:01 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersJanuary 28, 2011It's Food Friday!Here is a recipe for home made fortune cookies. No matter where we get Chinese food the fortune cookies always seem stale. I would hate to bring stale cookies to the Year of the Rabbit festivities. I have also included some pithy quotations that you can print and include in your batch of yummy fresh cookies. Charles and Camilla had so much fun helping me choose!3 egg whites¾ cup white sugar½ cup butter, melted and cooled¼ teaspoon vanilla extract¼ teaspoon almond extract1 cup all-purpose flour2 tablespoons waterPreheat the oven to 375°F. Line cookie sh...
Fine Art Daily, January 31, 2011
Posted: January 31, 2011 04:36 Last Updated: | Jean Dixon SandersJanuary 31, 2011What a whirling dervish of a weekend! The Pouting Princess came home, foraging for art supplies and new fashion items. We buzzed her down to Jerry's Artarama on Saturday morning and stocked up on papers, inks, color pencils and precious, tiny sketchbooks. After a successful pillage of H&M and a restorative lunch we tooled home and found these tomatoes nestled in a plastic bag, hanging from the handles on the front door. Such a nice surprise! And who is the mysterious Tomato Farmer, please? We want you to know that we made a Salad Rustico that night, tossing the s...
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