Diane Bowie-Zaitlin to Offer Workshop

Encaustic by Diane Bowie-Zaitlin

Local artist Diane Bowie-Zaitlin is offering an encaustic workshop at her studio December 5th & 6th from 10am-3pm. In this contemporary approach to encaustic painting, classes will work with color, transparency, manipulation and texturing of the wax surface, layering, oil stick, collage and mixed media. Classes are small and flexible to accomodate the various interests of the students.

Encaustic painting is also known as wax painting. Pigment is added to hot beeswax and applied to a panel with metal tools before it cools. This artform dates back to ancient egyptian mummy portraits! Paintings can be abstract and layered like a collage or can be similar to oil/acrylic in complexity and style.

6th-Century Encaustic Icon

For more information on the workshop, email Diane.

Priscille Verrier's Saturday Class

You may know Priscille Verrier is teaching a "Hue Can Do It" class, for the Biddeford Adult Education. You may know she taught a "Learning to "See" Like an Artist" Watercolor Workshop recently, but did you know she is offering continuous Saturday watercolor classes at Highland Home Gallery? Highland Home Gallery is right across from Aquaboggin on route 1. The idea at Highland is for artists to learn tips and tricks to jump-start their creativity. If you've always wanted to try watercolor, this is a perfect way to get started with a teacher-artist who wants your imagination to soar.

-Kathryn

Why Archival Matters – Part 2

When preserving your fine art, your child's masterpiece or a family heirloom archival is best.

Archival materials are best because they:

1. Slow paper degradation,
2. Neutralize acid by-products,
3. Protect against damaging pollutants,
4. Are fade and bleed resistant,
5. Buffered to maintain alkaline pH,
6. Are acid free and lignin free.

We can appreciate those precious treasures now and we can, with just a little knowledge, safeguard those same dear memories for our great-great grandchildren.

Why Archival Matters - Part 1

Precious family treasures like Grammy’s Christening Gown, Great Auntie’s Sampler or Grandad’s Medals seem to be appreciated more in these trying times. While we are putting greater value on the links to our past, we realize that we need to preserve these heirlooms for the generations to come. To take the guess work out of that process, we need to know some simple things about protection.

First, you want to learn anything you can about the object: who made it, when, any interesting story that relates to the object, where it fits in historically, if that applies. For example, a 2nd cousin wrote down the story of how a 1st paycheck from the phone company at the St. Louis Worlds’ Fair ended up inside a goat. She illustrated the story with a photo of a 1900’s Switchboard, a Fair Program and a photo of the goat with our great grandfather. So remember to label paper times with a soft pencil. Then you should scan the photo. Take photos of bulky items and store them on CDs. If you make a few extras, relatives can store them too.

Secondly, purchase an inexpensive light meter and hydrometer, to check humidity and the amount of light. Store those treasures away from direct sunlight and in an environment between 40 – 50 % humidity, at 68 degrees. Books within those light and humidity guidelines can be stored on shelving if given generous space. Squeezing too many books in too small a space, can damage the book spines. Avoid basements, attics or outside walls. Use acid-free mats, backboards, acid-free albums and boxes.

Every six months, examine your heirlooms for holes and sawdust. Wear cotton gloves or handle as little as possible with clean hands. Never store your treasures in wooden chests, because the sap they exude can stain and spoil. Never store in plastic drycleaner's bags because they trap moisture. Remove all pins, paper clips and staples, to avoid rust. These Archival tips matter because your family’s story should be preserved. It matters to your generation and the ones to come.

-Kathryn

Bakery Blog

Sam's Place hosted the Harvestfest's Pie Contest this past Sunday. It was organized by Saco Spirit Board Member Sally Howe. We were lucky to meet some of Saco's enthusiastic bakers, who were willing to share their pie recipes!

Sally Howe with Pie Contest winner Laura Mooney

Blue ribbon winner Laura Mooney won 9 Saco Spirit Christmas Ornaments for her Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pie. Red ribbon winner Dianna Hill won a gift certificate for Women's Terapeutic Massage. White ribbon winner Diane Lamber won a gift certificate to The Candy Garden for her Carmel-Pecan Pumpkin Pie.

Their recipes are as follows:

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pie

Crust:
1 3/4C Chocolate Wafer Crumbs
6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, Melted
3 Tbsp Packed Dark Brown Sugar
Dash of Salt

Note: Do not use store bought pre-made crusts as they are too small for the amount of filling in the recipe

Filling:
6 Oz Cream Cheese, Softened
3/4 C Confectioner's Sugar
1/4 Tsp Kosher Salt
1 1/4C Smooth Peanut Butter
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
2C Heavy Cream
1 Oz Dark Chocolate, Melted (for decorating top)
2 Tbsp Smooth Peanut Butter, Melted (for decorating top)

1) Make crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine wafer crumbs, butter, brown sugar & salt. Press mixture firmly into bottom & upsides of 9" deep dish pie plate. Bake 8-10 mins until set. Let cool completely on rack.

2) Make filling: Beat cream cheese, confectioner's sugar & salt with a mixer on medium. Speed until fluffy. Beat in peanut butter and vanilla.

3) In a seperate bowl, beat heavy cream until soft peaks form. Whisk 1/3 of whipped cream into peanut butter mixture, then gently fold in remaining whipped cream. Spoon into crust. Freeze uncovered at least 4 hours (or overnight covered with plastic wrap).

4) Before serving: Place melted chocolate in resealable sandwich baggie. Snip tip from one corner of bag to make a small hole. Hold about 5" above pie and drizzle over top. Repeat with peanut butter. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Caramel-Pecan Pumpkin Pie

Crust:

1/2 Pkg Ready-made Pie Crust

Filling:

2 Eggs, Lightly Mixed

1 15oz Can Pumpkin Pie

1/4C Light Cream or Half/Half

1 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 Tbsp Flour

Topping:

1/2C Chopped Pecans

2 Tbsp Softened Butter

1/2C Brown Sugar

3/4C Sugar

1/2 Vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare crust and place in 8" or 9" pie plate. Fold, crimp & decorate pie edge. In large bowl, combine eggs, pumpkin, cream, spice, flour, sugar & vanilla until blended. Pour into pie shell. Cover pie edges with foil. Bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and cover pie filling with topping. Bake another 30 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Refrigerate 2 hours after cooling. Best served with ice cream or whipped cream.

Colors of America

If you have been in the shop lately, you've noticed the moving of some displays. The goal is to have like items closer together, to make sense of the space. For example, the paint chip display is closer the actual California Paint products that it's representing now.


Following that logic, the massive "Colors of America" circular display needed to be closer to the paints as well. These Fres~Coat sample pots had to be taken down and then replaced to facilitate the move.


While putting the paint sample jars back, the system of color names proved interesting. Under the heading, "Historic Colors", were the standard reliable names the summon up stable thoughts of founding fathers and mothers: Asher Benjamin, Hawthorne Green and Lady Banksia. These shades welcome autumn back safely into your home and everyone admires them.


Then we have the "Color Revolution" heading. These are the names that tickel and surprise. Under the subheading "Hipster" there's a vibrant orange called Coctail Hour and a lush blue called Trust Fund Baby that gives that tasteful, prosperous vibe. Under "Empty Nest" there's What Inheritance?, a creamy cool butter shade and a peachy Breakfast in Bed color that flatters everyone's complexion. "Bachelor's" subheading offers colors like Alpha Male brown and The Ego Has Landed red that are fun.


For next summer(yeah, thinking that far ahead), the calm serenity of the "sancuary" colors is going to be my staycation inspiration. Nourish will be good for the woodwork, as it's that perfect greeny-blue that whispers summer. Calm is a basic white whit a hint of green that will make a great accent wall. Bask, looking like a blush, will make a great powder room tint.

This is the decade of purple, the industry's colorists crow. Until Refuge and Harmony appeared, there was serious doubt. But both these colors have a muted, peaceful hie that makes them seem karmatic.


So as each season arrives, the Colors of America circular display is a good place to look for new ideas in Fres~Coat and sometimes a giggle as well.

-Kathryn

Virginia Garrity's Dolls

My Grammy, Virginia Garrity, has been creating dolls since the 70's. She was featured in Maine Today, in the "Where's Amy" segment on news channel 13 and has been taking ribbons at the Fryeburg Fair for over 30 years. Recently, her Michele Obama doll was featured August/September issue of Soft Dolls and Animals Magazine. She's got a Barack doll finished that I'll have to get some pictures of.

Grammy, or Ginny as her friends call her, is a member of local art group Uncommon Threads in Saco. They have had group shows at Dogfish Cafe in Portland and Ginny has shown her work at The Heart of Biddeford Community Center.

Congratulations Grammy!