Family | Beverly Shipko, Artist

Mother’s Day: A Ballet of Flavors

May 9, 2016 by Beverly

Today I had a terrific Mother’s Day with family and friends, featuring an inspired meal prepared by our resident chef, Bonnie. Here she is with her signature popovers.

While I’ve written about Bonnie’s artistic talents before (Thanksgiving Bonnie-Style, Bonnie’s Thanksgiving Feast), I never completely figured out why I’m so intrigued by Bonnie’s skillful meal preparation. Until today.

What I watched last night and this morning (and participated in) is a unique kind performance art that goes on for hours. It’s like a carefully orchestrated ballet of flavors, with Bonnie at the helm as the producer, choreographer, conductor and prima ballerina all rolled into one.

With careful planning, somehow all the moving parts come together into an elegant whole. It’s hard to describe how she coordinates everything, making it look effortless. Bonnie moves gracefully around the kitchen juggling multiple dishes, moving from one recipe to another and then back again – while orchestrating the rest of us.

I find the process extremely compelling, and was having flashbacks to foodie movies such as Burnt, Chef and No Reservations. Maybe I should start taking videos, but as a backstage assistant I was too busy much of the time.

Here’s the final production featuring 12+ recipes.

The menu included crudite with a homemade spinach dip, cucumber soup with a mango and tomato garnish, nicoise salad, salmon with dill, turkey meatballs on spiraled sweet potatoes with a parsley cauliflower sauce, lentil salad, acorn square creations, my favorite butternut squash/leek/green apple side dish, and potato leek goat cheese tart in a pistachio crust made especially for my brother-in-law Bill.

Ah yes, I forgot dessert – the brownie dessert and the cranberry loaf. My mouth is watering…

Bonnie’s vision somehow morphed an ordinary acorn squash into an artistic looking platter with quinoa, mushrooms, and brussel sprouts.

Her appetizing nicoise salad is always a hit.

So is the lentil salad with vegetables.

Recently Bonnie re-discovered the glory of spiralizing on inspiralized.com which translated into this sweet potato dish.

Then there was the watermelon with mint, which everyone raved about. I skipped it at lunch because I thought it couldn’t be anything special. But I was mistaken as I found out at dinner.

Another way to think about this is as piece of installation art involving food that is transitory and ephemeral by nature. The concept goes beyond a ballet of flavors, to shapes, colors, and textures that appeal to all our senses. In short, all the elements of great art.

Act I consists of Bonnie and the food. Act 2 begins with Bonnie explaining her dishes and ends with us at the dining room table demolishing her creations.

Here’s our friend Alissa, from Philadelphia, who joined the crew. She was put to work as soon as she walked in and certainly earned her meal.

My sister-in-law Pam, from Kansas City, also joined the ensemble, as did Jay with several trips to the grocery store and hours of clean up.

Pam and I had a great Mother’s Day! We hope yours was as great as ours.

The best part is the performance isn’t truly over. The encore continues as we enjoy magnificent leftovers (too good to be called leftovers; do you have a better name?). No need to cook for a long time. What a finale!

Open Studio: A Team Effort

April 23, 2016 by Beverly

As with any sports teams, it takes a group effort to be successful. And everyone has their role.

My Open Studio is no exception. If you haven’t already met them, let me introduce you to the starting lineup, my teacher daughter Bonnie and husband Jay.

Jay worked hard behind the scenes, the unsung hero of the team. For two weeks I gave him lists, and everything simply magically appeared – from poster boards, packing tape, picture wire, groceries, to stamps, napkins and plates. Jay even helped prepare my printed materials, from resumes, statements to price lists.

He darted around from one task to another, making things happen like a tireless point guard. (Note: When he read this description, he said he sounded more like a locker attendant…and I couldn’t stop laughing!) Here he is cleaning up the dinner dishes the night before the Open Studio, with a smile on his face.

Bonnie is like a secret weapon who anticipates and solves problems before they arise. She calls the plays like a team captain. For example, take meals. I was so busy painting my Avocados and Blueberry Pie that I forgot about preparing meals, which is a problem for a busy teacher who works 10-12 hours at school before coming home with more work.

So she took on planning and cooking food for the entire week. This turkey meatball and sweet potato entrée, with avocado dressing (mmm!), is an example of her handiwork. Aren’t we lucky!

She happily volunteered to handle the dessert table, from start to finish. Bonnie planned the menu, placed and picked up the order, and set up the table – and replenished it after Saturday. Apparently people saved a lot of room for dessert because we started running out of everything. She also stepped up big time on Friday night, helping me clear out my studio at the eleventh hour.

Finally, we come to Maritza, an indispensable team member, who refers to the weekend as “my Open Studio”. And certainly she has been part of the team for so many years that she’s absolutely right. Two weeks in advance, Maritza helped me weed through what we would hang or pack up, how many tables to put out anyhow to display prints.

Once again, she generously volunteered to man the Oreo Cookie Contest in the kitchen for two full days, giving up her weekend after working two jobs during the week, a task that would fell lesser mortals.

Maritza assisted anyone who needed help – including yours truly who cut herself badly on the serrated edge of the wax paper box while wrapping up paintings.

So thank you, Jay, Bonnie and Maritza, for enabling me to fulfill my role as the power forward – to keep pouring on the points (maybe paints is more like it) until the very last seconds of the game. I finished this Blueberry Pie from the 2015 Open Studio the last minute and hung it wet. Of course, Bonnie made sure her dessert table included a blueberry pie from Riviera that was the inspiration.

Without all of you, this event would have never come together. I am grateful to have you on my team and consider the entire weekend one terrific victory.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup: A Tribute

January 31, 2016 by Laura

Hello Readers! Laura “Webmaster” Sloofman here. I’m popping in to honor our Artist in Residence, Beverly Shipko. Today, my friend Sarah and I had our first Still-Life Painting Night*. In need of a subject, we “drew” inspiration from Bev’s latest blog post and selected the composition Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

Like our mentor, we painted our pictures using a 2-D image for inspiration. However, we worked from the television instead of a picture. Saturday Night [Painting] Live, if you will.

“Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup” by Beverly Shipko, Oil on cradled wood panel, on TV.

Sarah used acrylics, so at this point she just started painting. I chose gouache. Or rather, gouache chose me because it was the only paint I had on-hand thanks to a birthday present from Grandma Dot. Gouache is fun to work with because it feels like a hybrid between watercolor and acrylic. It’s relatively easy to create precise lines and flow-y colors.

After finishing my sketch, I couldn’t wait to start painting. Thankfully, I heeded Ms. Shipko’s advice and filled in the Reese’s logo first. She was right on all counts. I had to fight the temptation to outline first, but it was easier this way in the end. Had I started with the outline, the dark gouache would have bled into the center.

Before we knew it, after a night of painting and cooking along with Chef Erik, we had our finished work!

Sarah (L) and Laura (R)

The paintings up close

All three Reese’s Artists

Chef Erik. (Sarah and I helped, though!)

Thanks Mom for encouraging us to take a bite out of life!

* Chef Erik participated in our night of creativity by woodworking and then doing some painting of his own

Happy Holidays!

December 25, 2015 by Beverly

Today when I opened several holiday photo cards with humorous holiday letters, I regretted skipping our family photo card this year.

Holiday cards and letters are a great way to look back on the year as well as to keep in touch, especially if you’re not on Facebook. Inevitably you learn something new about your friends and family. Last year I found out my brother-in-law, Bill, drives all over Kansas to judge barbecue contests (aka Barbecue Bill going forward). Who knew?

And then it hit me. It’s not too late! After all, isn’t a blog post simply a modern day equivalent of a paper newsletter? So welcome to my 1st Annual Online Holiday Newsletter!

2015 will long be remembered as the year of wedding celebrations, all beautiful, unique and memorable each in their own way. This is one of my favorite family photos of the year, since we’re all together and really dolled up.

Family Photo in Philadelphia for Alissa and Jared’s wedding, October 10, 2015

This year we went to 12 different weddings. Jay and I went to 6, Bonnie went to 5, and Laura went to 6 (in Switzerland, Chicago, Evanston, Urbana and 2 in Philadelphia, winning our most miles traveled award). I couldn’t help thinking about wedding cake paintings.

Beverly hanging out with Emily and Josh’s wedding cake in Burlingame, California, May 17, 2015

Lots of dress shopping this year, especially with Laura being in the bridal party in 3 of her 6 weddings. We saw Laura more this year than any other year since she moved to Urbana.

Emily and Nadav’s Wedding, Evanston, Illinois, Photo Courtesy Daniela Cardili, August 15, 2015

Steph and Justin’s Wedding, Rye, NY, September 20, 2015

Here’s the most spontaneous and fun wedding photo of all.

Steph and Justin’s Wedding, Rye, NY, September 20, 2015

We extended the San Francisco wedding trip to include 10 days driving the rugged California coastline up to Mendocino (Jay has nerves of steel!), taking in the wine and art in Napa (more on that another time), and ending with a breath-taking visit to Yosemite.

From an overlook near Point Reyes, California

Rock climbing on Glass Beach in Mendocino, CA

Beverly getting her art fix at the Hess Collection in the Napa Valley, California

An adventurous Jay at Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park, California (not shown is the nervous photographer)

The Evanston wedding coincided with Jay’s national bridge tournament in Chicago. 2015 marked the first time Jay has made it to the semi-finals in a national team event (the mini-Spingold national event, for you bridge aficionados.) Congratulations to Jay!

This was also my first trip with Jay to a national tournament and it was more fun than I thought. While Jay was playing bridge twice a day, I toured Chicago’s distinctive architecture with a dear friend from business school (where Jay and I met), visited my cousins (4 first cousins in the area), went to art museums – and couldn’t stop taking photos of The Bean in Millennium Park (maybe there’s a series here a la Monet’s Haystacks) Now I’m considering going to the 2016 summer tournament. How does Washington, D.C. in July sound to you?

With my twin cousins, Pam and Sue, in Evanston.

The Bean in Millenium Park from the top of the Chicago Athletic Club

One of my many photos from the underside of The Bean

Unfortunately, all these weddings were accompanied by too many funerals, one of which hit me particularly hard. One of my oldest and dearest friends who I met at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Marlene, passed away in July after a prolonged battle with cancer. So I spent our wedding anniversary writing a eulogy for the Philadelphia funeral, but was grateful for the opportunity since it proved to be cathartic, and brought back memories of happier and healthier times.

Beverly and Marlene at one of many Thanksgiving dinners in Philadelphia, 1980s

The 3 day trip was bittersweet since I got to spend time with both her daughters, Debbie (now living in Bethesda) and Lauren (from Santa Monica), and their families, something that hadn’t happened in years. I brought a lot of old photos and this was the favorite.

Marlene with Lauren and Debbie, Valley Forge, PA, 1978.

2015 was the year I broke out of my comfort zone with my art. I participated two different 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenges in January and September. For the first time, I finally tried painting on wood panels instead of linen, and explored a lot of new subjects, food and non-food – including flowers, hood ornaments, double yolk eggs, sunsets and more. I was in a number of shows this year, at the Katonah Museum of Art, Silvermine Art Center, and in American Realism at Cavalier Galleries with branches in Manhattan, Greenwich and Nantucket.

In between the Challenges and weddings, I took 4 trips to Michigan to visit my mother, who celebrated her 90th birthday in her condo where she has lived for at over 35 years. This also gave me a chance to keep in touch with relatives and long time friends, and see the long overdue Diego Rivera retrospective at the Detroit Institute of Arts (a subject for another blog).

Looking back at 2015, no wonder I felt like I didn’t have much free time!

Now for the kids (who really aren’t kids any more).

One of my favorite photos of Laura and Bonnie

Bonnie (right) is in her 3rd year as an elementary special education teacher at Central School in Mamaroneck. It’s a demanding job that requires superior multi-tasking skills (which she demonstrated at Thanksgiving). She has found her calling as a teacher. Somehow she fit Pilates classes into her schedule twice a week, and she spent more time enjoying the food in New York City.

Laura (left) will officially receive her Masters in Biophysics and Computational Biology from the University of Illinois in May. Kudos to Laura! We will be going to Urbana for her graduation ceremony.

And so her job search for a bioinformatics position has officially begun. Her current genetics-based research project at the University of Illinois is funded through July. Of course, being her mother, I’m hoping Laura will return to the greater New York area…. So if you hear of any opportunities, please contact Webmaster Laura at admin@beverlyshipko.com.

As I write this post, I remember why I stopped writing the paper letters – it’s hard. There’s too much to say, and I have a tendency to include a laundry list of things that sounds akin to bragging, particularly without being broken up by photos. Now I better appreciate the consummate skill of Barbecue Bill who writes such entertaining, tongue-in-cheek letters that I chuckle over every year – without a single photo!

As always, I look forward to catching up with all of you, and to seeing you the next time you’re passing through New York. Our door is always open.

I wish each and every one of you a peaceful and joyful holiday season. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Thanksgiving Bonnie-style

November 29, 2015 by Beverly

Thanksgiving is a holiday I look forward to for months. Welcome to Bonnie’s Thanksgiving Day Feast!

Here’s the behind-the-scenes look at this event, which extends over multiple days.

I’m fortunate enough to have a daughter who absolutely loves to cook Thanksgiving dinner – and she relishes every minute of it. While cooking can sometimes feel like a chore to some (me!), it’s pure joy to her – from planning the menu, making typed and categorized shopping lists, to picking the best looking fresh ingredients. She grows more confident every year.

In 2014, I wrote a blog post about Bonnie’s Thanksgiving called Other Food Artist in The Family. It’s definitely worth reading to understand how much skill goes into assembling the menu and balancing everyone’s likes, dislikes, and dietary constraints.

Yet cooking is more of an art than a science, and Bonnie has the art down. Somehow I can make the same recipes, but they don’t seem to taste as good as Chef Bonnie’s.

In retrospect, I wish I had taken more photos of the prep days. I would have if Laura and I hadn’t gone to Manhattan to meet good friends from Atlanta and see the Macy’s Thanksgiving balloons being blown up. Jay stayed behind to help, easing my guilt at leaving the chef (though Bonnie’s perfectly capable.) As you can see, Bonnie’s fashion sense rubbed off on Jay.

Bonnie was so well organized that she had everything lined up on the counter waiting their turn to go into the oven (glad it’s a double oven!). I was fascinated by her ability to multi-task with ease, juggling 3 to 4 recipes at once, with varying cook times and temperatures – even precooking some of them only to put them back in later so everything could be ready and stay warm at once.

It’s a good thing I re-read my own 2014 Thanksgiving post because I was about to unwittingly repeat myself. I was going to say that Bonnie upped her game, that she outdid herself, and that she made the most recipes ever. However, with 20 different items on the 2015 menu I would have been wrong – she made 23 last year. How quickly we forget!

Minor details, however, since the end result is a astonishing series of dishes that delight everyone’s palate – from butternut squash soup, to baked pears, a butternut squash and apple salad, lemon herb turkey breast, homemake cranberry sauce, quinoa salad, to her signature stuffin’ muffins and popovers in two varieties (with and without gluten).

Psst. Don’t tell anyone, but I hid the pesto green beans in the garage refrigerator to snack on over the weekend.

For me, it wasn’t so much the number of recipes that Bonnie made, but how gracefully she did it that was so impressive. Somehow being a full-time special ed school teacher for another year honed her multitasking abilities. Also, cooking is simply Bonnie’s way of relaxing, being creative, and having pure, unadulterated fun.

I thought Bonnie’s proudest moment was when she pulled her gigantic popovers out of the oven. She is radiating so much happiness looking at the “pop” that I bet Bonnie could write a book about it and give Gretchen Rubin (author of The Happiness Project) a run for her money.

I must confess I don’t do all that much. Jay, Laura and I are just part of the supporting cast. Bonnie keeps us busy all day cleaning pots and pans and making counter space in anticipation of upcoming dishes. My favorite contribution is setting the dining room table.

Now it’s time to get dressed and dig in. I’m always surprised by how we clean up so well and amazed by Bonnie’s limitless energy after such a long day, and her ability to savor her own handiwork. A lesser mortal would be asleep by now.

Here’s the chef’s dinner plate.

We took a cleanup break between the main course and dessert to make more room for this delectable finale, as if we weren’t stuffed enough already.

Bonnie’s heart has always been in baking, as you can see from these 5 desserts, including two a sour cherry tart and pumpkin pie that rival those from the famed Riviera Bake House here in Ardsley. The last three are a pear galette and two delicious gluten-free dairy-free options – apple date bars and caramel cheesecake (in the square tins), both using an almond butter, coconut flake and date pie crust. The family practically attacked the dessert table.

Of course, we couldn’t forget the traditional family selfie.

Though somehow we did manage to skip our tradition of going around the table to say what we’re grateful for. But then it’s never too late, is it?

I am grateful for my good health, my wonderful and accomplished family who support me in all the endeavors I choose to pursue. I especially appreciate having a daughter who is happiest in the kitchen on Thanksgiving, as well as throughout the year. Her happiness is contagious and I am a much better cook because of her (note I reserve the chef designation for Bonnie).

Thank you, Bonnie, for another memorable holiday feast, and for dramatically changing my attitude towards cooking!

While I can’t really speak for the rest of the family, one picture is a thousand words.

I hope you enjoyed the celebration half as much as we did, and you’re all invited back next year!

Day 21. Phoenix Sunset

September 22, 2015 by Beverly

Even though I have a whole table full of ideas, I wasn’t sure what to paint for Day 21. I decided to go with this uplifting Phoenix Sunset that brought back memories of a wonderful trip to Arizona, with its spectacular outdoor beauty.

“Phoenix Desert Sunset” by Beverly Shipko, Oil on cradled wood panel, 5 x 7 inches

The inspiration came from a visit to the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden to see the Dale Chihuly Exhibit with the family in 2009. Chihuly did a masterful job of integrating his glass sculptures into the desert environment, livening up the rugged terrain with splashes of vibrant color.

Jay and I had a mini-reunion with his two sisters, Leslie Dolin from Portland, Oregon (middle), and Pam Kanter, from Kansas City, Missouri (right). Look a little closer and you can see 3 Chihuily lime green glass cactus sculptures in the background.

Here’s the whole group with spouses (well, almost the whole group since I’m the photographer), starting on the left, with Leslie, Bill Kanter, Jay, Pam, and Leigh Dolin. With everyone in the family so geographically scattered, it’s always special when we get together.

We stayed until sunset when the cacti were silhouetted against the expansive Western sky. Late last night I started the painting and this is what greeted me in the morning.

As I put worked on capturing more of the drama of the sky and adding details of the brush on the ground, I felt like I was reliving my vacation. What a nice way to spend Day 21 of the Challenge!

Now I’m re-thinking my plan for tomorrow. See you then.

Day 17. Happy Birthday, Mom!

September 17, 2015 by Beverly

To celebrate this very special day, I painted your favorite cupcake from Kroger. Surprised, Mom?

“Happy Birthday! Cupcake” by Beverly Shipko, Acrylic on wood cradled panel, 7 x 5 inches

Happy 90th Birthday – and welcome to your virtual birthday party! (Aren’t you glad I didn’t put 90th in the headline, Mom?)

And look who just joined the party!

Jay and Laura Sloofman

Stuart and Mary Jane Shipko

Bonnie Sloofman, Chloe and Zach Shipko

As with all parties, it took a lot of planning to make this happen today. There are so many little details – and I just realized I forgot the flowers!

And your gift, the Happy Birthday Cupcake painting, didn’t come easily either with everything that was going on here this week. I hope you like it.

For the first time in years, I had to switch to acrylic paints since it dries quickly (too quickly sometimes), allowing for corrections in an hour, and cleans up easily with water. Besides, the vibrant, dayglow colors of the Krogers cupcake just screamed for these acrylics, which I happened to have on hand (amazingly not dried out after 15 years!).

I started with the Happy Birthday decoration, which worked well with the Liquitex magenta. Along the way, I decided to leave the table white so this painting wouldn’t look too busy. Unlike my typical oil painting sessions, this one was done on the kitchen table with a cup of water close by to keep my brushes from drying out.

For those of you who haven’t met my mother before, in all the excitement I forgot to formally introduce you to Dot, A Mom Who Loves Sports, and the winner of my 2014 Sports Artist Award. At the risk of sounding like a cliche, she is my anchor who still keeps me focused on the big picture and the important things in life.

Dot, we hope you are enjoying the party. It’s time for you to make a wish and blow out the candles.

We love you (even though we don’t say it enough) and wanted to show you how much you are appreciated. Have a wonderful day!

Day 12. Jay’s Spatulas

September 14, 2015 by Beverly

Here’s a typical scene that greets me in the kitchen when I come down for breakfast.

“Jay’s Spatulas” by Beverly Shipko, Pencil drawing on bristol board, 6 x 6 inches

You see, Jay and I have a deal. I load the dishwater at night and he unloads it in the morning. For many years, Jay has meticulously arranged the still wet utensils on paper towels to air dry, altering their positions (handle down, handle up) so they collectively take up the least amount of space on the counter (thereby using less paper towel). I think he picked this habit up during his early years working at Al Baker’s Restaurant in St. Louis and at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, where he earned his undergraduate degree. Certainly, my haphazard way of laying out utensils hasn’t rubbed off on him. Sometime he feels that I don’t appreciate how he clean and organized he keeps the kitchen.

I decided it was time to honor one of Jay’s temporary spatula installations in the above drawing of Jay’s Spatulas, based on the photo below from November, 2014.

As Day 12 approached, I wasn’t sure whether to do a pencil drawing or painting. If I went with the pencil drawing, would I go with graphite alone or add in touches of color, using my recently rediscovered pack of Prismacolor pencils hiding in the basement? I wasn’t sure how I felt about this as a painting, so I went with the drawing and decided to leave the colored pencils for another time.

As I started drawing, I soon found out that less was more. For whatever reason, I was drawn to the linear quality of the outlines, and started liking the drawing less when I used more shading. So I put my gum eraser to good use and took out much of the chiaroscuro representing the black color of the utensils. Along the way, I was tempted again to add touches of yellow and purple, but decided to save that for another time.

For the past few years, I have been photographing these morning compositions. Jay now says he keeps doing them because I like them (and admittedly I miss them when he is away playing bridge.) But I would prefer to think he executes these carefully thought out arrangements as a creative outlet. Certainly, Jay seems to be more conscious of his designs since I starting recording them, and has even upped his game over time by playing with more colors, different shaped kitchen tools and gadgets, and by including fruits and vegetables.

Previously, I have talked about creative family members – Bonnie, another food artist in the family, and Mom, the sports artist. While I could also refer to Jay as a food and sports artist, I would rather add Jay to this illustrious list as the more distinctive, unique Spatula Artist, a title that he alone absolutely owns.

Remember that you heard it here first: Jay Sloofman, Spatula Artist. Perhaps I should go out and make him business cards…

Maybe I’ll make some sort of photo book of his best creations, or maybe make it available as a free download. And I will dedicate it to all the under-appreciated husbands in America. So, do you think this has the potential to make the New York Times best seller list?

That’s a long way off for now. And Day 13 is fast approaching – way too fast. There aren’t enough hours in the day.

Still the sweetest mother I know.

May 10, 2015 by Laura

Happy Mother’s Day!

Beverly Shipko, June 2013

Sincerely,

The IT department at beverlyshipko.com

Team 2015

May 2, 2015 by Beverly

I want to take this opportunity to thank the people who helped make this year’s Open Studio a success. It really does take a village.

First, I’ll start with Bonnie, who helped with the preparation and gave up her entire weekend, after working as a full-time elementary special ed teacher all week.

Bonnie is always full of ideas and has been a sounding board during the entire creative process. As the food artist in the family, she (and Jay) volunteered to handle the dessert table.

Next, let me introduce you to Maritza, who is great at anticipating what needs to be done and keeps me on track. She also gave up her weekend to help out after working two jobs all week! I don’t know how she does it – and with a smile.

Here she is in action overseeing the Oreo Cookie Contest in the kitchen.

Now, we come to Jay, who makes it possible to pursue my artist career. This past week, Jay ran constant errands, moved furniture, hung paintings, cooked, and cleaned, among other things too numerous to mention. I am grateful to have him in my life.

A special shout-out to Joe Sablow of Artistic Services in White Plains, NY, for coming through with beautifully crafted custom-made frames that give my paintings a distinctive look, and received many compliments this year.

I can’t end this post without acknowledging my other daughter, Laura, who developed and manages this website from Urbana, IL while getting a graduate degree in Biophysics and Computational Biology. While she’s not a visible presence, she has been a major force behind the scenes.

Now you’ve met the team. Thank you for everything! I couldn’t do this without you. Most of all, thanks for your ongoing encouragement and support to pursue the dream.

Story Behind The Eggs

March 23, 2015 by Beverly

When people walk into my studio these days, they smile and ask me, “Why eggs?”. So I gave this a bit of thought.

Of course, the quick and easy answer is that eggs are a key ingredient for baking, which keeps the food theme going. But I usually leave the baking to Bonnie. Eventually I realized there was more significance to these eggs.

The immediate inspiration for the egg series was a carton of double yolk eggs from last year. I couldn’t believe the whole carton was full of double yolks.

I kept my camera by the stove and took photos every day when I made my egg (or is it eggs?). I missed a few photo ops before I realized what a gold mine of inspiration this could be. I took photos of the eggs in various states – from raw in a bowl, cooking in a pan, to sunny side up. During the 30/30 Challenge in January, I did small oil paintings of eggs for the first time.

Egg Series from the 30/30 Challenge, Oil paintings on cradled panel, 5 x 7 inches.

An Egg-centric Series from the 30/30 Challenge, Oil paintings on cradled panel, 5 x 7 inches.

After someone mentioned that double yolks were lucky, I looked up the symbolism on the internet. It turns out that double yolk eggs are considered omens of abundance (as in pregnancy and fertility, twins), good fortune, and the union of two people in marriage (double yolks in one shell = union of two people in marriage).

This last point got me thinking. Then it hit me – bingo! – and I realized Mom and Dad met over a carton of eggs!

My grandfather, Sidney Fishman, used to own a gourmet grocery store on McNichols in Detroit, called the Market Basket.

He got his eggs delivered from my other grandfather, Maurice Shipko, who started talking about his son in dental school. The two men exchanged phone numbers and my parents ended up going out on a blind date. The rest was history.

Dorothy and Albert Shipko, 1947.

My parents were married for 64 years because of those eggs. So now you know the whole story. Apparently my subconscious did too.

Day 9 of the 30/30 Challenge – Baby Shoe

January 9, 2015 by Beverly

Surprise! I really did take a break from desserts today. Here’s an oil sketch of Laura’s Baby Shoe (we only have one).

“Laura’s Baby Shoe” by Beverly Shipko, Oil sketch on panel, 6 x 6 inches.

For many years, I thought this shoe belonged to Laura, my oldest daughter. Bonnie, my youngest, just informed me that it’s hers. I associate it with Laura because all her baby shoes looked like this. Maybe I’ll be able to find Bonnie’s pastel multi-colored baby shoes before the end of this challenge and do a painting of her’s too.

I ran across this baby shoe last week, and put it aside thinking it would make a nice painting and memory of times past. After yesterdays’s colorful but demanding donut painting, I was ready for a change in subject, level of complexity, and cleanup (fewer colors = fewer brushes). This monochromatic subject fit the bill. I also think a recent show called Wayne Thiebaud: In Black on White at the Allan Stone Projects in Chelsea played a unconscious role in my decision. Well, maybe not so unconscious since I’ve been looking at this image in a brochure since December, and you already know about how I feel about my hero, Wayne Thiebaud.

Wayne Thiebaud's "Pie Slice" " courtesy of the Allan Stone Projecs , charcoal and pencil on board.

Wayne Thiebaud’s “Pie Slice” ” reproduced courtesy of the Allan Stone Projects.

When my husband and daughter saw today’s oil sketch, they were less than enthusiastic about this unexpected shift in direction. Maybe I should have prepared them first. Clearly this painting did not meeting Bonnie’s expectations since her feedback was that it was boring and colorless. Jay tried valiantly (but failed) to cover up his dislike. It doesn’t matter, because I painted it for myself.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but wonder what this oil sketch would have looked like with a colorful background to punch it up a bit… Should I change it? Or try another one? I would like to hear what you think.

This was the first day of the challenge that I painted from an actual object. Even so, I used my portable lamp (aka flashlight) to play with the shadows and took photos to help decide on the final composition. I didn’t realize until today how “addicted” I am to digital photography as part of the process. And it’s so much easier to paint with the aid of a photo conveniently taped at eye level on your easel. Below are two “finalist” options with subtle differences. The first one looked good to me until I saw the second with the funkier shoelace shadow, the direction that I went with.

I am really enjoying painting every day, and am learning a great deal on so many levels. The difficult part is finding time for everything else. I definitely need to fit more cooking in. The true challenge today was to finish before 6:30pm when Jay and I were leaving for the Holiday Train Show evening event at the New York Botannical Gardens (which was truly stunning at night!). I even managed to post to Leslie’s site before leaving (I was #297 today; moving on up).

Tomorrow we have New York Philharmonic tickets and had originally planned to go to some museums first. That would probably mean doing a drawing instead of a painting, which I don’t have to decide right now. But why do I feel like that’s cheating?

See you tomorrow.

A Mom Who Loves Sports

December 26, 2014 by Beverly

Today I would like to introduce you to my mother, Dorothy aka Dots and Dash with Lots of Flash, the woman who supported me in every way throughout my entire life. She encouraged me to pursue my art – even when I decided to pass on art school as an undergrad so I could apply to the liberal arts college at her alma mater, the University of Michigan, and major in math (a subject that still makes her shake when she hears it, even now, long after her school career ended.)

Mom still supports my art, only now we’ve reached a new phase where she buys sweets for me to paint (or so she says), which I encourage on special occasions such as this.

Unlike most women of her generation, my mother loves sports! She says, “I love my Tigers, I love my Pistons, and I LOVE (drawn out like looovve) my Lions!”.

When I mentioned that her University of Michigan Wolverines were noticeably absent from this illustrious list of Michigan sports teams, she answered, “I am a poor sport. I hate them when they lose.” Spoken like a fan who attended a lot of games on campus during the “Fritz” Crisler era (the head football coach with a basketball arena named after him), culminating in the national football championship in 1947 during her senior year. You should hear my mother when Michigan plays Ohio State on Thanksgiving weekend… or when UM makes it to the Rose Bowl… Mom still calls to remind me that Michigan is playing, especially now that it’s basketball season – which I love! I think I grew up singing the Michigan fight song. I am hearing “Hail to the Victors” in my head right now. Go Blue!

Now Mom even follows Missouri sports since my husband grew up in St. Louis. Jay reports she’s always up on the news on his favorite Mizzou teams. Mom says Jay is still talking about the 1968 World Series Game 7 when Mickey Lolich, the infamous Detroit Tiger far out-pitched Bob Gibson from the less fortunately St. Louis Cardinals, who lost the series as a result. Mom also keeps tabs on the University of Illinois teams now that Laura goes to school there (not that Laura does…).

Often people ask me if Mom is an artist. While she isn’t, her sister, my aunt Ruth, is a talented watercolorist who lives in Columbus, Ohio (home of the Ohio State Buckeyes, of all places). Actually, I take that back. Mom is an untraditional artist if you define artist as a person who has an exceptional skill in a particular area. You could call her an “artist of current events”. Mom thrives on listening to the radio – I think of her as a radio junkie. She picks up so much information about everything and anything, including sports and the arts, and keeps me posted on what’s happening in Detroit – and, surprisingly, New York. Once she actually called to tell me a bus overturned on the NY State Thruway! You can always count on Mom for a lively discussion about current movies and TV shows, even when she has never seen them.

And did I mention that she’s a Mitch Albom fan? Mitch is a long time Detroit sportwriter and author of acclaimed books such as Tuesdays with Morrie. Mom recently got a new convert in my eldest daughter Laura, who now regularly listens to his radio broadcasts on Detroit’s WJR. Laura says he’s really funny.

Upon reflection, I think Mom earned my 2013 Sports Artist Award when she proved her sports prowess to the outside world by winning our accountant’s March Madness basketball pool – and took home $1,600! Her lead was so convincing that she claimed the prize before the final game was played. Amazing, isn’t it? All those macho men in the pool (with 180 entries!) were left behind in the dust, scratching their heads.

Dot, we wish you luck in the 2015 March Madness pool, but you may not need it with your track record – as long as you don’t get sentimental about the Wolverines and the Big “Ten”! From your greatest fans.

2003

Another Food Artist in the Family!

November 30, 2014 by Beverly

Given the recent Thanksgiving holiday, it feels right to talk about food and art. It’s probably not surprising to you that I spend a lot of time looking at the presentation of food, whether it’s at home, at restaurants and bakeries, parties, and especially at weddings (I can picture those dessert banquet tables now!).

Nor would you be surprised to learn that I’m one of those people who takes photos of their plates at restaurants, which is just one of many reasons why I have more than 85,000 pictures on my computer.

Over Thanksgiving, I photographed our own Chef Bonnie preparing a feast for the four of us that made my mouth water in anticipation. I felt like I was watching her play the starring role on a new Food Network Show show called Bonnie’s Thanksgiving Feast Challenge.

Instead of competing against others, she competes against herself, each year raising the bar higher and higher. Bonnie, who is a special education teacher by day, spent her “free” time last week planning 23 different recipes, far exceeding the number of recipes from previous years. She researched her recipes online (carefully avoiding mushrooms for Laura’s sake), printed them out, systematically made a grocery list, and did her own grocery shopping after work. (Bonnie was so organized that Jay only had to make one quick trip to the store.) Prep work began Tuesday night while cooking and baking began in earnest on Wednesday, extending through Thursday right up to showtime.

I was mesmerized watching Bonnie calmly preparing her cornucopia of food, moving confidently from one dish to another. It was when I looked at this beautifully composed, picture-perfect root vegetable tray waiting to go into the oven that I realized I had been watching the other food artist in the family!

Here’s the rest of the team. Sometimes it takes a village just to keep up with all the pots and pans.

Bonnie’s final menu included 2 turkey recipes (she makes a wicked herbed turkey lemon recipe), with homemade cranberry sauce, her infamous popovers (nothing makes Bonnie happier than to see how them really “pop”!), her trademark stuffin’ muffins (gluten and non-gluten versions), and numerous side dishes (I lost count) from root vegetables, sweet potato casserole, spaghetti squash to wild rice with cranberries.

Here we are all dressed up and ready to get stuffed, especially Chef Bonnie, who looks amazingly fresh after all her hard work!

I decided to learn from previous years and pace myself by taking small portions of everything. (I’m getting hungry again just looking at my plate!)

We took a break before attacking the 5 desserts – including three delectable gluten-free selections. Needless to say, Bonnie sampled everything as you can see from her plate. (When people talk about Bonnie and desserts in the same breath, they are talking about the food!)

Thanksgiving is always a special family occasion since Jay, Bonnie, Laura and I are all together. (I’m thinking Tom Selleck and his family around the holiday table on Blue Bloods.) Laura makes the 10 hour trip (if she’s lucky) from Urbana, Illinois where she is working on her Ph.D. The four of us love every minute of eating one delicious dish after the other, each one more flavorful than the next. Even the cleanup is fun (well, most of the time…). Ellen Degeneres, we’re giving you a run for your money with this selfie!

So Bonnie, it’s official – you won! Congratulations on beating all previous Thanksgiving benchmarks – both in quantity and quality – and winning your Thanksgiving Feast Challenge! Maybe next year I’ll take some video to demonstrate your many talents for your show’s online debut… Just a thought. We are grateful to have a food artist in the house besides me – one that actually makes food instead of painting it!

I hope all of you enjoyed Thanksgiving as much as we did!

To the sweetest mother I know.

May 11, 2014 by Laura

Happy Mother’s Day!

Beverly Shipko, Digital Photograph.
Mike Kelley at MOMA PS1. December 28, 2013.
Photo Credit: Laura G. Sloofman

Sincerely,

The IT department at www.beverlyshipko.com