Baking & Camera Fun

Happy Holidays everyone! Christmas came and went as it always does and now its time for a new year. 2011 was not so bad as my first full year out of college. I was blessed with a job, with a great relationship, with opportunities to learn more about myself and grow, the ability to be near my family and spend more time with them, the ability to spend more time with God, and so much more. I'm truly excited for the next season in my life, and even more excited about all that I'm learning now that is preparing me for that.

Anyhow, this post is supposed to be about baking, not a 2011 'Best of' recap.
My family bought me a camera for Christmas (such a blessing!) and I decided to play around with it while baking some cookies for my neighbors. I only cook about 3 real meals a year so I get really excited when I cook something fabulous. I have to give the whole concept of this blog posting to the blog found here, for if it wasn't for it I wouldn't feel like the cooking connoisseur that I do at the moment (I'm not a connoisseur at all!), and I also wouldn't have been inspired to take photos of the cookies while baking them! So all props to the Lick the Bowl Good blog.

For Christmas I made some snickerdoodle blossoms for my family and my boyfriends family following the recipe above. I was extremely nervous about them at first, eating one after another trying to figure out if I liked them or not, looking into my own eyes in a mirror trying to convince myself each time that they were getting better and better (really though, they remained salty). So i decided to let others be the judge. If i failed i would try again. I would not be defeated ...

Everyone loved them! It was so exciting for me. So my baking confidence has boosted about 30% and I think I will continue to experiment.

Sushi

In the January issue of Northern Virginia Magazine (which is now out on stands -- go check it out/order it!) I did some illustrations of sushi for an article. The style of these are a bit different from what I usually do but i enjoy how they came out. Illustrating food may possibly become a new joy of mine.

Illustration for an article on Ray Deter and Joe Dressner, two men who have passed but made creditable contributions to the beer and wine industries.

Eva Bonita

My brain gears have been grinding recently and I feel that slowly, yet surely, ideas and goals are coming into fruition. I can't deny that its been a difficult and frustrating process, though.

Anyhow, commuting to work can be annoying but its also a great time to brainstorm, reflect, figure some things out for myself, and talk to God. My next goal is to launch my website which I'd like to be broken down into three sections: Illustrations, graphic design, and interior accents. I've been ruminating on my name as a brand. As an illustrator and designer I think its fine and necessary to use my own name, yet as a line of products I don't feel that its marketable.
Above is a photo of my grandma Eva Walker. I never had the chance to meet her but from stories told by my family and conversations with older folks in this small town of mine, I understand that she was a phenomenal woman. She was smart, beautiful, self-enterprising, had her own beauty salon, started her own cosmetics line, modeled, was a community activist, a mother, a wife, a sister, bold, strong, and all-in-all Amazing. I remember sitting with my Grandaddy on his porch one day (Eva's husband) with a friend of his named Buddy and my sister. Buddy asked my Grandaddy, "How'd you get a woman like Eva, Mr. Walker?" I smiled. Grandaddy responded by shaking his head and saying, "I donno...," and we continued our conversation about her.

I suppose my siblings and I feel her spirit in us sometimes. Thinking about her, I get this "I have to make something happen" feeling that moves through my veins and honestly makes my feet wiggle (I think my feet have a life of their own!). I thank God for that feeling and I thank him for blessing me with a Grandma like Eva, a mother like the one I have that encourages all these ideas I have and has pushed me as a creative, a brother and sister that inspire and encourage me as well and are my biggest fans, and a Dad that has fed me wisdom and taught me the importance of it and discipline.

(So, to put an end to this novel that I'm writing) I've decided to name my interior accents line that I am in a continued process of brainstorming and creating, "Eva Bonita: Interior Accents." This line I dedicate to her and will create out of the seeds she had sewn and her thriving spirit imparted in us.




Here are mock ups for the logo. I'm still trying to get an idea of the direction I'd like to take it. I'll try and post more of this process.



I've been wanted to create some nice tags for my Eva Bonita line. In the meantime I made these very quickly. I really enjoy the process of branding a product and thinking of the little things you can do to make something sellable. Once my logo is complete I'll create the Eva Bonita tags for products. I'm currently doing som research, trying to find what sort of materials, designs, look, etc. that I'd like to go for.