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I recently went to the 3rd annual Village Voice Food Show at the Armory in NYC. Needless to say, I was a happy camper.

I thought the night was off to a bad start when on my way to the event I realized that I forgot my sketchpad and pens at home. But it turned out, I was better off because it would have been impossible to handle juggling them along with endless paper plates and cups filled with NYC’s finest culinary treats. Instead, I borrowed my husband’s i-phone and used an APP called doodlebuddy to jot down my favorite savory and sweet fares.

Pretty fun night as I combined two of my very favorite things: drawing and eating. Not necessarily in that order(depending on the moment!) Kinda like George Costanza, when he combined eating with, well…you know.

So here are a couple of my i-phone food doodles. Thought I’d share.

To test run the APP, I drew my friend Rob while we sat in a pub before the show:

Here’s real true doodle of the armory filled with a massive gathering of hungry people:

Swedish meatballs with lingenberry over mash potatoes from SmorgasChef:

Thai noodles with DELICIOUS cucumber and spicy spices:

An UNBELIEVABLE dessert- served in a contemporary clear plastic rectangular cup, buttermilk pudding with some fruit(should’ve written the details down) and get this- cumin seasoned croutons. I love the trend in desserts of mixing in a savory element. I think the more ridiculous the combination the better! Here’s a DoodleBuddy of it:

Lobster Luke’s BUTTER INFUSED Shrimp Sandwich. These guys actually had a contraption where a roller sits over a a container of melted butter. They rolled the bun on the roller giving it a good dousing of irresistable irreplacable butter:

A pulled pork sandwich from a place that makes really good things…sooo sorry to them for not remembering the name! It was really good:

So, no offense to these restaurants, but I can’t recall where I ate this simple but delectable skewered meat with celery. There was a shaker there on the table and I used it to liberally shake out what I soon after discovered to be some hot stuff! LOVED it:

So, I think it’s time for my favorite of the night. The food that sticks out most in my mind is one from Bunny Chow. A South African cuisine restaurant located down on Orchard Street. They had what they described as small loaf of bread stuffed with your choice of  vegetable or lamb curry, topped with a mango chutney and toasted coconut. The side of carrot salad had mango in it as well. It was really something:

Besides the food, there was a really great variety of beverages. I tried Prosecco for the first time. And an awesome beer called Witte. It’s so light and bubbly, I called it the champagne of beers. Yum.

Over all, a good night.

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So Picasso is back in town people! The exhibition of his works is open to the public today through August 1st at the Met.

Thanks to our good friend and fellow studio1482 member, Michele, we got a chance to attend a lecture last Saturday given by Sabine Rewalde at the museum. She talked about how this exhibition is different in that it has no theme. It’s a showing of all the artisit’s work that the museum has accumulated through the years. It was interesting to hear the stories of how and when the museum acquired some of the work. And of course good ole Pablo is always inspiring. The sheer amount of work, the variety in it, the matter-of-fact approach to such awe inspiring images. He was truly a phenomenon.

Here’s one of my favorite paintings of his that the Met has had on display. I always find myself drawn to it.

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I thought it was time for a change. It’s been 3 years since I started contributing to this blog. And if you scroll/stroll through my archives you’ll see the progression from ‘totally not into it!’ all the way to the present ‘hey I kinda like this blogging thing’. Only I like to call it bloggering. Bloggering sounds less dangerous than blogging.

So anyway, here’s an illustration for the occasion. It’s the transformation of a flower from one stage to the next. Part of a personal project about bio-fuel.

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Greek Orthodox traditions are quite different from other Christian religions. For example, for Easter, we don’t have a Bunny. I never searched for Easter Eggs as a kid. Now, despite the post-traumatic implications that this lack of ‘normal’ experience might have, I am sharing this info as a forward to the subject matter of my post for today.

Orthodox-style eggs are also quite different from the typical pastel colored shells you may be accustomed to. They are red. QUITE RED. And for me, what a messy ordeal! I was in the middle of doing about a million things when my mother called to remind me that it’s the Thursday before Easter- traditionally the day to dye eggs. So, naturally I was in a rush when I started to make them. I found out that this was a mistake straight from the beginning, when I carelessly tore open the package of potent red dye. What a mess I made. But in the end it was ok. The eggs came out nice and red, and after buffing them with some olive oil, shiny like little sports cars. Here’s an idea of my vantage point just after I carefully placed the finished eggs in a bowl.

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April is jazz Appreciation Month. I went back to the drawings I made at JALC , Here’s an idea of how they would work as posters:

And here’s one that’s just a drawing, no poster:

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I’m not Irish, so I have never really celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. Growing up, all I ever really knew about the holiday was that it was the time of year that Entenmenn’s would offer up those yummy green cupcakes with the green leaves all over the box. But now, I have a little boy, and he’s 1/4 Irish. (you do the math on that) So, I’ve decided that I’d better get a little more educated on the subject of Ireland, in case he ever asks!

I didn’t go the the parade last week, but I did visit the beautiful Irish Hunger Memorial at Battery Park City in NYC with my good friend Jen, and my boy James. Yes, James. Here’s a drawing I made while there.

It was quite somber, yes. But I learned alot from reading all the touching quotes on the walls. And from the top of the memorial, surrounded by Ireland’s native plants and stones, I looked off at the distance at the Statue of Liberty. I imagined what it must have been like for all those hundreds of thousands of people to dream of a better life, to dare to leave their homes, and to come to this foreign place. And not only did they come here, they MADE here. They have had such a profound impact on our society here in the States. I have to say, the memorial was designed brilliantly.

So, now I feel a little more prepared for future St. Patti’s Days and I look forward to learning more, and sharing what I learn with my son. James.

-DespinaIr

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…or the Academy Awards. I think I may have started a tradition for myself by drawing while watching the Oscars! I did it last year, and this year I thought, why not again. Mostly I love looking at the classic styles and the not-so-classic gowns that the stars are skillfully presenting to the sea of cameras. It really is fascinating to watch. What a parade! I was very glad for Sandra Bullock, I thought her movie had a great message and so did her speech! I also like how she injected some fun and humor in her speech. She wasn’t so serious about the whole Oscar thing. I don’t much like it when the stars gush and “weep” for about an hour as they accept their awards.

Among the other stars that caught my fancy: Monique, Morgan Freeman, Colin Firth, and of course Meryl Streep.

So anyway, here are some of my drawings from the night:

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James and I hang out together alot. Every once in a while as he plays, I see some funky light fall on him. So I grab my crayons and play, too.

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The poor guy’s been getting a lot of flack here in the NE coast these days. Thought I’d give him a shout out.

We’ve been having a snowy winter and people are complaining. What an ungrateful, whiny bunch! Hey, myself included. I just CANNOT WAIT for the Spring, and more importantly, the Summer! If it doesn’t snow, we fear global warming. When it snows, we groan. Seriously, I think we’re all losing it!

But yesterday morning, when I looked through my window, I thought: “This is good.” And then: “No, really, this is good!” I convinced myself that Old Man Winter is a neat guy, and made a drawing for him. I signed it:

Love, Despina

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A holiday that baffles me, I guess because of its origins and popularity. But it’s for love, and I’m all for that.

This is from a project about the marriage of Peleus and Thetis. In Greek mythology, it is one of the many events that got the Trojan War rolling.

Aah, the power of love!

“and a kiss to seal the deal…”

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