First Week of School and Another Recipe

So I've made a few more adjustments to how I want to set things up.  I decided that rather than make list after list every week of what specifically I've done each day, I'll just do a recap of the major projects and accomplishments each week.  If I don't outright say that I didn't do something one day, just assume that I probably doodled in sketchbook or made some minor adjustments to another project.  However, as soon as I get our scanner back up and running, I will scan in some of those sketchbook doodles.  The ones I feel are slightly more exemplary.

A few of the projects and things I created this week were assignments for school.  Boy, school only started on Tuesday for me and already I've had to do a ton.  But I suppose that's Senior year for you.

This project was for my Foods and Nutrition class.  We had to create a place setting with items that represented us, but weren't actual utensils.  My theme was 'Special Occasion Place Setting of a Mixed-Media Doll Artist'.  I wouldn't really count this as a creation, necessarily, but I also did some drawing that day, so I decided to share it.  The utensils are various sculpting tools and a foam paintbrush.  The plate is my paint plate (I think it has a name), the dinner roll plate a spool of ribbon.  The drinking glass is my Tacky Glue (love that stuff!) and the napkin's a square of fabric.

Hey look!  It's this guy again.  Okay, so it's fairly obvious that this is going to be an art doll, but if anyone can guess who it's supposed to be before I'm finished with it, I might just take a commission for you (maybe . . . this isn't set in stone).  Anyways, this guy caused me a lot of grief this past week.  Let me explain.  My number one class this year, for me, is AP Art.  On Tuesday, the first day of school, my teacher mentioned that some people were submitting a 3D Design portfolio rather than 2D Design.  After class I asked if I could do both.  My teacher's response: "I think that might kill you, Amanda."  After some thought, I agreed.  So the next day (Wednesday) I asked her if I could just do the 3D portfolio.  I explained that I wasn't talking about doing ceramics, I meant mixed media sculptures and such, mainly art dolls.  My teacher hemmed and hawed and then asked me to bring some of my work.  So I went home and feverishly worked on this guy because he's my best bit of sculpture I've ever done, but I couldn't take him anywhere until I baked him, and I couldn't bake him until I made his shoulders and armature.  So I worked all afternoon and late into the night whilst fighting tin foil that kept getting stuck in the clay and fingernails that kept nicking off little pieces.  I eventually ended up with this.  Honestly, I'm disappointed.  I had great details in the shoulder and chest, but I had to pry some tin foil out of the center of the clay and things just got kind of ruined.  It's alright, though.  When he's finished you won't actually be able to see anything below his neck.  Still . . . it was a lot of work.  Well, on Thursday I brought in several of my projects.  I was so scared and nervous my teacher would say "These aren't good enough" or "this isn't art" or something awful like that and totally crush my hopes and dreams.  Instead, she barely even looked at my work and said "Yeah, I think you should go for it."  I was so relieved!  I mean, I nearly had a breakdown the first week of school because I was so worried.  It's all over now, and I can't believe I get to create a professional portfolio with the things I actually feel confident about!

I did some more work on my space mask.  I'm not all that excited for how it's turning out, but I'm just gonna have to stick with it to the end.  The asteroids have been adhered and the background of an eclipse-thing has been painted.

Woohoo, another school project.  This project I've been working on all afternoon today.  It's an assignment for my Astronomy class where we have to research the legends behind a certain constellation and we had to have some sort of teaching aide to go with it (we have to present them to the class).  Technically this was a group project, but my group just sort of sat there and we lacked a lot of communication, so I've sort of taken it upon myself to be prepared for tomorrow.  Anyways, this is the constellation Perseus.  For the most part, I'm pleased with how this came out.  I really dislike Medusa's head, though.  I was worried about how the stars would look once I put them on, but I think they turned out kind of cool (oh, and they glow in the dark). If you don't know the story of Perseus, I recommend the Clash of the Titans (if anything, it's a great movie to laugh at).

And now, I have saved the best for last.  Another recipe!

Peach or Peach-Berry Pie with Grape Juice

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups pure grape juice (strained)
• 1 cup pure peach juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup ThickGel
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• fresh peaches
• assortment of berries (This is optional.  I made one pie with just peaches and one with peaches, strawberries and raspberries.)
• 2 9-inch pie crusts (2 tops, 2 bottoms)

Mix all the juices together in a bowl and set aside.  Then mix the sugar, flour, salt and ThickGel together.  Add it to the juices and make sure they're thoroughly combined.  Put this in a pot and heat on medium until the mixture is thick and bubbly.  Separate into two bowls.

Put your bottom pie crusts in pie dishes.  Wash and slice your fruit.  Add about 5 cups of fruit to each bowl of filling and mix until the fruit seems evenly coated in the gel.  Pour the filling into your pies.  Sprinkle some cinnamon and nutmeg over the top of the fruit before covering it.  Add the top crusts and then seam the two crusts together.  Use a fork to make the edges a bit more decorative.  Make ventilation holes in the tops of your pies either by stabbing with a fork or slitting with a knife.

Bake the pies at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes and then at 350 for 40 minutes.  We forgot to do anything to the crust to help it brown, but it seemed to turn out all right.  If you wish there are things you can do like brushing the top of the pie with egg whites or sprinkling it with cinnamon and sugar, but since we didn't try it, I can't give much help there.

Here are the pies before we put the tops on.

And here they are after being cooked.

Remove them from the oven and let them cool.  Chill them, if you like, or serve them with whipped cream and enjoy!

Days Created: 16

Total Projects Finished: 5