a poem to my painting

I painted this back in November of 2009 and this painting took every emotion I had out of me. Once during painting this I broke down and cried so much that it took me a couple of days to even want to approach it again. This is the one painting that means a great deal to me and it exposes how vulnerable I am at times.... someone once asked me to explain what this painting was about and I couldn't put it into words for them. This morning I was sitting in my room staring at it and words just started to flow onto paper ... so here is a poem that I just wrote to describe this painting to you! THE MASK

I am so infatuated with you

every time I see you I want to strip your mind piece by piece

and examine you to your core

I want to make love to your heart

and make it pump with purity

I want to uncensore the air that you breathe

and kiss the nakedness of your beauty

I want to x-ray you with my eyes and examine the bones that make your frame

I want your words in my lungs like a disease

I want to breathe them every second of the day

you are the one the flows through my veins

your like the poison to my intestines

your the thread that stitches my heart

piece by piece you stitch up my heart

and by the pull of one thread you will tear it apart

I want to chisel at the mask you wear

and embrace the face I will never touch

If this pen that I write these words with were my heart it would pump my blood and tears

and I would drown in these words

only waiting for you to save me

I would flow down your throat

and penetrate your veins

I want to be the nutrition to your soul

the very soul that I never have

* Jennifer Ann Rivas*

I was writing all over papers in my room .. my mind would not shut off :) I have not written like this in a long time... it feels good to empty my heart out to any one who will read this and if you think this is about you... that certain someone you are probably right!

I have not been able to paint since this painting but today I am starting a new painting. Thank goodness my mind was stuck in second gear for so long!!!

Well I am off like a dirty shirt.. I have to go thrift shopping today so I can write my weekly vintage blog.... JAR

Bored on a Sunday night!

So tonight I got really bored and decided to get all my magazines out and decoupage ... and I found an Abraham Lincoln mask and some other cool stuff ... now my room is messy!!! I listened to the Yeah Yeah Yeah's while doing all this artsy fartsy stuff... My mind will not shut off at night so I had to be creative and now it's EARLY Monday morning 12:26 am and Keanu is asleep in my room..... anyways!!! SO BORED!!
Keanu fell asleep so I had to do this next thing.....

He got masked :)

Keanu has his own Abraham Lincoln joke:

Knock Knock

Who's there?

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln who?

Abraham Lincoln Logs

my little baby pie is always making me laugh :)

my tools

and now my messy floor

I had fun .... well a little bit!

Hope you like them :) Good night ... JAR

North African Meatballs in a Navy Bean & Spinich Soup

So tonight I made my favorite meat balls .... I normally make these meat balls in a special North African sauce but I wanted to change it up into a nice hot soup.... Because it's COLD outside!!!! So this dish is a keeper at least that's what the people said to me that ate it tonight!The good thing is that every one including myself went back for seconds... OK maybe thirds but who's counting? My extra fat rolls are counting from eating all this food I have been cooking... oh well :) Look how beautiful :)
NORTH AFRICAN MEAT BALL Recipe

• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro leaves
• 1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 pound ground beef
• 1/3 cup plain fine bread crumbs
• 1/2 tsp red ground pepper
• 1 lime zested
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• olive oil for cooking
• salt and pepper
  
  

mix the egg and tomatoe paste together REAL good... then add the dry ingredients with the lime zest and lime juice... then add the ginger and cilantro.. mix well

next mix in the meat and bread crumbs ... roll into balls

add olive oil and brown the meat balls .... this is where it begins to smell YUMMY!

When they have browned drain the meat balls on a napkin and place them to the side

In a larger pan add Olive oil and 1/2 chopped onion and fresh garlic to the pan .. let simmer for 2 minutes

This is what happened to me when I was cutting the onions... I started to cry and my mascara was a NIGHTMARE... I looked like crazy a lady cooking with raccoon eyes :)

Next add the chicken stock and bring to a boil

I let my navy beans soak over night .. I used half a bag.. so next add your navy beans to the pan

next add the meat balls ... put a lid on tight and let simmer for 1 hr so the beans can get tender

The last ten minutes add your spinach ... I used half a bag of it ... SO yummy!!!

Let the spinach sit on top of the soup and let it simmer for ten minutes

and LOOK how wonderful it's done :)

Serve in a bowl ... while the spinach was cooking I had put some yummy garlic toast in the oven to serve with the soup :)

I am so proud of myself :) I am tired of cooking , but I love to cook at the same time.... JAR

BIBA Make-Up

Today I took the opportunity to practice my make-up skills.. so I tried the BIBA look from the book MAKING FACES by Kevin Aucoin! I have been a make-up artist for 5 yrs now.. I started out as a district make-up artist for STILA cosmetics and got trained by the top in the business. Traveling around all the time got old and Keanu was a little baby so I quit that gig...fast! Now I do make-up part time using KETT airbrush make-up and doing a lot of weddings and photo shoots with my AMAZING mom :) I got trained by the KETT make-up artist who live in NEW YORK and work on top celebrities and now I sit bored and painting up my face... LAME!!!Kevin used model Kate Moss for the BIBA look
This book is great because it takes you step by step

The BIBA look was popular in the late 60's and early 70's

Twiggy was the BIBA model of that time

The BIBA logo inspires me in so many ways especially in my art work with the gold leafing

Twiggy inside the BIBA store in London ..... I should have lived in that era :(

So here is my final look .... it's blah but hey I am BORED!!! and practice makes perfect SO they say ...um yeah!

In color :)

I got bored ... OMG LIKE SHUT UP!

My little best furry friend ... GIZMO the cat!

So that is that.. and this and that..... any who ...JAR I don't even think any one will read this junk!

• KETT air brush make-up and setting powder
• Benefit Bio-ing concealer
• STILA eye shadows Kitten and Ebony
• STILA convertible color #4 poppy on cheeks
• NARS blush Desire
• Yves Saint Larant liquid eyeliner black
• Great lash mascara in Blackest black
• NARS lip pencil amazon
• NARS lipstick in Shanghai
• MAC lip gloss in black
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

estofado de pollo

So tonight for dinner I made a dish called estofado de pollo and I would have to say this is one of my best!! It was also easy to make and easy to prep for this meal. The only bad thing about it was that when I went out tonight I smelled of onions from cooking all day... ATTRACTIVE...NOT! but the dish was attractive :) This dish is a Peruvian recipe I came across in a Travel magazine...YUM!ESTOFADO DE POLLO Recipe

• 5 boneless chicken pieces
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic peeled and chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp paprika
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup frozen sliced carrots
• 1/4 cup port wine
• 4 medium potatoes peeled and cut into quarters
• 1/4 cup raisins
  

Mix the flour salt and pepper together... dredge chicken in flour

Add to skillet with olive oil.. brown 4 minutes on each side

until they get golden brown

remove them and set the chicken aside

Then to the same pan add the garlic onions and some chicken stock ... then mix in the paste and the paprika cook for 2 minutes

next add the port wine and all the chicken stock simmer for 2 minutes then add to a bigger pan

next add the frozen peas and carrots..simmer for 5 minutes

next cut the potatoes and then add to pan .... put lid on tight and let cook for 1 hr

The last 5 minutes add the raisins

Then serve .. yummy :) sorry I didn't make it all fancy smancy but I had some where to go :)

I cooked the other half of the bread from last nights meal ... the bread was good to soak up the gravy and eat it....YUMMY!!!!
So tomorrow night I will be making North African Meatballs... I am getting fat .. oh well! JAR