Hunting Sketch and Happy National Chile Day - Recipe

My sketch was done last Friday, seems like a year ago.  I scanned it and then forgot about it.  We had a busy weekend with two nights of music and 3 baseball games.

I sketched in the big book with the Micron 01.

Number 3, dress shoe - I think these have been worn two times.  Should give them to good will.
Number 4, something used to clean house - the shop vac that Gene uses
For Hunt 486
http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1422599


National Chile day was yesterday, February 26.  If you come from New Mexico, almost every day is National Chile Day.  There was chile almost daily growing up.  My dad said he couldn't eat without it.  He put it on everything, including pancakes and cookies.  Now chile is put in wine, ice cream and many other unusual places.

I made some green chile for breakfast.  I forgot to take a photo with the eggs, sausage, potatoes and tortillas.  Another time.

Green Chile Sauce

1/2 to 1 pound hamburger meat, browned and broken apart
1 cup roasted, peeled and chopped New Mexico green chile (the spicy hotness depends on what you buy, from mild to XXX Hot. *
1 large garlic clove
Sprinkle of ground oregano
Salt and pepper
water

Brown the meat.  Add the garlic and chile and cook a bit.  Then add the oregano, salt and pepper to taste.  Let it cook for a few minutes.  Add water just to cover, about 1/2 to 1 cup.  Simmer for thirty minutes or so.  Longer cooking improves the flavor and it is great reheated.

*If you cannot get fresh or frozen chile, you can used canned Hatch New Mexico Chile or El Paso Chile.  It won't be the same or as good, but is better than nothing!  You can roast fresh chile on the grill or broiler  until the peel blackens and it can be pulled off.  Let it set a while to steam for easier peeling.  You can see Gene and his mom using gloves below.  Especially important when it is "spicy hot".  Your hands will stay hot, don't rub your eyes!!

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In South America when we couldn't get chile, I would roast the local peppers which were hot, but lacking flavor.  I would roast a couple of bell peppers to add for flavor.  It was a good substitute until you tasted the real thing again!

Chile Hoedown

Pastel on Pastelbord, 9 x 12 inches

Step one is growing and harvesting the chile.  This is near Hatch, New Mexico.

Step 2 is buying the chile when you can't grow your own.

Tiendita de Chile

Pastel on Pastelbord, 16 x 20 inches

I painted this a few years ago.  The stand was still there the last time we went through Hatch.  That is my friend, Gen, buying the chile. We had played golf and were headed home.

Next step is to roast and peel the chile.  We had it roasted in the big butane barrels where we  bought this in Albuquerque.  We bought this from Rosales Chile which is near Socorro.  Gene's mom and Gene were peeling.  She was 90 at the time.  We bag it and freeze it for use throughout the year.  Yummy.

Exhibit, Tiendita de Chile, Chile Store Pastel Painting,

You are invited to:

Aritsts' Reception
Friday, November 9
5 :00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
The Walkers' Gallery San Marcos Activity Center

501 E Hopkins Rd, San Marcos, TX

(512) 393-8280

Hours:
Monday - Thursday: 6:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Friday: 6:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Saturday: 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Sunday: Closed

You will be delighted with the number of paintings, variety of artists and techniques you will see in the show. The Austin Pastel Society was formed in 1998 with a membership of around 100 artists. The exhibit of pastel paintings by members of the Austin Pastel Society will be on exhibit from November 2, 2007, through January 4, 2008.

We delivered the paintings below to the Walkers' Gallery in the San Marcos Activity Center to be in the Austin Pastel Society Exhibit until January.

Tiendita de Chile

Soft Pastel Painting, 16 x 20 inches, on board with Colourfix primer
Framed in a dark wooden frame with a linen liner
Museum non reflective glass against the painting, no mat

Full of Hot Air

Soft Pastel, 12 x 12 inches on Pastelbord
Framed in a black gallery style frame against the glass, no mat

Stuffed

Soft Pastel on mounted Colourfix paper, 14 x 18 inches
Framed in a black metal frame

You see I finished the pastel painting of the Chile Store. This is an in-studio painting or traveling studio painting. I started it in Las Cruces and finished it here in Bastrop. It is difficult for me to have lag time in between the start and finish of a painting. As I am working on it there is a mood and intent toward the completion. If it sits without working on it, I lose interest or momentum. I just can't get back to the original feel. Many people work on a painting and leave it for a long time and then work on it again. I am not good at that. I can let it simmer for a short time to see if I am really done, and decide if it needs corrections, but leaving it for a couple of weeks like this painting just isn't my way to paint. I like to start and finish while I have the idea fresh in my mind. I like the result on this, but I think it would have been better without the two week lag time. The painting was created from a couple of photos of a chile stand in New Mexico. The woman in the photo is from a completely different set of photos.

Chile Store, Pastel Painting, WIP

WIP, work in progress.

I started a new painting in soft pastels. I prepared a new surface for me. Gene cut me some masonite in 16 x 20 inches. I sealed the back with acrylic medium/varnish. I then painted two or three coats of Colourfix Fine Tooth Primer in burgundy. After it dried, I looked at it for a couple of days to decide what to paint. I have an idea in mind for an old cottonwood here in SVC but I want to do it larger so continued to contemplate.

I finally decided what to paint. I did a quick sketch in my generic sketchbook to check the crop of the photo. I then put on a little color with pastels and brushed it in with alcohol, putting some blue across the top where the white tent and the sky would be. The other part I put a little bit of dark blue. I sketched with a light blue pastel. I moved the pickup so that it was behind the tent somewhat and moved the chile around. I plan to put some chile in the bed of the pickup.


I start with the under painting and a light sketch. Plans may change so I don't get to heavy handed yet. Sometimes what is put in a sketch or an idea in my head looks completely different when you get it on the painting surface.


Next I developed the pickup so I could check perspective because I moved it closer to the tent. I worked on the main focal point, the vendor and sign. I will continue to develop the whole painting as I go.

I did work a little more in the focal area. I plan to work around the painting, changing colors to fit the mood and put some of the colors all over the painting. For example the plastic can in front of the vendor is really gray, but I feel that there needs to be green in other areas than the trees and pickup. I stuck some green in the background shadows and will turn those into fruit boxes. They actually have blue labels, but need the green, there is plenty of blue. I extended the tent roof some and may do more. The pole holing up the tent should not fall on a line of the pickup.

Before I bring the focal point to anywhere near completion I will work on the background and negative space. Bear with me and check back for the finish.

Sketch and the Whole Enchilada

This is the last day of the Scavenger Hunt 54. Doesn't it go by quickly? I never finish. It does keep me sketching and that is very good.

#14, Serving bowl. In the NY sketchbook with a Micron 005 pen. About 10 minutes. The dreaded ellipses. It didn't look too bad at the time I did it. :) Maybe one day I will actually work on them with a pencil, ruler, etc. I am more careful if I am putting ellipses in a permanent drawing or painting. This is just practice, remember?

Gene is out on his bicycle and I am sitting here, hungry, and thinking of what to eat. We received this photo from Jennie of her homemade enchilada, which by the way, she ate almost the whole enchilada. She makes the corn tortillas and red chile herself. Yumm.

Oh my. My mouth is watering. Have you ever had a New Mexico style enchilada? With an egg on top? Oh, so good. Sadie's in Albuquerque has serves about the best as far as restaurants are concerned. They also sell great salsa. Silver City has none, the chile here is not great. Must be too close to the border or something. Las Cruces has some good chile, though. We will let you know what place is tops there. Most restaurants thicken their chile with a little flour so that restricts my eating red chile in many places as I am trying to eat gluten free. A few make green chile sauce with no flour so I have eaten those. Not quite the same. Ha. The Elephant Butte Inn makes their green chile about like I do, so that was the best I had had for a while when we ate there last week.

Maybe I will at least go warm up a tamale we bought in Bayard with some frozen red chile and a fried egg on top. That would be close. Well, I take that back. Not even close. But, it would be red chile and egg. The tamales are certainly not as good as Gene's mom used to make or even the ones Jennie and I make, usually for Christmas. I haven't cooked here very much. About all I have cooked is migas for brunch. Migas are corn tortillas broken up and browned, then scrambled with eggs and cheese and hot peppers. I usually add some hash browns and meat of some sort. Here I use green chile and hot dogs. We have only bought lettuce and tomatoes once. When we go out I eat salad or for lunch I sometimes get a Subway tuna sandwich as a salad. They finally have spinach again, so the salad is more healthful.

I do have a restaurant page on my website with recommendations in the U.S.A., Canada and Mexico. I haven't updated in a while, but this reminds me to get with it. It also has only a few of our favorites, it would be a full time job to keep it current. :)