The Year in Review

I have had a pretty amazing year this year! I got married to my partner in Canada where we also celebrated my Mum's 60th Birthday. We had our honeymoon in Africa where we saw the wildebeest migration in the Serengeti National Park, trekked to see the Silverback Gorillas in Rwanda and explored the archeological sites in Ethiopia. Last month, we flew to Cambodia where we visited Angkor Wat - what amazing temples!! In terms of inspiration, I have been completely overwhelmed by our trips this year.


My stars have also been aligned in my professional life as well. I had a couple of successful exhibitions in Sydney and found some new homes for my paintings. One of the most exciting things to happen has been my debut range of limited edition cushions and eye pillows. This has been a lifelong dream of mine to create my own product. I think the thing that I am especially proud of the most is that my range of eye pillows can help contribute towards restoring people's eyesight. This month, we have paid for 11 people to have their eyesight restored! A small start but it is so gratifying to know that their lives will change for the better.

I feel very, very lucky & extremely grateful for what I have and how we live. And I am so looking forward to 2010! I have a couple of exhibitions booked in and I will be working on a new book!!

I wish you all the best for Christmas and thank you so much for your support. I hope 2010 is a very safe, peaceful, healthy and prosperous year for us all!! Have a great holiday! See you back here in Jan. Cxx

Little Piggy!!

Today, I have done of the most liberating things in my life. I put my gym membership on hold. It may seem trivial but you have no idea how it felt to have this 'weight' off my shoulders!!  For the past few months in between travelling and working, I have had no desire to go to the gym at all. Not even doing my favourite yoga. But I have decided not to feel guilty about it anymore!!

I am going to work hard, enjoy all the Christmas trimmings and eat whatever I want on my upcoming Paris trip. On the way home from Europe, we're booked into Six Senses Health Retreat in Thailand for a few days which is when I will get back into exercise, healthy eating and working off all my upcoming indulgence!

Permission has been granted!!

Cushion Couture

My new range of limited edition cushions and eye pillows are now available online. It has taken a long time to get this range made but I think it has been worth the wait!! Hopefully, the Europeans will love them too - we're heading over to Paris and London next month to show the range.

Meet my new Studio Manager!

Everything must get Caesar's seal of approval. He reminds me constantly that I am working too hard!! "Let's eat, where's my lunch?, I need a cuddle!!" Is there any wonder I get any work done?

Welcome to my life!

"Photo Copyright FreeStockImages.org"

Some days you feel like you are in another world; painting to your heart's content, producing wonderful work, zillions of ideas flying out of nowhere. You lose track of time and you're 'in the zone'. I think this is what we all aspire to as artists. 

But unfortunately, sometimes nothing happens. Nada. Kaput. Absolute zilch. There is nothing coming out, no ideas.....not even Oprah can help me today at lunchtime. And that's when you know you've hit the proverbial brick wall!! I wonder if a glass of champagne will help?

New Recipe for Summer!

Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the dessert but this is what it should look like

(Photo used courtesy of Lili at PikeletandPie)

I thought I would share with you one of my recipes for a great Summertime dessert - Lychee Jelly and Coconut, Lime & Ginger Pannacotta. Mum and I created this recipe about 5 years ago when we designed a degustation menu for Lauralla Grapevine Restaurant up in Mudgee.The recipe is quite easy to make and is great for dinner parties. A good pannacotta should be wobbly, yet still hold it's shape, luscious and creamy.

You can substitute the lychee juice for pineapple or whatever juice takes your fancy. Perhaps to make it more Christmasy, you could use Cranberry Juice instead of Lychee and flavour the pannacotta with orange zest, cinnamon and cloves instead of ginger and lime. And don't forget to substitute the coconut cream for normal cream. From memory, the recipe should be enough for 6 serves. Enjoy!!

Lychee Jelly

1/2 cup lychee juice. (juice should be clear)

1/3 cup caster sugar

1 tbl gelatine

2 tbl water

Pannacotta

2 tbl water

2 teas gelatine

1/3 cup sifted icing sugar

3 thinly sliced pieces of ginger

Grated zest of 1 lime.

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

1 cup cream

1 cup coconut cream

To make jelly:

1.   Place water in a bowl and sprinkle over the gelatine. Make sure it is even otherwise you will get a huge hard gob in the middle. Stand until absorbed (should be like a grainy thick sauce)

2.   Lightly grease moulds with vegetable oil or any other non flavoured oil.

3.   In a saucepan over medium heat, heat lychee juice and sugar and stir until dissolved.

4.   Bring to the boil and simmer for 3 mins. Add gelatine mixture and stir for a further 2 mins.

5.   Remove from heat and let it cool slightly for at least 20 mins.

6.   Spray moulds with canola oil. Pour into moulds about a 1/3, halfway.

7.   Put in fridge to set. Should only take an hour or so.

To make pannacotta:

1.   Place water in a bowl and sprinkle over the gelatine. Make sure it is even otherwise you will get a huge hard gob in the middle. Stand until absorbed (should be like a grainy thick sauce)

2.   Place creams, sugar, lime zest, ginger and vanilla bean into saucepan and over medium heat stir occasionally.

3.   Bring cream to boil and stir in gelatine, cooking for a further 1 –2 mins to dissolve the gelatine.

4.   Remove from heat and allow to cool (1 hour) before pouring over set jelly. Make sure to strain the liquid first.

Make sure mixture is cool before pouring into moulds as it will melt the oil needed for easy un-moulding later on. Refridgerate for at least several hours or overnight until set. Unmould and serve. Voila!!

Laduree

Everytime I go to Paris I always make time to have lunch at Laduree! in between shopping and appointments. It's one of the quintessential things to do in Paris. I kid to myself I am healthy by ordering a salad first then I indulge in one of my favourite desserts - Saint Honore Rose Framboise. And I also buy a beautiful box of macaroons to take back with me. To the hotel; there's no way they would last the trip back to Australia!!

Choux Pastry with rose petal custard, raspberry puree, chantilly cream flavoured with rose water, rose syrup fondant and fresh raspberries.

See you in January!!!

The Gift of Sight!

One of the things I am really proud about is my new limited edition eye pillow range. Each luxurious eye pillow is digitally printed featuring the artwork of yours truly on the front. It is beautifully finished with contrast piping and is lined with the softest silk fabric on the reverse.

Filled with Australian lavender & flaxseed, this special eye pillow has been created to relax, inspire, heal, sooth and rejuvenate the soul! The pillows come packaged in a PVC ziplock pouch with a signed card of authenticity. There are 4 designs - Happiness, Tranquility, Renewal and Longevity. Each design is in a limited edition of 250 worldwide. RRP AUD $89.95.

20% of all profits made from each sale will be donated to The Fred Hollows Foundation. However, each eye pillow purchase made directly from my online boutique will donate $25 to The Foundation. $25 will pay for someones eyesight to be restored.

We previewed my new limited edition silk satin eye pillows at Magnolia Square Market last weekend. We have so far given the gift of eyesight to 10 people!! Thank you so much to the people who bought the eye pillows. Not only have you bought something special and unique, you have also given someone a 'new life' in that they will be able to see. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Christmas Party

We celebrated our end of year Christmas Party at Jacques Reymond restaurant in Melbourne. I wanted to take my Mum somewhere special as she has been helping me produce the new cushion range. This 3 hat restaurant has been going for like 18 years and is a Melbourne institution. Set in an 1880 Victorian mansion, the restaurant is very tastefully decorated and the ambience was wonderful.

The service was warm and professional. The food however while beautifully presented and technically cooked was not memorable! I think when you go to a top restaurant you want to be wowed and sadly, we weren't. Maybe we were tired from working at Magnolia Square all day. To be honest, I think we have been spoilt after eating at French Laundry. Here are some highlights:

Fresh Italian Truffles - I could eat these all day with breakfast, lunch and dinner!!

Hiramasa kingfish and our own ponzu, Hervey Bay scallop, spiced nougatine with peanuts, warm leek and chilli gherkin dressing

Wagyu beef rump, oyster sauce and condiments, ravioli of daikon and spicy celery, mustard ice cream

PS. The wine we had was amazing!!! We ordered a bottle of the 1996 Jacques Reymond Reserve Pinot Noir by Bas Phillips - wonderfully complex, multi layered and full of flavour. I could've just had this with their freshly baked bread!

Magnolia Square

Some quick snaps of all the action at Magnolia Square Markets yesterday. Show closes this Saturday.