If you are a fairly new visitor to our blog, let me introduce you to our Print of the Month. Every month Larry and I offer a photograph from our fine art archive at a steeply discounted purchase price. We are offering this photograph in the limited edition of 30 until the end of the February. It’s printed on museum fiber paper by master printer Robert Cavalli and is sized 8×10″ for the price of $50.
For this month’s featured photograph, we’re taking you to a tiny abandoned mining town in Mexico called Pozos. Grand old buildings linger in ruin and its chief residents are packs of emaciated stray dogs. This may be the most dangerous place I’ve ever photographed – not because of said dogs, but because miles of barely covered mine shafts lie in wait for one misstep.
If you would like to add this to your art collection, please contact us at the studio.
The day started innocently enough, another bat-mitzvah in the San Fernando Valley needed photographing and I was just the girl to do it. Things were going along swimmingly. As usual, Larry was working hard by my side and we were joined by David Robin, the super talented videographer of David Robin Films. Between the motzi and the horra, David casually asks me, “are you on Instagram?” I believe my response was “Insta-what now?” He then proceeded to explain to me that this was a really cool app like Twitter for iphone photographers. My first thought was, great, another vehicle designed to bring to light just how inept I am in the world of social media; but the part about the iphone photographers, caught my interest. Despite being a complete Luddite, I adore my iphone and especially making photographs with it.
Before I left that bat-mitzvah, I was completely hooked on Instagram. It was so much more than Twitter. Here was a place where extraordinary photographers were openly sharing tips, advice and a window into their corner of the world. The deeper I delved into Instagram, the more besotted I became. I was astounded at the sense of camaraderie and goodwill and the images flashing across my screen on any given day would be very much at home in an art gallery or fine bookstore.
I recently hit my one year anniversary on Instagram and wanted to share with you a little snippet of the images I’ve created over the last 12 months. Each photo recalls such a specific time and place for me. Some images were made on solitary walks, some on vacation with Larry and some on “Insta-meets” with my new like-minded friends. If any of you reading this love taking pictures with your iphone, give Instagram a try. The app is free so you have nothing to lose but a world’s breadth of friendships and inspiration to gain.
Look me up when you join. My user name is #isabellawrence. But be warned, it could prove to be highly addictive!
I have a love hate relationship with Trader Joe’s. I love it for the obvious reasons: great products, reasonable prices and of course, those Hawaiian shirts… But I hate that it’s made a pantry hoarder out of me. I’m sure you’ve experienced this too – haven’t you fallen madly in love with one of their items only to have it disappear from the shelves forever? This is especially traumatic for me around the Holidays. The thought of getting through all the Christmas mayhem without a midnight binging of Chocolate Covered Peppermint Joe Joe’s is unthinkable! Every time I walk in there, I brace myself for disappointment. I know, not the healthiest of attitudes…
Well, I’ve decided to be the victim no more! When I recently searched high and low for their Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti and came up empty, I thought, this is ridiculous! I’ll just make my own.
All you need are a few simple ingredients. Most likely, you have these in your pantry right now.
They are:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ cup sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1 cup shelled unsalted pistachios
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Sift the baking powder into a large bowl with the flour and sugar and mix to combine. Add the eggs, vanilla, orange rind, cranberries and pistachios. Mix it into a smooth dough. I found incorporating everything with my hands worked best.
Aren’t these colors beautiful?
Divide the dough in half and roll each portion into even sized logs. I made mine approximately 4 inches long by 2 ½ inches wide. The dough will be sticky so dampen your hands a bit when forming your logs. Flatten them slightly and place them on parchment paper.
Bake them for around 30 minutes or until firm and you start to see color on top. As soon as they are cool enough to touch, slice the logs with a serrated knife.
Place your slices back onto the baking sheet and bake again for another 8 – 10 minutes or until they are golden and crisp.
See? Super easy and very delicious. Make yourself a cup of coffee and let the dunking begin!
Brighter than a moonbeam, warmer than the sun, from the moment he first saw her, he knew nothing would ever be the same again.
“Even the best fall down sometime
Even the stars refuse to shine
Out of the back you fall in time
I somehow find you and I collide”
~Howie Day
Thanks so much to all of you who entered our Teavana giveaway. I’m happy to announce that the winner of the Classic One Cup Infuser is… Leen Isabel!
Here’s what she said…
To take the stress off at work, I bring my tea set with me! Just my loose leaf tea, my favorite mug (with little black cats all over it), and an awkward little mesh strainer.
It’s like bringing home to the office and the fragrance it creates while steeping is wonderful. 🙂
And to cope with office place madness, I drink a fantastic mix that has ginseng (for energy), St. Johns Wort (for stress and anxiety), rooibos, apples, lemongrass, cinnamon, and other lovely fruits and herbs.
Congratulations Leen! Contact me at info@isabellawrence.com to redeem your prize. I believe your ‘awkward little mesh strainer’ may be put to rest once and for all. 🙂
