Ways of Seeing

Ocracoke Island North Carolina

I stare out to sea and try to take it all in. 

Into my so easily distracted mind.

 Where I need what I see to stay long enough to influence my drawing.

Not that it needs to be accurate. I just want the colour, the movement. 

The colour. The movement. 

And too, the sound, the smell, the wind, the feel of the sand, the rolling shells as the surf 

slides back.

 I want to draw with all of this in my mind.

No need for prep in any other way - that will take care of itself. 

To prepare, I just need to see.

And back at the drawing board, 

I explore my ways of seeing.

Just that.

I refuse to fuss about accuracy, about what is retained, about my materials,

 about time. 

All I need to do is draw.

And wait and see.

Seeing the sea.

The colour.

The movement.

The wind.

The surf.

The sky.

The spirit of it all.

All that I draw from the sea.

Basil

    

Ocimum basilicum.

Well, basil. 

A fine and pungent herb which, (around here, especially once the garden tomatoes are ready), we use almost daily. Fine and pungent. Akin to a spiritual experience. There is just something about a whiff of fresh herbs on a sunny Spring morning. And because of this, we grow lots of them, (most especially ocimum basilicum), from seed, now just about 1 cm tall, to 3" seedlings, to plants now ready for picking. 

We eat lots of pasta and rice based dishes, as part of (what I like to call) a Mediterranean diet. 

Yes, the lovely Mediterranean diet, featuring our fave foods. 

These are a few of our favourite things: 

                                            Olive oil, olives, legumes and tomatoes,

fresh herbs and pasta, rice, eggplant (aubergine),

 onions, garlic, flatbreads, lots of fresh veg and fruit. 

(Oh, and we do love lamb),
These are a few of our fa-vour-ite things...

We are really drawn to meals made while the pasta cooks. Here is our standard, featuring Mr. Basil.

Summer Spaghettini

3 ripe tomatoes, diced (or 18 cherry toms, halved)

3 cloves garlic, mashed with 2 tsp salt

3 oz-olive oil

1 cup chopped(or torn) fresh basil

half a pkg. (450 g) of spaghettini

Put a large pot of water on to boil. Chop toms, basil, then mash garlic with salt.

 Place garlic/salt mash in centre of serving bowl/platter. Surround with a ring of chopped toms. Sprinkle with chopped basil.

Drizzle olive oil over all. 

(This looks quite pretty, smells great, and lets flavours meld.)

Cook spaghettini to 'al dente' (8 mins). Drain thoroughly and pour pasta into serving platter, over the tom/basil mixture. Let sit for a minute, then toss well.

Serve immediately.

At the table, offer grated cheese, if desired.