Replies: 10 comments

1. Janice Says:
   October 31st, 2007 at 7:07 am

   Looking great. I love the new brightness.

2. mark Says:
   October 31st, 2007 at 9:19 am

   Me too.

   I hesitate to suggest this, having been married to a singer who hated these kinds of questions, but it might be interesting and helpful to the non-artists among us if sometime you’d explain your process — why you lay down colors in the order and layers that you do, what each step accomplishes, how much of the work you plan out before you start, and like that.

   Anyway, I’m always glad you post some pics of your paintings in progress. It’s fun to watch.

3. kate Says:
   October 31st, 2007 at 10:52 am

   Mark — this is a good suggestion that has me thinking — but I am painting while the light is good today, then installing Leopard — I will write more about the painting and the OS tonight. Thank you!

   and Janice — thank you too!

4. mark Says:
   October 31st, 2007 at 1:26 pm

   By the way, Kaye, I wore the pitbull shirt all day yesterday — big hit, even with the fashion-diva teenagers — and I’ve got the new Old Guys on today. Both very cool. So thank you again.

5. kate Says:
   October 31st, 2007 at 1:37 pm

   Yay! — thumbs up from fashionista teens = double plus good. Send me a pix next time you wear the pitbull.

6. Rita Says:
   November 1st, 2007 at 10:26 am

   I love this picture! Never heard the word mirliton, but thought these looked just like chayotes. Now I know they are one in the same.

   I like Mark’s idea and I like the way you show us the progress in your paintings.

7. Janice Says:
   November 1st, 2007 at 1:08 pm

   Rita, just to add confusion, you may have heard the word mirliton and not realized it, it’s often pronounced meliton!

8. Rita Says:
   November 1st, 2007 at 1:24 pm

   Nope. Just chayotes, Janice. I grew up loving them.
   Maybe regional names for the same thing.

9. mark Says:
   November 1st, 2007 at 3:34 pm

   I never heard of chayotes, mirlitons or melitons either. Whatever they are, though, I like the painting.

10. kate Says:
    November 1st, 2007 at 10:44 pm

    hi guys! I have been working away and will post some new things tomorrow, but wanted to say how cool it is to see you all here — talking about mirlitons!

    To me, the “fruit” in the painting are mirlitons and I agree with cookinglouisiana.com, which says mirliton is pronounced me-lay-tawn if you live in the country and mirl-uh-tahn if you live in the city in Louisiana. They can be fried, stuffed, pickled, stir fried, cooked with tomatoes and used in salads. Yum!

    The mirlitons in the painting were grown on Laurie’s prodigious vine and are destined to be cooked this weekend by me.

    Anyway, I always thought the mirlitons were a south Louisiana food and I grew up eating them “stuffed” with shrimp. Their sweet and delicate taste was perfect with the gulf shrimp. Laurie and Lynette have great recipes, I’ll have to see if we can get one to post here.

    When I moved to SoCal, I was reintroduced to the mirliton as the choyote, an indigenous Mexican food. And recently, I learned of a recipe that is so good, it even challenges the deliciousness of my own down home shrimp-stuffed favorites. It is Frida Kahlo’s recipe for Stuffed Choyotes. It has some very surprising ingredients and is extra delicious. I can’t include it here, because it is copyrighted and in the wonderful book “Frida’s Fiestas”, but I will be happy to discuss it with FOM&M via e-mail. Let me know.

    So all, thank you for visiting. You make my day. More tomorrow —K

    PS — thanks also for your encouragement on the painting — more about that tomorrow!

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