It's hardly believable that another week has been and gone. It has been a full week with a trip to Parkes, snow in the district, beautiful rain, family dinners, and yes, studio time. This fantastic photo of snow and mist was taken by my good friend, Fiona, out near Wyangala on Friday:

Studio journal:

My studio journal has been working well and has been a good tool to get me started on being a little more disciplined in painting and drawing each day. I have been using Art Spectrum Fine Tooth Colourfix White Primer on my paper which creates a different effect when painting with watercolour. I also want to see what effect is created when using ink washes over the white primer. The main thing with watercolour is that the pigment doesn't bleed or wash as freely. I started a painting using Fiona's snow photo as inspiration:

Pumpkin Soup Recipe

As mentioned last time, I have been cooking with lots of pumpkin. From memory, my grandmother used pumpkin mainly as a roast vegetable or mashed and perhaps made pumpkin scones. With all the icy weather, it has been great to warm up with pumpkin soup at lunch. My recipe doesn't involved exact measurements so feel free to adjust based on your preference or ingredients to hand.

In a large saucepan, heat about 1 tbs olive oil and gently cook 1 chopped onion. Add smallish chunks of peeled pumpkin (about a quarter of a large pumpkin), 1 diced apple (if you have one, otherwise omit), 2 diced potatoes, 2 tsp powdered chicken stock and enough water to cover veg. Add a little salt, ground pepper and half a tsp of dried mixed herbs. The secret ingredient is about 2 tbs of tomato relish or chutney or tomato sauce. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down and allow to simmer gently until the veg is soft. Blend to a puree with stick blender and add a dash of milk or cream or water to thin as required. A dollop of sour cream and chopped green stalks of spring onion or chopped parsley can be added when served and accompanied with crusty bread or toast.