featured artist - Sharon Montrose

Sharon Montrose is an Los Angeles photographer specialising in capturing animal uniqueness at close range, and turning her photographs into intensely beautiful and affordable fine art prints. She works with pets, wild and rescued animals, the keepers, the handlers, the team.

 Occasionally an animal would charge at her, but more often than not, it would just look suavely into her lenses.

I like the honest simplicity of her work, the white background, the animal personalities, the look in their eyes, the pose. I like the mood and intimacy of the Little Darlings - a slightly eerie, yet so sweet, series of baby animals portraits. In fact, I like a lot about Sharon Montrose. But don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself...

   all photos via theanimalprintshop.com

featured artist - Megan Weston

Megan Weston is an Australian multimedia artist with a big swing. Literally, since a lot of her inspiration comes from the aerial views, some of which are her own photographs taken from her friend's plane. She translates them into resin, ink and acrylic paintings with vivid, flowing, blending hues. Moody dynamic swirls, beautiful deep colours and atmospheric drama fills her canvas, and, as you would expect, they are huge, and definitely full of momentum.

If you happen to be in Melbourne at the end of May, head to Fenton&Fenton in Prahan for Megan's latest exhibition called Icelandia. It promises to be something to remember!

If not, here is a pick of her artwork, including ceramics and cushion prints, some from her 2014 Altitude exhibition:

                         all photos via Fenton&Fenton, Megan Weston and The Design Files

grow some grass

Here is my mid week inspiration:  get some seeds, grow spring sprouts! I put them into my salads and soups, and into my dog Shei's bowl. She never leaves any on her plate...in fact I just caught her having an early snack from a plant pot on the balcony, full of wheatgerm...a cow of a dog she is!
Luckily it grows back pretty fast.
This is what it looked like...

...before this happened.

She doesn't look too guilty.

I also have rye sprouts, lemon mint, and cockooflower...

Lots of cockooflower. It tastes a bit like chives.

   Give it a go!                                      All photos by Galeria Rocco

spring cleaning

Hello again!
I had a break from blogging for a couple of months, due to travelling to New York and recently Ukraine, and also a winter hibernation mood I will not apologise for...The dark European winter can make you like that, force you to recharge your skittish batteries and seek some time out.
 However I can't pretend the spring is not here any longer. With it comes a wish for a blast, for a clean, sweeping change, readjustment, discarding and shedding a outworn skin. Or, at the very least, for some clean white paint.
So last weekend I looked at some very outdated items from last fall and decided to give them a fresh linen look. And, as I have a thing for painting old books, I added a couple of them to the mix.
So here is my spring meditation in starch white and gilded gold:

All photos by Galeria Rocco

My old goodies are out again…

photos by Galeriarocco

tart-rustic

A moody, blue hour photo of a very edible Sunday shortcrust tart filled with mascarpone, dates, almonds...tiny bits of green candied pomelo and cantelupe melon, just because I had some...grapefruit juice...topped with apricot jam...all true blue, as we say in Australia. 

    photo by Galeria Rocco

gomashio

I just prepared the Japanese sesame salt, or gomashio, a delicious condiment I periodically make and always keep. It consists of sea salt and unhulled, fresh sesame seeds, roasted, and then grinded. It will add so much oomph and flavour to your dishes, you will never look back...Sprinkle it on anything just like salt - veggie dishes, eggs, meat, salads...my sweet cherry tomatoes never tasted this good before.
And it keeps in a dark, cool place, or a fridge, for many weeks.  So here goes:

First roast two tablespoons of sea salt on low heat for 3 min. (this time I run out, so I used Himalayan).
Next, add half a cup + two tablespoons of unhulled sesame seeds (white or black, or mixed):

Keep stirring and roast it for a while, until they are a little darker. Make sure they don't burn.
Then grind the lot in a mortar, enough to release the flavour, but not too much, so some seeds are still whole:

Cool and put in a airtight jar. Done!

         All photos by Galeria Rocco