Blue Bear Journal

[bluebearjournal]

Sourdough update.

As much as each failed attempt tells me to stop, I WILL MAKE A GOOD SOURDOUGH!

I am still feeding the starter everyday and have baked four loaves.  They are becoming much lighter, less sour and much more of a pleasure to eat.  The first two were very heavy and they did not have much of a crust. 

My last attempt was much more successful but the dough was far too runny before I put it in the oven and it collapsed.

I hope to be back here reporting some good news soon.

[bluebearjournal]

Facing my cooking fears...

I have an amazing cookbook called Snowflakes and Schnapps.  It is so good that it intimidates me.  It is a Scandinavian recipe book and it uses loads of flavours that I am not used to and has lengthy preparation methods.  Last week I took the plunge (after about four years) and decided to attempt a recipe.

I chose goulash as it was the most straight forward.  I started by browning beef shin and then stewed the meat in loads of herbs and spices along with wine, stock vegetables and beef broth.  The trickier element was the caraway seed dumplings.  I poached them in a small amount of the finished goulash sauce as I didn’t want them to break up in the casserole dish.

I am glad that I have faced my fear and I am looking forward to the next challenge this book bring me in the near future.

[bluebearjournal]

Our first time Geocaching.

Geocaching is a very modern twist on treasure hunting.  By using the official app you have to find little waterproof tubs in different locations which contain a list which you sign to say you have found the cache.

We went to Lewes to do our first hunt and we explored parts of the town that we have never been to before.  The hunters can also leave tokens for the people who will be there next.  We found a little card made by someone called Mary.

It was a great day, we walked loads and we both felt a great deal of satisfaction in finding the caches.

I will post a link to the official site in the hope that you may give it a go.

https://www.geocaching.com/

[bluebearjournal]

Oh no, sourdough! AKA How I made a start on my bread starter.

Towards the end of last year I became slightly addicted to sourdough bread.  The flavour, texture and smell are somewhat beguiling.  I was more than happy to pay £3 for a loaf as the taste was insurmountably better than that of standard breads and the skill that went into each loaf deserved to be rewarded.  

I am always motivated at the start of a new year so it is my mission to try and recreate these wonderful breads using a “bread starter”.  This is achieved by mixing water and top quality flour but instead of relying on dried yeast, I am going to use the yeast that is naturally present in the flour.

The basis of what I will be doing is outlined in this Reddit post.  Click here for a more detailed explanation.

So far I have incorporated flour with tepid water in a 50/50 ratio.  By feeding this mixture every 12 hours with new flour and water the yeast is given time to develop and I should be making bread within the week.

Stay tuned for updates and thanks once again for stopping by.

[bluebearjournal]

Berlin Street Food

We were lucky enough to be able to visit Berlin just before Christmas to go to the street markets and the highlight was the amazing street food.

We tried smoked sausage served with spinach and we also had the famous currywurst which is served with warm ketchup and curry powder.  The sausages were cooked above huge circular BBQs, the height of which was moved by the cooks so that they can control the cooking speed.  Sweet treats were also on offer in the form of tiny vanilla donuts.  The best burgers in Berlin are served at Burgermeister which is situated under the U-Bahn.  

I would recommend the Christmas markets to everyone...especially if you have a hunger for amazing street food.

[bluebearjournal]

East Hoathly Bonfire Night.

I was determined to work on my low-light skills on this year’s bonfire night.  The difficulty with taking photographs in darkness is balancing shutter speed. If the shutter speed is too quick then very little amounts of light are let into the camera.  On the other hand, if the shutter speed is too slow more light is allowed in but any moving sources of light will be registered as light trails rather  than points of brightness.  

The other challenge is to make the shots of the firework display more interesting.  Everyone has seen photos of fireworks before but by adding the silhouettes of bystanders into the foreground I was able to give the photos context and seat them within an environment.

[bluebearjournal]

I have found out that I love painting trees in watercolour.  Here is a study of a tree going through the seasons as part of a wedding gift...and it also gives me an opportunity to use my calligraphy skills.

[bluebearjournal]

Westonbirt National Arboretum - Bristol.

Visiting Westonbirt was a wonderful opportunity to get back into the swing of taking some out door shots.  By chance some mist came in towards the end of our visit which ave the trees a spooky feel.  I especially like the shots where the sun is behind the trees.

[bluebearjournal]

Textures and close-ups

An online project being run by the hospital I work for is putting together a selection of photographs based on textures and close ups. Here are the photos I submitted.  I hope you like them.

[bluebearjournal]

Holiday in the New Forest and Isle of Wight.

I have just returned from a week away cycling along the south coast of England with my great mate Toby.  It was a very long way (we cycled the distance of four marathons in four days) but it was well worth it.  The camping spots were amazing and the food was top notch.

It was a great opportunity for me to put my camera to good use.  I practiced my close up shots on food and flowers and there were plenty of animals to try to capture in their natural environment.  

I took along my prime lens which meant I was unable to zoom but it gave me loads more options when it came to aperture (the depth of field).

[bluebearjournal]

Sweat pea flowers.

Using some of the skills I picked up at my art classes I attempted to paint some sweet pea flowers for a colleague.  I used the wet-in-wet method of applying the paint.  This allows the different paints to run into each other gradually.

I also used my new camera lens to film it and I am pleased with how much sharper the images are.  I now feel much more confident when editing but I feel I need to add some more effects or change my style as it is becoming slightly repetitive and stagnant.

Here is a link to the original photo 

Here is a link to the free download to the music I used

Thanks for dropping by

[bluebearjournal]

The frustrating side of art.

I am currently painting some sweet-pea flowers for a colleague but it has not been going as well as I would like.  After spending a considerable amount of time getting the outlines of the flowers just right I managed to screw up two paintings within a matter of minutes.

For some reason I have great difficulty painting big blocks of colour and this can be seen in the images above.  They are blotchy and I would not be happy giving either of these away.  After a calming cup of tea (and a brief ten minutes where I vowed to quit painting for the rest of my life) I nailed it! Video to follow.

This got me to thinking about the nature of art and how much is based on mistakes.  With every painting I learn not only how to tackle the challenges but I learn how to put the errors behind me and try harder.  

It is character building stuff.  

[bluebearjournal]

Youtube channel launch!!

I am using this opportunity to do two things; launch my Youtube channel and to show my latest project which is painting a sausage dog puppy.  A colleague recently left my work place and I wanted to paint her a leaving gift.

Every project seems to give me a new challenge and in this case it was using a new type of watercolour paper.  it may seem like a trivial element but I was surprised at how much it affects the painting process.  The pigment soaked into the paper in a different way than before and the ink I use for the outlines was absorbed at a slower rate which gave a more pleasing result.

HERE is a link to the music I used for this video.

If you would like to take a look at my other videos then please click HERE

Thanks for dropping by.

[bluebearjournal]

Photography school.

I recently went on a field trip with my photography class to take some long exposure shots.  I have always loved light trails in photos and I now have the skills to set up my camera to achieve this.  I am most proud of the two pictures above as they show the movement of the traffic over the period of a few seconds.

[bluebearjournal]

First food painting

I am a massive fan of the website Reddit and the last time I posted one of my paintings on there a fellow Redditor suggested i paint some sushi.  I thought this was a great Idea as I am yet to paint any food.  I chose the above image as it was colourful and it is a close up subject which is also new aspect to add to one of my compositions.  Fingers crossed they like it.

[bluebearjournal]

My biggest project yet.

My Mom requested a painting of some peony flowers so I thought it would be a good opportunity to use my new camera to add a few different shots.

Not only was this the most complicated composition I have ever attempted but the editing of so many different camera angles was a real challenge.  The petals were very pale in the original photo so I had to make some decisions as to where I thought they would end and the adjacent petals would start.

I used some of the wash techniques from my watercolour class for the background. I hope I did my teacher proud!!

Here is the link to the music I used and to the original photo. Remember to click on the HD icon in the bottom right of the video screen to watch a better quality version of the video.

Thanks for watching

[bluebearjournal]

Washes.

In the last 15 minutes of my watercolour lesson last week I painted a very quick wash to see what can be achieved quickly and in a less formal style compared to my previous painting.  The result was the painting above which seems to have more atmosphere than my Alaska composition.