Tears of Chios for Easter week...

Sakizli muhallebi (Milk pudding with mastic gum )

We had a very nice easter week with our family and friends. I spent lots of time cooking at the kitchen as usual. I would like to share a dessert recipe that I tried first time and it came out really delicious. It's a milk pudding with a special aroma  called "damla sakizi/ mastic gum", it's resin extract from mastic tree.  In Greece, it is known as the "tears of Chios," being traditionally produced on that Greek island and, like other natural resins, is produced in "tears" or droplets. It's widely used in Greek and Egean Turkish kitchen for making desserts, candies and delights. If it's difficult to find at your area, you can get it online at Amazon.com)

(Damla sakizi) Mastic 

Sakizli muhallebi (Milk pudding with mastic gum)

Ingredients:

1 lt milk

1 table spoon  cornstarch

2 pieces of mastic (1/2 tiny tea spoon)

1 vanilla stick

3/4 glass of sugar

1 table spoon butter

cinnamon or pistachio for topping (optional)

In a medium size pot put 800 ml milk and sugar mix and heat until it gets all dissolved and hot. Crush the mastic pieces in a mortar and add to the pot with vanilla stick keep mixing it about for few minutes. Add the butter and mix for another 3 minutes. At Last put the cornstarch in a small bowl with remaining milk whisk it well until it's smooth. Add this mixture to the pot keep mix it until it gets thicken and boils for more 5 minutes. It's important, dividing the pudding mixture into the little bowls or cups while it's hot. Once it's room temperature keep refrigerated and serve it cold with cinnamon or pistachio topping on them. Enjoy it!

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Last week I created a new still-life composition with some of Easter theme characters, bunny, flowers and instead off the egg I chose "Tuna indio" fruit (cactus fruit). I think their color attracted me first of all, also this Easter was different and much more fragile than the others... I used oil pastels on craft paper.

work in progress

Pastels and the craft paper

detail

"Happy holidays" by Birsen Ozbilge, 2016

8" x 11" (21 x 29 cm)

Cray Pas Expressionist Oil pastel on heavy-weight acid free craft paper, 

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Welcome to Spring and Happy Semana Santa!

Infront of the famous Canarian artist Aguiar's painting

Recently I visited a collective exhibition called "Cuerpo de mujer" (female nude) at Casa de Colon, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.  I really liked this 40 something pieces of artwork collection which show the beautiful female nudes. In my early works I had a few female nude paintings. (see pic below)

Cat lover, by Birsen Ozbilge, Acrylic on wood,40 x 30 cm, 1995

I keep drawing the city and the coastal landscapes on my sketchbook. The other day I went to the city of Las Palmas and set infront of the public library to sketch one of my favorite view point.

work in progress sketching en plein air 

View point from the Public Library, pencil drawing on sketchbook, January 2016

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“Choose only one master – Nature” –Rembrandt. New linocut print is available!

Last weekend I was out sketching from the lovely Tufia coast in Gran Canaria.

View point called "Lugar punta de mala gato" ( Bad cat point place)

"View from Lugar punta de mala gato" pencil on sketchbook

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Last week I worked on another linocut. I wanted to create a night scene with the moon with addition of a few objects and a cat. Once I drew the sketch, I go through on stages to simplify the design in order to be able carve it properly on lino.

work in progress carving the lino

pressing the paper with the wooden spoon

Pulling out the print

"The Message", by Birsen Ozbilge, 2016

Limited Edition hand pulled reduction linocut print ( Edition 1 of 25)

Paper size 6.5" x 9" ( 17 x 22 cm.)

Image size 4" x 6" (10 x 15 cm.)

Available, click on SHOP

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Spring is on its way! Check out the new multicolor linocut "El Pinzón", a local bird from Gran Canaria

Sketching the view from Gemma's the kitchen window

Playa del Burrero, pencil on sketchbook

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Last week I worked for a new linocut project called "El pinzón". It is a local bird from our island. Also I designed the composition with the emblematic rocks of Gran Canaria, "El roque Nublo", "La rana" and " El Fraile" from Tejeda village, at the peak of the island. It is a reduction linoprint which means that after each layer more of the plate is cut away, so there is no going back and the print cannot be repeated.

Carved for the 1st layer 

Cut the paper ans set the registration board, ready to print first layer

Inking the lino for the first layer

Carved for the 2nd layer

Inked the plate for the 2nd layer

I repeated carving, inking and the printing proccess for 3 more times. If you have noticed I did not add on the print my carved initial signature, because it was not good enough for me, so I covered it with tape (see pic above) while printing each color.

Prints are drying 

Pulling the 5th and the last layer of the print.

At the end I selected only 9 copies of the final print and gave them a few last touch with the brush and black ink. Each one is signed and numbered with pencil on the front of the print. Ready to ship directly from my studio safely packed and registered mail. Available, click on ETSY Shop 

"El Pinzón", by Birsen Ozbilge, 2016

Limited Edition hand pulled reduction linocut print ( Edition 1 of 9)

Paper size 6.5" x 8.5" ( 17 x 20 cm.)

Image size 4" x 6" (10 x 15 cm.)

Available, contact me for purchase details

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A new Linocut print for the Kitchen Stories series

The other day I was visiting a great collective exhibition called "El grabado" (meaning printed artwork) at CICCA, Gran Canaria. I was pretty surprised by their collection which consisted many famous artists such as Velasquez, Rembrandt, Goya, Picasso, Bacon and many more... All together 42 pieces of printed artwork with different printmaking techniques.

Watching to orijinal linocut artworks.

This is my favorite piece from the exhibition, a linocut by a famous Canarian artist Antonio Padrón. (They displayed his original lino plate also)

This is how I draw the negative image with my small light pad.

This lino hold redball pen ink well, so I transferred the image drawing and eliminating few things by hand. I may look for a white carbon paper for easier image transfer later on.

The carving the lino took many working hours. My composition was very detailed, so my patience level was very high

Carving  before proof printing

Cutting the paper for the prints

Prepared the registration lines for the paper (there is a line right at the edge of lino which doesn't show here).

Inking the plate with brayer

Carefully pressing the paper with the back of wooden spoon.

The magic moment, pulling the paper

This is the proof print. After checked its details, I found out few more places to carve. Next day I printed the final print below (see pic)

"Saturday mood", by Birsen Ozbilge, 2016

Limited Edition hand pulled linocut print ( Edition 1 of 25)

Paper size 6.5" x 9" ( 17 x 22 cm.)

Image size 4" x 6" (10 x 15 cm.)

Available, click on ETSY Shop

You think the wooden spoon is only for the soup, right? Well, you are wrong... :)

Last week worked on another linocut print. I had carved this linoblock long time ago and only printed the proof print. So this time it needed to be fixed for small adjustments and details. I printed the first few editions on Rives printmaking paper, pressing with the wooden spoon, this paper holds the ink very nicely but after a few prints I got tired by pushing the wooden spoon. I think on the long run I might need a table top printing press.

Pulling the print

"Exhibition hall" by Birsen Ozbilge, 2016

Limited Edition hand pulled linocut print ( Edition 1 of 25)

Paper size 9" x 10.5" ( 22 x 26.5 cm.)

Image size 11.5" x 14" (30 x 36.5 cm)

Available, click on ETSY Shop

Lately I have been working on a sketchbook drawings project. Every time we go somewhere in the island I take my sketchbook and pencil box with me to draw the landscape views. The other day we went to Telde, Melenara beach (see pic below). 

Sketching at Melenara beach

"Melenara beach" by Birsen Ozbilge, 2016

charcoal  drawing on sketchbook

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