Okay. I am not the artist in the family. I can draw reasonably well, but this semester I am taking a course called “Color Theory.” Now why would a culinary student want to take such a class?

Well, to challenge me and help me with making better looking platings. No, I am serious. Why ya laughing?

See, I am finding that the human mind first eats with his eyes. I am sure there are a billion quotes out there to back up this idea. I want to learn to make food that is very visually appealing. I have a few goals with the cuisine I am going for, but I want it to look beautiful, but naturally. Hence color theory. I need to learn how to use colors to help me with making great looking foods.

We had to do a collage a few weeks back. I just wanted to put it up and say what I a great time I had doing it. Its been awhile since I have done any art like this. It started out as an exploration of gold and yellow hues and then complementing and contrasting colors started showing up. We have a box where we keep old magazines. Natalie keeps them around specifically to work on collage, but its kind of new to me. I went through the box with her, choosing pieces that fit the color profile. Before I knew it, it had kinda of shown up. It was enjoyable. I might start doing a bit more. I’ve been researching collage techniques and I might pick it up. Its fun artwork even a busy student can find time to do.

Here’s my first attempt. It’s 14″x16″ with a 1″ border. I want to get it on a drum scanner and have it printed up on metallic paper. If you look close, you can see some recognizable elements from cd covers. Quite a bit of fun. There’s NIN in there, Smashing Pumpkins, and a few others. Other things are elements from calendars, magazine advertisements, articles, and some postcards. I think there is even a Newsweek.