Mulberry Banana Bread

3/4 c butter

1 1/4 c sugar

4 eggs

2 c mashed bananas

3 1/2 c flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda
2 c mulberries

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs. Sift dry ingredients together and add alternately with mashed bananas, blending well. Fold in berries. Dust two loaf pans with flour and turn half of batter into each. (or use Pam) Bake in moderate oven 350 degrees for 1 hour or until tested done.

Eat, it's delicious... or you can just do the banana bread part... because this recipe is the best I've ever had (compliments to Sarah Hazel.)

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

One prerequisite for being Anna Hazel is change. Growing up I always hated change, but now that I am finding my own way into the world I've found that change is necessary. My good friend Magdalena told me a while ago that she noticed that I don't stick with anything for more than one year, and it's pretty much true. One year in Austin and I am ready for a change... which I think will come in the form of a new home and new roommates.

All of the sudden, I get anxious, and I know what time it is. What is going to be new? Will I like it? Will I hurt people by doing it? Will life ever be the same after one more year?

Taking a chance can hurt but more often than not the world will keep on turning and it might turn out alright. I recently cut my hair in the back yard, worked through problems with a teacher, started working at the Cactus, told someone something important to me, and drank half a bottle of whiskey. Monday I'll head out on the road to California with my good friend Emily, and there's two people I'm going to miss a lot this summer, and I just don't know what to do with myself.

POSTerART

My friends, the Abby Birds, asked me to make a poster for their upcoming show hosted by 101X Homegrown this upcoming Wednesday at Club DeVille. This is what I came up with: ...

12x15" watercolor and acrylic on paper
completed April 27, 08

Meet the Parents

During Christmas break this past year, I went home to "meet the parents" of my room mate and friend, Melissa. We did all of the regular things: stay at her house, show me around her home town, antique shopping, dinner with the family on the River Walk, visiting of high school teachers...

Okay so bla bla, other than it amusing me that I stayed with her family for a few days, here is a watercolor I think I am finished with. It's a house close to Melissa's old high school that used to be a drug house until the police in that area buckled down on it. Now, the house is just old and falling apart, with No Trespassing signs, barbed wire etc.

grooming

Furniture can be found anywhere at any given time. Say for instance: the alley behind my house, random side streets and especially around the time people are moving out to go home for the summer. This past week I found several sweet items.

1) new dining room table
2) beautiful couch
3) end table with two matching dressers

Unfortunately these things are thrown away for a reason. The couch is a bit stale, so I rented a steam cleaner from HEB but it still smells a little. Good thing is now I know it is clean. The two matching dressers were great (Ethan Allen pieces) but I couldn't move them by myself and in the morning when I went to transfer them to my backyard, they were in the process of being loaded meticulously into some guys tiny hatchback. How they both fit, I will never understand. As for the table, it was fine. I just didn't like the color or the particle board showing on the top, so it's been painted.

Problem number two with picking up unwanted items: you have to either find a place to store them, or be willing to replace something already in your home... or have a garage sale and sell them for less money than you spent fixing it up.

... I think I am turning into my mom ...

Tom Costantino

Tom's wifes country cottage.
December, 2006

Dryden House

For Heather Curran Kelley and her husband, Steve on their anaversary.
November 11, 2006 .

This is the house they lived in for 16 years before moving a few miles away.

Because she's in town

Well, I wanted to put this one on here since I'm giving it to Emily Tepekian today, and was thinking about her. Anyhow, it is a small one, about 2 1/2 x 3 in. and I did it near the beginning of the year along with a whole bunch of other small artworks. ET moved to Guatamala two or so years ago with her family and I have not seen her since until this past monday. I met her in 8th grade and we lived in the neighborhood together so we always hung out, and now that she's leaving on Thursday, I wanted to give her something she can remember us by. Hopefully next summer I will have the chance to visit her.. woo!

For Joyce Goldmann

pen and ink turned into note cards.

mailed just the other day.

I met Joyce on the Fourth of July at a gathering, and had just told her about my selling note cards to Morris Orr the night before when she became extremely enthused and asked me if I would do something with their house for her husbands birthday at the end of the month. Anyhow, I agreed and I owe my commissions since then to her for initially planting the idea.

Architecture

before and after trees
all artowrk in this posting commissioned by Sarah Stone
5"x7"
pen and ink on watercolor paper

"574" commissioned by Sarah Stone. 5"x7"

Artworks

These are some of my artworks. Eventually I will have them all posted along with list prices. For now, be happy with what I have up :)