Michelle Marcotte - Artist and Writer

www.sayitwithvegetables.com Greeting Cards feature vegetables, fruit, the occasional piece of cake and laughter.  Over 40 designs with warm, useful, amusing greetings for life's events and tricky situations.

Food is full of goodness; our world needs more goodness. Fun, difficult, tricky, warm, friendly, loving things need to be said, and we need to be nice to each other.

So, Sayitwithvegetables was born to help you say the fun, difficult, tricky, warm, friendly, loving and amusing things that need to be said, with goodness at heart.

About the artist

Sayitwithvegetables greeting cards are the brainchild of me, Michelle Marcotte, a Canadian-American painter, an artist, and foodie.  Ideas spring up from talking to family and friends, from life, from happy and sad events and in-between. I paint the ideas in oils on canvas with the same care that I paint my fine art paintings. I write each card thoughtfully. The cards are printed by small, family businesses. 

It is a new design approach. Each card is nice enough to be framed as a print in a 5”x7” frame. 

The Buffalo Society of Artists held their juried spring exhibit at the Keenan Center in Lockport NY. My painting, "In the summer of 2015, Ken picked the cherries from our tree, I made cherry cheesecake and our dog Annie Vick died." was given an award by juror wrote the following:

".......I would be remiss to not mention Michell Macotte’s painting, who fully embodied a sense of authenticity, and had one of the greatest titles in the exhibition. 

As the gallery director of a contemporary art gallery, who once was a practicing visual artist, one of my greatest joys is doing studio visits with artists.  This is an opportunity for me to get to know the work I am representing on a deeper level, “talk shop”, and understand the deeper context from which the artist is creating it.  I connect the dots by bringing this to my curated experience and also in my deeper discussions with collectors and visitors at our gallery.  While viewing the nearly 200 selections submitted for this show, I looked at each and every work as if I were doing a studio visit with the artist.   It was a joy and an honor to ‘visit’ with them all.    

John Brunelli

Director, Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts

Binghamton, NY

I am honored to report that the jury of the Buffalo Society of Artists has invited me to be an exhibiting member. This society of professional artists is one of the oldest in North America.

I write a blog on Art, Food, Travel, Life and Everything on www.niume.com you can go there and subscribe to my blog to see my original art, photos and writing. 

Cheers!

Michelle

Political Paintings

Tonight is the first national debate by Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump. I have lived in two countries, worked in federal government, worked for industry, worked internationally, run small businesses, traveled and worked in over 40 countries. It is only in Third World or complete corrupt and dysfunctional countries where I have observed a government leader as inexperienced and unsuitable as Donald Trump. We Americans must seriously acknowledge the disaster he could cause environmentally, economically and internationally and ensure it doesn't happen by voting for the only candidate who can ensure stability and progress -- and that is Hillary Clinton. After having George W Bush we should know by now that the US can not afford to have a not-smart, not-informed, not-thinking, fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants President.   

A vote for anyone other than Clinton helps ensure a Trump presidency. And the other candidates appear just as ill-prepared, unready and unsteady as Trump.

These paintings reflect my growing unease through this election cycle. First, as the primaries were running, I painted "Shrimp and Grits and Serenity". It is a political and environmental statement, a reflection of the comforts of home, and also of 'home' being our world.  But, comfort food is not going to be enough to heal this country if Trump is elected. 

Second, while the national conventions were running, I painted "NY State Primary Election of 2016". It depicts the two candidates who were worthy of national attention and who offered real policy plans and programs: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. They are represented as roses, since that is the national flower of the US and the NY State flower. Hillary is the tall, strong, mature yellow rose; a yellow rose represents  joy, friendliness, and forgiveness. Socialism has traditionally been signified by a red rose, so the shorter red rose signifies Bernie. The two dill pickles at the bottom represent Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, the only two candidates who had any chance in the NY primary at that time. The other Republican candidates are stuck in the vinegar in the old-fashioned canning jar. This is set against a symbolic background of NY state, from the viewpoint of Lewiston NY, where I live. You will see the two Great Lakes, the Niagara River, Manhattan Island and Canada in red. 

Vote Smart!

I have again organized the Niagara River Region Artists' Studio Tour, this year for October 8th. You can start anywhere and see the homes/studios of 9-10 artists in one day in Lewiston and Youngstown. 

Start at my house at 468 Fort Gray Dr., in Lewiston and see my paintings (including the food paintings done as part of my NY State Council on the Arts grant for Niagara County), and you will also see the woodworking shop of Ken Vick, the furniture maker (see his work at kenvickwoodworker.com)

We would be happy to welcome you to our home.

Look for me in August for two weeks on Lori Caso and Friends, the cable 20 (Lockport) cooking show. I'm making Peach Upside Down Cake, Scented with Lavender, showing my paintings and talking about the grant I won from the New York State Council on the Arts administered here by Arts Services Initiative of Western New York.

Here is the recipe:

Peach and Cornmeal Upside Down Cake, Scented with Lavender

Inspired by Martha Stewart’s 2008 recipe, then slightly modified by Michelle Marcotte

Ingredients

• 5 1/2 ounces (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 4-5 medium ripe peaches (about 1 1/4 pounds), skins on, pitted, and cut into 3/4-inch wedges
• 1 cup coarse yellow cornmeal or polenta
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh lavender, or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried lavender
• 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (I substituted nearly ½ vanilla Greek yogurt plus 1 tbsp water)
• Whipping cream for serving (beaten with a bit of sugar and vanilla)
• Extra peach slices for serving

Directions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat, using a pastry brush to coat sides with butter as it melts. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar evenly over bottom of skillet, and cook until sugar starts to bubble and turn golden brown, about 3 minutes. Arrange peaches in a circle at edge of skillet, on top of sugar. Arrange the remaining wedges in the center to fill. Reduce heat to low, and cook

until juices are bubbling and peaches begin to soften, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from

heat.

Step 2

If using fresh lavender from your garden, cut a few stems then rinse the lavender flowers with water. Pat dry with paper towels. Whisk cornmeal, flour, baking powder, lavender, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat remaining stick of butter and 3/4 cup sugar with a mixer on high speed, until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl. Mix in vanilla and cream or yogurt. Reduce speed to low, and beat in cornmeal mixture in 2 additions.

Step 3

Drop large spoonfuls of batter over peaches, and spread evenly using an offset spatula. Bake until golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Transfer skillet to a wire rack, and let stand for 10 minutes. Run a knife or spatula around edge of cake. Quickly invert cake onto a cutting board. Tap bottom of skillet to release peaches, and carefully remove skillet. Reposition peach slices on top of cake. Let cool slightly before serving.

Step 4

Before serving, wash 1-2 peaches and cut into slices. Toss with a spoon of sugar if they need it. Beat heavy cream until soft peaks form, add sugar and vanilla and quickly incorporate. Serve the cake with extra slices of peaches and a cloud of whipped cream

Pop-Up Art Garage Sale June 10-12 at 459 Kenwood Dr., Lewiston. The work of several artists will be offered for sale at garage sale prices at the home of L. Paul Thomas in Lewiston. Although this fun and casual event is still open to other artists, currently the exhibitors will be: L. Paul Thomas, Carol Mathewson, Joan Turrell, Paul Hanna and Michelle Marcotte. Drop by this event while you shop for bargains at the garage sale and see how an art Pop-Up event can work to mitigate the high cost of exhibiting at art festivals.