In my free time I try to channel my creativity…
Cooking
Our household philosophy is “waste not, want not”. This mantra is likely a result of growing up in the rural Southwest, where resources are limited. We also attempt to reduce our carbon footprint and general wastefulness wherever possible. As a result I am developing an online cookbook with weekly guides to healthy family meal preparation with minimal waste. A personal “flavourite” is my scrap soup, which is a rich broth made from roasting bones/chicken carcass and the tops, tips, and peels of vegetables following a Sunday roast dinner. I typically toss in all the things other people would throw in the bin. I can then use the broth in soups or sauces throughout the week. My children and husband also enjoy scrapple cake, which involves cooking and pureeing peels and offcuts of fruit (typically pear and apple) following baby food prep each week. I also make my own jams, lemon curd, and marzipan creations.
Photography
I enjoy old stuff and aspects of nature that remind me of brain organisation. Such similarities inspired the series “Nature vs Neuron”, which is featured throughout my webpage. Some other examples of this hobby:
Music
I have been known to sing and songwrite. Notable collaborations include One Wing Left and Pigthe.
Painting
I have recently challenged myself to paint my “brain tree” concepts as a way of thanking my thesis examiners for the time and effort they put into assessing my work. Cabin Fever is my first oil pastel work. Truth be told, I liked one of the earlier versions of this piece a bit better as I felt the blending of colours dulled the foliage in the final work. Magnolia Oblongata is my first acrylic on canvas. I had actually “finished” this work 3 separate times before changing my mind. The final product is rumoured to be hanging in the CerebRum at the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Uppsala.
Cabin Fever
Magnolia Oblongata
