As an artist and writer, I rely on inspiration to stir my creativity. While there can be many origins for inspiration, I attribute the magic of the creative process to what I call my muse. And when I’m cooking—one of my favorite creative processes—I call this inspiration "The Kitchen Muse."

My husband, Robert, who is the real cook in the family, jokes that my specialite du maison is ‘spa cuisine.’ This comes from my love for vegetables and fresh fish. Living in Southern California, we are able to gather vegetables from our garden for much of the year: Arugula, beets, zucchini, Japanese eggplants, and tomatoes in summer; onions, garlic, leeks, potatoes, chard and kale in winter. Year-round, our pottager harvests herbs including parsley, basil, sage, lemon verbena, thyme, and mint. And living at the coast means fresh fish is readily available. With a total of 30 minutes prep and steam or grill time, the vegetables and seafood are cooked just enough to maintain both vitamins and flavor! Nothing, however, beats the aromatic and savory pleasures of a wood burning oven—whether for pizza making, beef searing, chicken crisping, or grilling whole fish, which will stay moist and maintain a husky flavor. The wood oven is a focal point in my kitchen and also provides for a dramatic presentation when entertaining, bringing together the essence of the MAC.

My husband and I are lucky because we enjoy cooking together. We merge our muses and arrive at delicious accomplishments.

Three tangible elements invite my muse, whether in my art studio or my kitchen. Together, I call this muse the big MAC: Materials, Ambience and Content. When there is synchronicity with the MAC, I can relax and let the muse guide my creativity.

When drawing, my muse responds to the best available materials, which might be ink, charcoal, or pastels. With the right pen, I feel even a drawing on a paper napkin could turn out to be a masterpiece! With cooking, it is fresh ingredients—with the right ingredients, the simplest recipe can taste as good as one prepared by a professional chef.

Ambience can come from lighting or music for both kitchen and art studio. While drawing, proper lighting is fundamental to capturing shapes, forms, angles and subtle nuances of the subject. The same is true in the kitchen. In order to appreciate the beauty of the food, the lighting and visual presentation of the plate must be taken into consideration, just as they are in the finest restaurants around the world. Music brings mood and physicality to the paper or to the plate. I favor Maria Callas, neo-soul artist India Arie, or all the ‘Round Midnight jazz series. On a successful day, I can see or even taste the music in my work!

Content is subject matter. In the studio, this means a live model, a simple ceramic urn, or a staged collection of objects. In the kitchen, my collection of cookbooks offers a reference library of potential content. Comparing 60 year old cooking tips to contemporary techniques is not only instructive, but encourages my creativity. “A Concise Encyclopedia of Gastronomy”  (1952), by Andre L. Simon, “500 Recipes and Food Facts Tested and Approved,” by The Herald Tribune Institute (4th Edition, 1950) and “Common Sense in the Household,” by Marion Harland, originally published in 1892, motivates recipe experimentation and inventiveness. As a native Californian, and a fan of cooking from this region, there is a special place in my culinary library for Napa greats, such as Thomas Keller’s “Bouchon” (2004), Hiro Sone & Lissa Doumani’s “Terra” (2000), and Cindy Pawlcyn’s “Mustards Grill Napa Valley Cookbook” (2000). The fusion of their inspiration and my informal research prompts me to cobble together varying aspects of numerous recipes, eventually arriving at one that particularly suits my mood—or MAC—for the plat du jour. After I create a dish once, inevitably it becomes a regular feature on our dining table for several weeks while I continue to work out the details and finesse and coax it into final form.