Cucurbits Fascination: A retrospective exhibit

The elderly Chinese couple down the street always grows mysterious vining plants on makeshift trellises in their front garden. I watch for the fruits, which look like a cross between a small green pear and a spiny chestnut. When I asked its name, the man gently cupped his hands and said, "We call it egg-in-hand." (Maybe it's white and soft beneath those spines?) Coincidentally, I later saw some of these "eggs" for sale as decorative objects, with a sign labelling them "cucurbits."

Now I've learned that there's a whole botanical family Cucurbitaceae, which includes, in addition to melons and cucumbers, the squashes and gourds that draw me like a magnet every autumn. While I planned by Fall 2011 painting, I hauled out all the cucurbit paintings I've done over the years. Here we go:

Starting with four small paintings in 2003, you'd think I'd have overdosed. I bought an amazing squash and a whole mass of beautiful gourds and did first a small study:

Next, a blue/green painting with what was then an enthralling theme to me -- the shapes of cardboard packing inserts - "Harvest - Three Gourds."

Then a Serious Painting -- "Melon Jug and Carnival Squash" -- playing the colour and texture of the squash against my mother's old ceramic pitcher.

Still unable to let go of the cucurbits, I placed three gourds under strong light and captured the shadows in a small study.

On to 2004, when a single plain gourd played a modest role in "Packing Form and Candlestick."

But I wasn't finished with that year's bounty and, getting out my coloured pencils, I constructed "Harvest Quilt."

In 2004, another of my family keepsakes -- my grandmother's cookie jar -- found unlikely cucurbit companions in "Echoes - Cookie Jar Tapestry."

How is it possible that I didn't succumb in the years 2005-2006? My next cucurbit painting, "Autumn Glow," was started in fall 2007, finished in winter 2008.

Similarly, in early winter 2009, I finished two paintings that were conceived in fall 2008. "The Wishful Bird" featured a thrift store find that kept me company -- wishfully -- while I waited for JT to come home from the hospital.

Then, a marvelous turban squash took centre stage in "That Time of Year" documented in one of my early blog posts.

Finally, in my 65th autumn, I did what's still (I think) my best-yet painting, "A Brown Study at 65."

The 2011 cucurbit? Just finished last week, to be unveiled with the next posting. It's mouthwatering.