"Saw a green pear; thought of you"

Saw a green pear; thought of you. Flashback to a year and a half ago: Green pears had just arrived in IGA's produce department (where I get some of my best ideas), and they made me think of my last-ever boss, whose funky foot-high wooden green pear presided over the meeting table in her office. I almost sent her an email with this title and then thought better of it. But all this time, two thoughts have stayed with me.

The first thought, of course, was to make a painting with a green pear at centre stage. I've just completed it, as The First Painting in the New Studio.

You can view the evolution of "The Green Pear" here. It's an exciting drama in which a stone wrapped in green tissue paper stands in for an actual pear until midway through the process. Then a carefully chosen real pear, painstakingly selected by the artist to match the shape of the pseudo-pear, comes on-stage for the finale and applause. Here's the outcome:

The second enduring thought is that ordinary objects and daily encounters often suggest happy associations with friends near and far.  (Of course, in other cases, there could be unhappy associations, but why go there?) Imagine this phenomenon as a kind of game: "When I see...(example: a green pear), I think of...(my last-ever boss L)." Here's just part of my personal list of things that happily recall friends and (sometimes) their foibles:

"When I see/see reference to.......I think of..........."

Anne of Green Gables
Australia
Big Leaf Maple
Blue, the shade between navy and cobalt
Boxing
Bread Baking
Calligraphy
Cats
Cellos
Cocker Spaniels
Dubrovnik
Eggs being cracked
Family histories
Female solo explorers
Firemen shopping for groceries
Frog motifs
Girl Scouts
"Gluten-free"
Green, any shade
Horseback riding
Ireland
Italian weddings
Joggers
Jugglers
Laundry hung in the sun
Lemon meringue pie
Metronome
Nova Scotia
Paper mills
Papillon dogs
Paris
Penpals
Penske rental trucks
Photographers
Quilting
Raccoons
Rainbow trout
Red wine
Redheads
Roses
San Francisco
Saskatchewan
Schiperke dogs
SPCA
"Sustainability"
Teapots
Tennis
Turks-cap roof ventilator
Ukelele
Winnipeg
Wisconsin

As I made a light-hearted colour study for an upcoming painting, I realized the game works both ways -- and that some day a friend might send me an email with the title, "Saw a hazelnut coffee; thought of you."