Danse macabre

Happy Halloween! In another amazing convergence, I happened on an old drawing exercise just at cucurbit season. The drawing exercise, I'm sure, was originally inspired by the Japanese artist Hokusai (October 31, 1760 - May 10, 1839) who did some fascinating drawings of skeletons in action.

The exercise proposed in my drawing book is this: Cut out a newspaper photo of a figure (dancers, athletes and rock groups work beautifully) and, with reference to anatomy charts, draw the bones that underlie the figure's position. Here are the reference photos for the two dancing skeletons shown above:

It's not easy, even in this casual playful mode. The pelvis, which someone described as "an elegant bowl" and the rib cage present particular challenges. As Dylan Thomas said in another context, "Oh, easy for little Leonardos!"  Whether or not it was easy for him, Leonardo permanently set the bar high:--

We saw his actual drawings in a travelling show of Leonardo's works from the Windsor Castle collection. It was the year after JT came home from the hospital, and we took a break from his busy rehab schedule for a special trip to the Vancouver Art Gallery. Along with the rest of the throng, we oohed and aahed until at a certain point JT said, "Maybe we've had enough now. This is starting to remind me of the Physio Department."

But back to Cucurbits and Friends! Here are this year's carefully chosen few -- with two small bitefuls (?) from the unidentifiable volunteer vine that sprung up in our garden in July.

Now here's my prototype plan for "Dancing with Cucurbits", showing the source photos with yellow paper stand-ins for the gourds:--

And here's the final version...definitely non-archival and intended Just for Fun:--

Projecting ahead to Cucurbits 2014, things can only get more exciting. We have a wonderful bond with our new Chinese neighbours (okay, we're the new ones; they're the established ones) based on my enthusiasm for their front yard trellis and its output:-- the same fascinating squash that was grown by the elderly Chinese man in our old neighbourhood.

This friendly couple has twice presented us with two of these intriguing vegetables. I was advised to wear gloves or use a paper towel when peeling them although theirs were not as spiny as those I saw on our old street. Delicately stir-fried with garlic, they taste something like a cross between honeydew melon and zucchini.

Searching for more information via Google Images, I learned that what I thought were "Chinese vegetables" are actually chayotes, native to Mexico and Central America.

Nonetheless, we've come to call them "Anita's squash" -- and Anita has promised to give me a whole plant next year! If all goes according to plan, our tiny front yard might actually sprout a Chinese-style trellis, and I'll be able to document the entire unfolding of what was once The Great Cucurbit Mystery.