Witch's brew or sweet treats?

 

Let's not use the stunning white-dotted Amanita muscaria for either brews or treats. The familiar fairy-tale illustrations don't provide ample warning for its toxic and hallucinogenic properties.  Besides, neighbourhood walks offer ample innocuous inedibles as feasts for the eyes.

 

Thinking of how I might brew up my own sweet treats for this fun and eerie time of year, I thought of a black canvas I created when I covered up a stale painting.  (Hmmm – is that what's called "deaccessioning"?   Sounds a little classier but my action doesn't fit the official definition)

 

On the black canvas, I planned to rearrange two slightly obscure master drawings that have always tantalized me.  Together, their monotones yield their own sweet treat.

 

The first is an intriguing drawing by Pieter Bruegel the Elder titled "The Beekeepers" (and Birdcatcher -- Be assured that a Catch and Release policy is in effect here).  

 

 Bruegel, by the way, is the painter of one of my top ten favourite paintings, "Hunters in the Snow."

 

The second is a drawing that surfaced in my Commedia dell'Arte research:-- "Punchinellos Cooking and Tasting Gnocchi" by Giambattista Tiepolo.

 

Not sure what gnocchi is?  For most of us, the store-bought version of this potato dumpling will have to do, but it's rumoured that ordinary mortals actually create their own -- if they have a magic kitchen to work in.

 

Put these two drawings (or parts of them) together and what do you get?  "Gnocchi with Honey."  Let's get cookin' –

 

Start adding a pinch of colour – not much is needed.

 

Push paint around to taste, and here it is – final version fresh from the honey shack:

 

 And if you've really missed the vibrant colours of autumn, here from the archives is "Cucurbit Immersive"(copyright 2021).

 

 

With the blink of an eye -- it's Harvest Season!

 

The frost is on the pumpkin – or at least it's been on the neighbourhood rooftops a few mornings; the Summer Camp "merch" has mostly been distributed; and the "Seven Views of Grouse Mountain" series is now installed to cover part of a patched-up basement wall.

 

Riding the bus one day, I was showered with a big bag of homegrown kale by a fellow rider.  It was the same week that my friend L. delivered Galiano Island apples and cherry tomatoes to my door, and….I couldn't resist.   I decided I'd use some of this abundance as props for a harvest-themed portrait in the manner of Arcimboldo.

 

When I first saw examples of his work, I thought he was an early 20^th-century surrealist.  But no. Although he was celebrated by artists like Salvador Dali, he was a 16^th century Italian Renaissance painter – and a court artist to boot.  His painting titled "Vertumnus" is a salute to both a Roman god and to the Holy Roman Emperor!  If you have the stomach for more politics, read here.

 

 

Okay – with some additions from the local grocery store, I splashed down my own version:--

 

Thinking of my cultured friends P and R, I at least had the grace not to try for Arcimboldo's "The Librarian"  -- although as retired specialized librarians, they just might find interesting the debate about the message of this painting.

 

In retrospect, I've wondered if Arcimboldo's weird vibes weren't responsible for the upheaval in my week – when my smoke/CO alarms went off in manic beeping and exclamations.  The Fire Department came and gave the all-clear, and the next day the alarm company replaced a defective unit – but I was a bit rattled.

 

Luckily this upset didn't interfere with a long-planned art tour north to Whistler, BC, for a fabulous exhibit of the works of Canadian artist Tom Thomson.  After that soothing (though exhilarating) experience, I decided to bring my week to a calm close with a small 8" x 10" study – not quite to Thomson's standards! – he made at least 150 in small size, leading in some cases, to his larger works.

 

Here's my little commemoration of a busy flock of white-crowned sparrows near West Van's Ambleside Beach where I waited for the tour group to convene.

 

At another gallery we visited on the Whistler trip, a bubbly artist named Jane Appleby showed us what real artists' "merch" looks like.  At the end of her talk, she gave each of us a pen with its small patterned swatch taken from one of her own paintings.