at table - a recipe for memories

Apples at the Lippitt Park Farmer's Market

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A Recipe for Memories

1. Take a wooden carton filled with fresh red apples. (seen at the local farmer's market on Saturday)
2. Add the just completed visit from my sister which included a 4 day road trip to see family.
3. Finish with the news of the sudden passing of a friend.
4. Once all the emotions have settled - finish with the promise of remembrance.

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Apple Soup

It was so naive and innocent yet it is truly my first actual memory of food. It  was fresh, delicious, and it was made with love just for me. I do not recall the first time I had it but I do know that I asked my sister to make it for me again and again. I would sit there at the table, patiently waiting, while she prepared this heavenly treat for me.  Finally she would place the bowl carefully in front of me and then sit down next to me. She never made it for herself but she would stay with me and wait while I ate it. 

I remember how delicious it was, the sweet and the tart flavors mixed in every spoonful, the variety of colors in each bowl, how cool and refreshing it was. 

I loved this time together - simple, unconditional, watchful, and caring. Was it the soup I really requested over and over and remember so well? 

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Midnight on a Summer Night

It was an afternoon BBQ with extended family at the start of our road trip. A beautiful summer day sitting around the pool enjoying family and seeing children all grown up. As always, the food was outstanding. Hot sausages and steak tips on the grill, salads, eggplant parmigiana - more food than was necessary but somehow, over the hours, we consumed it all. Table hopping with each course so that we were all sure to get time with everyone - to catch up and reminisce. As the day came to a close one by one everyone left to attend to families or other events but four of us remained sitting outside allowing the sun to set beyond us and the crystal clear night to envelop us.

My sister, our 83 year old aunt, our cousin, and myself sat under the stars till midnight sipping wine and beers. Voices in the dark sharing stories, sharing lives - none of it important yet all of it important. 

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Dinner in a Garden in the Country

The garden behind the little rented cottage was wild with flowers, bees, butterflies and the rich pastiche of summer sounds and scents. My husband and I had driven out to western MA for dinner with friends. We had not seen them in over a year so there was much to catch up on. The four of us sat in Adirondack chairs so comfortable in each other's company - the conversation bouncing between the present, the past, and plans for the future.  Dinner was simple - grilled salmon and vegetables. Well after dark the four of us gave up on the garden and went inside to eat berries for dessert. And then our goodbyes and a plan to get together next at our new house in September.

It is the conversation, the setting sun on his relaxed face, his crisp windowpane check shirt, his laughter and the comfort of our friendship that I will forever remember.

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At table...... Yes, it is the food that might beckon us there but it is something else that keeps us there long after the food is gone and the dishes are cleared. It is then when memories are made and friendships are cemented. 

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Apple Soup

1 - 2 ripe apples (variety dependent on the season)

Cold water

1. Wash apples. Core and dice into 1/2" cubes. 
2. Place in bowl. Add cold water - enough so that the apples are "swimming" and not over crowded. 
3. Sit back, take the time, converse and make a memory.

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in the studio - patterns in a city unknown

"Patterns in a City Unknown"

mixed media collage on paper

4 1/2” x 6 1/2”

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I have been working on a number of pieces about, in, and surrounded by city elements. This piece came together relatively quickly. I had been wanting to include 2 figures in a collage - connected, yet separate and they seemed to come together in this mash up of cities.

I have not been in the studio for the past 2 weeks - visitors and road trips filling up my days, yet the weeks have been filled with inspiration and some new and interesting material findings. While showing off my new neighborhood I discovered an old bookstore and found 2 amazingly beautiful and interestingly colored maps. Then while on the Cape I was directed to a few antique stores and there I found some great antique maps - Lisbon, Dublin, Germany - all of them with terrific colors - missing so much from more current maps. 

Newer maps tend to be practically mono-color..... is it the cost of the ink?

Come mid-week I'm really looking forward to working with some of the new map finds and getting the chance to re-look at some of the works in progress. Eyes rested it will seem like seeing them anew.

Time off can be good.

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in the studio - an august rhythm

“Amsterdam by air and on foot”

mixed media collage on paper

4 1/2” x 6 1/2”

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“In a corner magnetic north”

mixed media collage on paper

6 1/2 ” x 6 1/2 ”

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Two new pieces that I just completed in the last few days. I began them both within a day or so of each other - both very different in what I was trying to achieve and for the restrictions, or lack of, that I established in the process of their creation. 

As of late I have found that I enjoy having a number of different pieces going at the same time, each in a different stage of development. It gives me the opportunity to look at each piece with a different set of eyes and I can choose which to work on by what mood I am in, what I feel like tackling that day. I like that - it feels less constrained and allows me to be more open to serendipity.

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Beginning to find a rhythm to my days and weeks - I need that. I am spending a few hours every day in the studio - sometimes fully productive and sometimes not but all good and worthwhile time spent. Lots of exploring, trying, failing, and learning! Original ideas sometimes pan out exactly as planned and others take all together different routes and end up somewhere new and interesting. Maybe that’s why I love to work with maps as my base ..... each takes me on a journey. 

in the garden - life and death

I found the robin’s egg mid June lying beneath one of the oak trees in the yard  - fragile and smooth it was almost stepped on by a red sneaker and then just as quickly averted being a tasty treat for a dog. 

I held the egg close.

I wondered if the mother had pushed it out - knowing possibly that the egg was not fertilized? Could it have been by dropped a squirrel racing home with dinner? Or simply the winds of the nite blowing it out. 

No matter..... no longer in the nest it will never hatch.

We have seen 2 broods of our robins since the egg finding. The ones that made it.

When allowed to venture out of the nest, the hatchlings scurry after their parents -mouths squakling and open for food. They are well protected and cared for.

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Hiding in the garden lilies sat a tiny sparrow making noise all morning. I watched as it stumbled, tried to fly, and then retreated again into hiding. It was clearly in distress. Other sparrows lighted on the fence and the tree above him. They answered each of his calls.

The morning was filled with an operatic duet of suffering and hope.

The protecting birds stayed with him all morning. They scared away the nosy squirrels, and they dive bombed the neighborhood cat - both of whom saw this as a great opportunity. The birds took care of their own.

By early afternoon it was quiet and I went out to the garden to bury the sparrow.

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The robin’s egg sits by the window looking out over the side garden. Still smooth, still perfectly blue.