In between time

Mercury glass ball with red ribbon, oil on card, 5 1/2" x 7 1/2"

We're in that lull, the in between time, the almost end, almost beginning.  Something new just around the corner...

detail

They dined on quince...

Two paintings of quinces and pears: 

Quinces and pears in glass bowl, oil and metallic leaf on panel, 9" x 12", 2011

Quinces and pears in ceramic bowl, oil and distressed metallic leaf on panel, 10" x 10"

I've written about my love of quinces before and so I include my little treatise on this mysterious, astringent, aromatic fruit below:

Smell and memory are linked so closely that I can’t be sure how much my initial experience of this particular aroma has coloured my current perception, but I’m sure I can’t be alone in thinking this must be one of the most delicious scents anywhere.

Our first experience of it was in France. It was a moody September day just outside of Moustiers-Sainte Marie in Provence. As we drove the narrow road up a mountainside to our destination for that evening, the rain began to pour down. Through a miracle of good luck, we found our chateau, which emerged all rosy stucco and pale blue shutters at the end of a winding lane through a chestnut wood. The rain had stopped and afternoon sun was slanting through tree branches, raising a slight mist and turning everything to gold. Like so many French chateaux now being rented out by ambitious new owners to tourists, this one had fallen from its former glory, but its air of grandeur remained intact. We were early and since no one came to greet us when we called, we walked through the heavy open doors onto a worn limestone floor and then into a high ceilinged dark paneled room with an imposing stone mantle and game trophies crowding the walls. At one end of the room was a doorway lit by the sun which we headed towards almost automatically. There in a rustic back kitchen, glowing in the gorgeous late day sunshine, was a bounty of golden fruits and the most pervasive and wonderful smell.

It was un coup de foudre. The fruits were quinces. I was in love. 
I didn’t think the name, which sounded like a description of a pained expression, did justice to this fruit of the heavenly aroma, but then I discovered the inevitable downside to the seemingly perfect fruit: quinces, which look and smell like an otherworldly combination of apple and pear with a little extra je ne sais quoi, are too astringent and grainy to eat raw.
I’ve since poached quinces and strained them into gorgeous clear red jelly—their ivory flesh turns russet when cooked—but I love them best in a bowl, looking like slightly lumpy golden orbs and sending their lovely scent into every corner of my house. Sometimes, in the grocery store, I find quince imported from the middle east or asia, but the variety seems different, the fragrance not so intense. These ones came from the farmer’s market where two young girls told me they had climbed the tall quince tree in their backyard to pick them by hand the day before. Has anyone else fallen for a quince?. 

Two and three quarter figs

The proper way to eat a fig, in society..., 9" x 12", oil on gessoed panel

Underwriting the painting is an excerpt of an ostensibly instructional poem by D.H. Lawrence called, simply, "Figs".  It begins: "The proper way to eat a fig, in society,"...

detail

Flannery

This painting is hommage to a lovely little cat named Flannery.  She was a longtime companion to a good friend of mine.  Unlike many pets whose unique relationships with their human companions remain private and sometimes incomprehensible to the outside world (I speak from experience) Flannery was beloved by everyone who knew her.  She will be missed.

Flannery, oil on panel 8" x 10",  2011

Hex, this painting is my birthday gift to you.  Surprise!

If it's dry, I'll put it in your hands on Sunday.