I am Curious (Yellow Ochre)

Produce porn from Sweden (of course). Photos are from the market in Stockholm, a farm on the island of Gotland, and various points along the rest of the food chain.

It’s peak season for chanterelles and berries!

On Gotland, wild strawberries, and an egg run to the local farm.

A hand-drawn sign for char.

These prepared salads were spotted in a mall.

A dramatic backdrop for flowering dill.

This salad tasted as perfect as it looked.

No, I was not visiting Martha. This was the real deal. On Gotland, our friend Karin prepared strawberry/yogurt smoothies with mint garnish every morning, and served raspberry muffins for a fika in the afternoon.

Cherry Time

Cherries, 1879
Jules-Émile Saintin

Cherry-themed window (2) at Lisa Perry on Madison Ave. features the Jeff Koons collection.

This chart and explanation about cherry sizing appears on the site of Stemilt Growers .

Row is the industry measurement used when sizing cherries. This term dates back to when cherry shippers packed the top layer of a box of cherries in neat rows. The number of cherries that fit in each row determined the size the cherries. For instance, if 10 cherries fit in a row, those cherries would be called 10 row.

Cherries continue to be classified in row sizes today. However, they are no longer placed in rows, but rather automatically sized during packing.As a guide, the smaller the row number, the larger the cherry will be. 

Well, if you absolutely must have your cherries in rows (and we know who you are), you can visit C.J. Olson Cherries.

Cherry-crate label 

Happy Summer!

Luis Meléndez Still Lifes

‘Tis the season to eat berries! It’s probably my single favorite thing about summer—the produce—especially fruit. This year I find myself generally smitten with cherries, but my passion extends over many species. Last week I swooned over some raspberries I had the pleasure of picking right off the vine. And nothing compares to watermelon in humidity like this.

In wanting to pay homage to the delectable flesh of summer, I thought of the sumptuous still lifes by 18th century Spanish painter Luis Meléndez, whose work was the subject of an exhibit last summer at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

As a student at the Royal Academy of Arts in Madrid, the talented Luis aspired to become a royal portrait painter. However, he and his father (who taught at the academy) clashed with the administration and were both expelled. Unsuccessful in petitioning the court for a position, he was relegated to painting still lifes and died in poverty.

Fast forward to a google image-search and yet another Luis Meléndez having difficulties with the court. Nestled among the ripe tomatoes and voluptuous melons, is a wanted poster by the New Bedford Police Department for our painter’s namesake. He failed to appear in court on the last day of his trial, which resulted in a conviction for cocaine trafficking. He faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in a state prison.

If anyone has information on Mr. Meléndez’s location or sees him, they are urged to either call 911, call New Bedford Police’s Violent Crime Tip Line at 508-961-4584 or the State Police Unit assigned to the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office at 508-993-2016.

The public should not attempt to apprehend or subdue Mr. Melendez on their own.

The notice is dated 2007, with no status update. I can only hope that he is now safely behind bars, and has taken up painting.

I strongly urge you to visit the Prado Museum site to see the incredible detail of the images when enlarged (below).








Source

To see other paintings in the Prado collection, go to the Prado on-line gallery search and enter Luis Meléndez.