The installation at the Kitchen Garden’s supper in Hadley went really well. Caroline and Tim, the masterminds behind the event, created a beautiful atmosphere with festive lights and marvelous food that celebrated the magic of this fall season here in New England – with a Southern twist that reminded me of the food I grew up on in DC. It’s not everyday here in Central Massachusetts that you can walk out the door and sit down to velvety collards, savory corn bread, out-of-this world mac ‘n’ cheese – and spit roasted pig, but Sunday was such a day. For a parent of two little ones, where going out is rare, it was a joy. To have my paintings there as part of the atmosphere made it even better for me. I appreciated the beauty of the barn as a working, functional space that is about getting food to people (it is where the farm CSA pick up is…) and how for an evening it’s function shifted to a different mode of food delivery – where all of us could slow down, get to know each other and break (corn)bread with the people who so thoughtfully grow and deliver us our food. That feeling and gratitude I have for what they and other farmers/producers do is what inspired the paintings hanging on those walls for that evening. So in all, the Vegetable Portraits project has come full circle – or more aptly – from farm to fork.
Thanks to everyone who made that evening a success and for having my paintings be part of that evening.
