How blessed I've been to have those sweet words uttered time and time again through the years! Grandmothers, mothers, sisters, and friends have all made me bowls full to the brim of love. As a child, I didn't necessarily appreciate the large chunks of tomato or the thin slimy mushrooms, but I knew someone had their hand in making me a meal with time, thought, and amazing herbs.
A while ago now, my sister was tweaking her next novel, "The Red Journal" (just launched this week), and commissioned me to paint inspirations based on some of the themes within it. SOUP was one that soaks through her novel. I'd never been asked to paint soup before, although on more than one occasion I had made myself homemade soup as a break from painting. The creative connection is not lost on me.
What is YOUR next bowl of soup going to be comprised of? Swirls of cool sour cream between hot gem-like beets? Creamy celeriac green spinach with a sprinkling of spicy red paprika? Please share your favourite work-of-soup with me!
While you think about which recipe to send or just cook up, let me share my thoughts on the literal "art of soup" - I sat down with my watercolours and inks and, dragging up memories of borscht and a cast iron soup pot, began my process. No two were alike...just like pots of soup. Some ended up being refreshingly light, others layered in gold-inked elegance.