I find it impossible to keep cyclamen as a houseplant. But to my delight in this garden we have a carpet of cyclamen under the trees and bushes; a wash of pinks from almost white to lilac.
For some reason I found these pretty little flowers difficult to draw. They look delicate, but have strong shapes to the petals. In fact they remind me of the old-fashioned nun’s wimples – the ones with the ‘wings’. From a distance they could be a mass of tiny butterflies.
The cyclamen reminds me again of how some of our most delicate-looking flowers are actually the most hardy, flowering through the winter and coping with frost and snow.
I love nuts. Not salted, not peeled, not mixed with dried fruit. Just shelled.
Nuts, nutritionally, are powerhouses of healthy fats, protein and minerals and a small handful is said to be a healthy daily snack.
They are also delicious – enjoyable for their crunch as much as their flavour.
Nuts are also fun to draw. Walnuts are so knobbly, almonds have little delicate lines on the skin and the hazelnuts are interesting for their not-quite-round shapes, and the patterns that form where pieces of skin have rubbed away.
According to Wikipedia ‘a nut is a fruit… in general usage …a wide variety of…seeds are called nuts’. I think I’ll stick to drawing – and eating.
I don’t think I’m alone in enjoying watching flowers fade. Cut tulips, in particular, turn into wonderful structural shapes as they die.
These hydrangeas are not changing shape – but they are changing colour. Their youthful pink of earlier in the summer seems garish in the memory besides the subtle, fading pink they now display. The heads are still flowering on the bush and are not yet dried to brown as they will be later in the year, but are in a between stage, gently losing their colour – and, to my eye at least, growing in beauty.
I love the combination of purple and green, so these globe artichokes on the market stall immediately caught my attention. They appeared freshly cut, the ‘leaves’ (technically bracts) a wonderful rich purple, a little green showing between, and a line of orange/gold outlining each.
According to the RHS website, the globe artichoke is in fact the edible flower bud of a cultivated thistle. This explains the ‘choke’. For me the taste of the artichoke is as much of a treat as its appearance, and worth the fiddle of removing the choke. Not everyone would agree however. Caravaggio is reputed to have attacked a waiter who had presented him with a plate of artichokes!
Much as I like drawing in a single coloured ink, it was the beautiful hues of this variety of artichoke which initially drew me to them, so it was time to get out the coloured pencils.
A few days on, the gold on the edges of the leaves is fading and the colour is not quite as rich. Time to turn them into a delicious supper!
The coconut is an amazing fruit. In England, the main delight of a whole coconut is usually the delight of winning, as it is often the prize at the village fete, rather than the coconut itself.
In India, the coconut provides a delightful drink. Coconuts are offered for sale by the side of the road. A hole is made through one of the ‘eyes’ so that the refreshing liquid can be drunk by inserting a straw. If you then return the husk, the vendor will split it in two with a machete so that you can enjoy the white flesh within. The whole colourful and precarious-looking ceremony adds to the delight – and the setting no doubt makes the coconut seem all the more delicious.
Apart from coconut water, milk, cream and oil, the shell is also very valuable.The coconut is a source of coir, often used nowadays for eco products such as pot scourers in addition to the familiar doormats.
The name ‘coconut’ comes from the Old Portuguese, meaning head or skull.
Avocados are one of my favourite fruits. Mashed with a little olive oil, a few chilli flakes and some seasoning and served on toast, they certainly rival scrambled eggs for me.
Although we eat avocado as a vegetable, my local shop is correct in listing it on the till under ‘fruit’ (even though that confuses some of the volunteer staff trying to put it through the system). A single avocado is in fact botanically a berry.
Avocados, now ubiquitous in the UK, were not part of my childhood fare. Apparently Marks and Spencer first sold ‘avocado pears’ in 1968, but they were not a success. My initial memory of avocados is of seeing them served solely as a starter – half an avocado (often unripe) with mayonnaise or oil in the depression left by the stone.
Move on a few decades and avocados are now part of many people’s regular diets, are regarded as a superfood, and are even used as an ingredient in vegan cakes.
For all that I eat lots of avocados, I hadn’t really studied them until I came to do this drawing. There are actually patterns in the bumps on the skin. Some of the bumps are quite raised, while other patches of the skin are smoother.
Next time you pick up an avocado, turn it in the light and enjoy the patterns and texture of the skin for a moment before you pick up the knife.
After a miserable July, we finally have some sunshine here in the UK. A warm evening calls for a salad, with, if we are lucky, some flavourful tomatoes. And tomatoes just cry out for basil.
The combination of tomatoes and basil is not just a feast for the tastebuds, but also for the eye as the flecks of green enliven the complementary red of the tomatoes.
The scent of the basil is almost more of a delight than the flavour. Just brushing a leaf releases the wonderful perfume.
Drawing this sprig, I realise I had never noticed before that the lower edges of the leaves are gently serrated. The centre of the leaves is high and the edges curl under, which is perhaps why I hadn’t previously noticed the edges.
According to the website patientgardener.co.uk basil and tomatoes grow well together, as they both like the same conditions (warm, wet, almost tropical).
The cultivation of basil is something else to thank the Romans for. But it wasn’t until much later that tomatoes reached Italy from the new world, and the now classic pairing began.
Cosmos is such a pretty summer flower, suggesting cottage gardens.
They are members of the daisy family, which doesn’t surprise me at all, although I have only just read that the daisy family is the largest plant family in the world.
I tend to think of cosmos as pink, but the ones in my jar are white.
Apparently the name ‘cosmos’ comes from the Greek and means ‘harmony and order’. Harmony, yes, but I’m not so sure about order. The feathery leaves curl in different directions, and remind me of a curl of hair that won’t be tamed. And the flower stalks bend and twist rather than standing rigidly tall.
This bunch look quite happy in the glass jar rather than an elegant vase, and quite at home on my disordered table. That’s possibly why I like them so much.
Champagne has always had the name for the drink of celebration. Clever marketing and a strict use of the name has lead to its exclusivity. But as a less expensive alternative, Italian prosecco within the last 15 years or so has shown up more and more as an alternative to Spanish cava. Now prosecco outsells both cava and champagne.
According to the website Forbes.com, there is an interesting story behind this. With the growth in sales of sparkling wine from the millennium onwards, possibly helped a little by Paris Hilton launching her ‘rich prosecco’ in 2006, many wine producers in various countries started to produce ‘prosecco’.
The Italians saw what was happening and wanted to protect the name, but, unlike champagne, prosecco was the name of the grape used to make the wine, not the region where it was produced, and while wine regions can be protected, grapes can not.
The solution? Firstly, change the name of the grape (to glera). Secondly, there happened to be a small village named Prosecco. No matter that the village has nothing to do with the sparkling wine – or any other wine – it was conveniently located in the Veneto region. The area around it became a geographic region called Prosecco, and a DOC Prosecco was created (the equivalent of the French appellation status).
So now the name ‘Prosecco’ is protected (although the Australians continue to make their version under that name).
Who knew there would be a tale of ingenuity and protectionism in this post!
The glass was fun to draw – but enough drawing, research and writing – it’s time to sample. Cheers!
What could be nicer than an hour or so catching up with a friend? Especially over a coffee.
Talking things over usually helps us put them in perspective.
Taking time out of the day to meet a friend seems such a simple and natural thing to do – but somehow we appreciate it even more after the isolation of the Covid years.
When I was a child, it was rare to see a café in England with tables and chairs outside. Happily our greater familiarity with other countries – and possibly warmer summers – mean many cafés now have outdoor seating. Being outside on a nice day definitely seems to increase the pleasure!
