Bountiful One

It’s November which means it’s time to enjoy the Bountiful One. What in the world do I mean by Bountiful One? I am speaking of the colorful Persimmon. The native version of this plant is the Diospyros Virginiana and shazam, I would love to have one of these trees in our backyard. However, there are several problems with that idea that I will share shortly. Before I get ahead of myself, I will welcome new readers to this blog and post by sharing the purpose of each here.

Favorite Things

In early 2020, I pledged to paint a painting each week and blog about it. The name of this weekly series of paintings is Favorite Things. Why? Well, because I choose objects, typically food, that I love to eat. But, I paint it first and then, if it’s still edible, I’ll eat it! This means each week I write about a painting and the process. You are welcome to follow along as I share the ups and downs of this studio and painting life I lead. To do so, simply sign up here. You’ll receive a lively and colorful blog post each week and get a first look at my latest painting or drawing. Sometimes I’ll share a painting by a contemporary artist or an artist in history, too. Let’s move onward to this week’s paintings, shall we?

Abundant Persimmon

There are so many things I love about the Persimmon and I’ll share them here. I will also describe the challenges of having one in our yard and some of this fruit’s quirks. This is the perfect time of year to enjoy a Persimmon. They start to ripen in the fall but aren’t really edible until…well…now! Confession I haven’t eaten one yet. Have you? I would love to be able to grow them in our backyard.

But, I now know that they require two trees; one with male and the other with female fruit. And, these trees typically take 15 years to bear fruit. Hmmm…tick tock tick tock! Not sure I have the patience to wait around for that to happen. Nor do I think I have room in our backyard. Ah well, I will have to come up with other plans to attract some of my favorite birds who love fruit bearing trees.

Painting Persimmon

Luckily, the local coop here had all the Persimmon I could ever want for the taking. No tree required! I painted the single Persimmon first. Then, I got two more and painted this second painting of three Persimmons. I like to paint an object at least two or three times to become familiar with it’s shape and character.

Here’s the second painting I did of three Persimmons this week. It’s entitled Bountiful Three.

As I painted each of these paintings, I wondered why I am so drawn to them. I did a little bit of reading and research and decided they remind me of the big colorful Christmas bulbs we use to decorate our tree.

Persimmon in Art History

I also did a quick search of Persimmon in paintings. Ooh la la there are some beautiful Japanese paintings of this fruit. Here’s my favorite painting entitled “Persimmon Tree” by Sakai Hōitsu in 1816.

Oh my I love the simple elegance of this painting! It’s actually quite large;over 6 feet by 6 feet. I wonder what you think of it? Sakai Hōitsu painted this during an era known as Rinpa. He is considered quite innovative because his paintings focused much more on natural settings rather than historical references. I will continue to read and share about this wonderful era in future posts.

2020 Studio Sale

Before I sign off I wanted to let you know that I’m preparing a studio sale just in time for the Holidays. I will share more details next week. To get the early scoop on this sale, sign up here. Here’s a sneak peak of some (eek 2 shown here are already sold!) of this year’s paintings that will be available.

And, I will be offering an extra discount to those of you who are already collector’s so stay tuned!

Bountiful and Grateful

I am grateful to each and everyone of you who read this blog. I hope you enjoy the visual treats I provide here. Please know that especially in these challenging times, I hope you surround yourself with comfort and beauty. Having a one of a kind painting might be one way to help you do that.

Please share what you are grateful for in the comments below and Happy Thanksgiving.