Artnotes: Getting Started
The best way to write is just to start writing. It’s that way for lots of stuff, I
think. Yesterday we painted with four
students and their teacher in the Luxembourg Gardens. It took effort to pick the scene and get started. First attempts weren’t perfect, but as we
pressed on, we produced some wonderful paintings.
Younger people have no hang-ups about not painting what they
see. One girl asked, “could I just paint
the subway?” Great idea, I told her. People passing by wondered just how she
could be seeing that metro car in the Luxembourg Gardens. That was part of the art piece, too.
Whenever I haven’t done something for a while, it takes me a
long time to get going. Even with
cooking, it can be that way. We had two
sets of guests this short week, which started for us in Paris on
Wednesday. One of my Thursday guests was
a chef, which is always a little intimidating. I made a mustard and grapefruit
sauce for the duck that cleared one’s sinuses.
We had rousing conversation – from
art materials to emergency remedies at sea.
Later he described my meal as “dimensional”,
which I took as a compliment. It is not just the food, but the fun at the table
that makes everything right.
On Wednesday morning, we drove home from our wonderful two
day sojourn at the Baie de la Somme.
While we were there, I saw so many birds – following fish from the sea
to the river. The Bay of the Somme is
famous for migrating birds and huge sections of the land are set aside for
preservation. It wasn’t unusual to see
hundreds of birds in the sky. Our room in
Saint Valery sur Somme looked out on the river, where the tide was significant
each day. Birds would ride the incoming
or outgoing current, rushing along.
Others scooped out fish, whenever the occasion arose.
This put me in the mind of river fish, fresh water fish,
something I rarely see in the market. So
for our guests on Friday night, I selected two “Fera”, deep water lake fish
found only in the lakes on the French/Swiss border. We had scallops as a starter (in a blue
cheese and whiskey (for want of bourbon) sauce), followed by this white fish
which I poached in a white wine and served with roasted potatoes and leeks. My cousin’s daughter and her friend came over
– both young and brave with ideas about many things. Good eaters.
She (my second cousin) is such a confident person, I sometimes feel she
is more grown up that me. It was lots of
fun.
Little by little spring breaks. Trees in the park sport small, pale green
leaves. The three of us are exhausted
today, from fun, work and food, and I lie around writing, eventually, and
sending out artnotes.
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