You may have already read that the reason I began this website was because my daughter asked for my favourite recipes. Since then, everything has grown – the site, my daughter’s cooking repertoire, the scale of the project! I started…
ekphrastic poetry
Blue and Green Bottles and Oranges – A Poem
The Yale Center for British Art writes that the artist here, Spencer Gore, was influenced by Paul Cézanne and André Derain in using “bright, undiluted colour and seemingly prosaic subject matter“. I was stuck in particular by the blue and…
Morning, Noon, Night – A Poem
The idealised English cottage scenes in Morning, Noon and Night were painted the same year that saw the end of the French Revolution (1789-99), not that long after the American Revolution (1763-83). Britain was at war with France (1793-1815); in…
Mr. and Mrs. Hill – A Poem
At first glance, all I saw in this painting was a couple preparing to receive guests for tea. But there’s so much more to Mr. and Mrs. Hill! Here’s a great video from the Yale Center for British Art which…
Brothers – A Poem
Susan C. Waters was not just a portrait artist, who also painted animals and still lifes, but a woman who supported herself and her husband with her paintings, and an animal activist and suffragette. More on the artist, and her…
Woman and Dog at Table – A Poem
I love dogs, and there was something about the expression in this dog’s face in Woman and Dog at Table that I recognised well. As for the painting, it, too, appears to be a real scene from artist Pierre Bonnard’s…
Woman Walking in an Exotic Forest – A Poem
In Woman Walking in an Exotic Forest, Henri Rousseau takes a woman, better suited for promenading in Parisian parks, and places her tropically, and absurdly, out of her element. “Gazing at the viewer with a look of vague surprise, the…
Bowl of Fruit c.1830 – A Poem
There is a performative aspect to this painting. The curtains remind me of theatre curtains, the fruit is oversized, and the dual plates and knives are carefully positioned downstage. But the kitchens of the 19th century were not performative. Tucked…
Orange – A Poem
Granddaughter of Isaac Newton, Amanda Almira Newton contributed nearly one-sixth of all the 7,600 archived botanical illustrations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Her watercolour work for the Department from 1896-1928 documented an expanding industry at a time when photography…
Two Pears on a Tabletop – A Poem
Known for his “radiant sunlight” and “filmy atmosphere”, Sanford Robinson Gifford’s style as a master landscaper was well established by the 1860s. Around the time he was painting Two Pears, he was chosen as one of two artists (the other…
Pub Bench – A Poem
The inspiration for this simple poem came not just from this John Frederick Peto painting, but from a photo I took a while ago (see below). It’s a warm night. I’m on holiday. I’m inside a city pub having a…
The Master Herbalist – A Poem
Well, this one was a wild ride, much like the famous Banquet for Rousseau itself. More of Rousseau’s works here. More on the outrageous party can be found here. Apollinaire’s full poetic tribute to Rousseau can be found here. A…
