parisian portraits

I missed the Lucian Freud exhibit unfortunately,because I love his art of the portrait. It is raw, it is emotionally powerful.
But I had fun working my fingers on my phone, trying to convey a style to my faces.

stop over

Then it was off to Chicago where I had to work with all kinds of citrus. The beautiful colors of the fruits and the scents from zests were enough to make all of us happy.

In a very happy coincidence I got to meet one of my favorite photographer/artist Jenifer Altman of Nectar and light. It was a delightful moment, we exchanged tips on iphone photos applications, and after downloading her suggestion, I tried to shoot a couple of images:On my last evening, I sat at a sushi bar for a tidbit of dinner, and the next morning at the airport while waiting for my flight HOME.

first stop

After a very long, cold, dark, grey, wet, and windy winter, Paris does turn into magic when spring appears. The famous hedonists and indolent come out of hiding , the colors pop under a pretty sky, cold drinks are ordered at terraces , the parks are filled with sun and leisure seekers, the bikes for rent are taken up to zigzag through a more relaxed traffic and new produce appear at the local open air market.

I had to buy some of these morels, when they look so big and so fresh.I sauteed them sliced in butter with shallots and chives, and served them mixed with fresh pasta, topped with grated Comte ( a type of gruyere from France): phenomenal and so simple....
This is a view of the park that I had to cross to go to the market.It is also the park where I spent my childhood afternoons, first at the sand box, between the two lawns and then, on the paved paths with my scooter or roller blades.When I was a child, the lawns were fenced up and forbidden, now, teenagers from a nearby high school have made them their lunch time pique nique area, or fathers play ball with their children.There is more freedom now, and that is good.

Here are a couple of snapshots;
One is at the Tuileries gardens, next to the Louvre, where parisians strolled and soaked the sun on the first sunny and warm week end.The other made me smile and I hope it will make you smile too.

easter pastels

I am squeezing another post before taking off for Paris tomorrow.

The first time I cut into a chiogga beet some years ago, it was a whaooo moment.What is that wild looking vegetable doing to my Berkeley tie dye memories ?We love beets here,and we love the mild chioggas.The psychedelic veggie unfortunately goes pale when cooked, so I favored it raw, cut super thin, topping a green salad with a yogurt,cumin, dill based vinaigrette.

mellow yellow

Colors are a big guides in my inspiration, even though it is the muteness of greys, whites and blacks that I favor in my art. But when you work with food, you have to deal with colors :the intensity, the freshness, the appetite appeal, the composition on the plate, it is a lot about colors.

I have noticed a lot of yellows last week end as I ambled through stores aisles in search of Ed Hardy streetware clothing, a request from someone in Paris that I will see next week.

It is mostly of the daffodil tone, eye popping and springlike. I have to admit that I do not owned one thing that bright ( oh no: I have a bright yellow mexican lime squeezer!), but if you look hard, there might be a pale butter yellow top somewhere.

Yellow in food has a visual richness , but being a cool color, it evokes freshness too.

rich, fresh,fun.... Donovan knew it back then.....

bounty

It is in the richness of colors, and the never ending flavors that boggles my mind and taste buds.It is the diversity of birdsongs that starts as soon as the first inkling of daylight breaks that i enjoy, it is in the range of miracles that I witness daily:
the bouquet of tie dye leaves holding the muddy beet right after it was pulled from the ground:

It is in the orange colors of mandarins and turmeric for an indian food shoot:

It is the delight in sharing a late afternoon moment on a sun splashed deck for tea with J, or in a light filled room with C.

pink love

On a overcast day like today, it is nice to travel South, where my heart sits quietly, waiting for my return.It is a world of bright colors,extremes, and passion. a world of delicious food, simple often but lusty and rich.
coconut mango shrimp ceviche, grilled fish tacos and a cactus pear soda will brighten any day. I swear !
photos by W. Nordeck

transition

That butternut squash was taking too much space in the crisper for too long. I admit,It is always good to have on hand, for cubing with parsley and garlic as a side dish, for a warming gratin at the end of the week or for that luscious nutty tasting soup that we all love:make it asian with ginger and coconut milk, make it french with creme fraiche, make it spanish with smoked paprika, any wihich way, it is always delicious. But it had to come to an end after all, and make space for the asparagus and strawberries.
without forgetting the tulips:



It is spring , my friends, glorious and vivid, with flowers everywhere, noisy (in a good way) birds,busy squirrels.

Today, I drove to an idyllic valley, south of San francisco, to work in a converted barn. This was a capture of the moment when I stepped outside:

away

I have been absent from here for sometime, traveling to the Midwest for work. I am starting to know my way around Chicago, the girlhood city of my paternal grandmother.Crossing the river at Michigan avenue, where some 19th century building still stand,among skyscrapers, I try to imagine that her eyes rested on those a little bit like mine did, up to the top, where the fog could have suspended too.
On my week end off, i visited a couple of museums.The small but wonderful Museum of Contemporary art where a room installation of William Kentridge's movies filled me with astonished wonder. His world is magical,nostalgic., engrossing and utterly different.

He puts himself in situations of creativity where artistic inspiration comes and goes, evanescent and perplexing. often using some techniques of stop animation.
I also visited the Art Institute, making a tour of the impresionnists rooms, where I could stop in front of many Degas and wonder how he could have been so bold all the way back then. There is also a wonderful new addition, a modern wing ,white and light filled where I came upon canvases by Marlene Dumas, that I love, surprisingly another South African like Kendridge.

For lunch I indulged at Terzo Piano, the new restaurant there, where the appetizer was a show stopper presentation of smokefish, cracker and olives.The taste was less impressive, unfortunately.The room is beautiful though, and in a sea of white, I found my way out to even more artful treats.

bean bag

As I was pulling the snap peas out of their meshy grave, they resisted and got stuck in suspension.
It was like an arte povera moment, where simple ingredients play their role in creating a moment of artistic grace.