No Thyme

Description

Open Edition Reproduction

Herb Trilogy No3.  The little nibbles from the ever present grass hoppers and snails and bright young leaves asking to be tasted are all details you can discover if you look closely. 

This was the first in a series of three herb oil paintings but the last to be finished.  All the herbs were grown in my cook's garden, which was sadly lacking thyme…

Bowls of fruit just don't do it for me, but aromatic herbs are personally most appealing – not only to pick and use in cooking, but the other senses they arouse – smell and touch.  The range of greens between varieties and the variation within a single leaf fascinates me.  The little nibbles from the ever present grass hoppers and snails and bright young leaves asking to be tasted are all details you can discover if you look closely.  

The piquant Vietnamese mint grows wild.  The oregano forms a dense, aromatic carpet interspersed with clumps of parsley. The lemon verbena is hidden in a pot and forgotten in the front garden.  The sage lives in my cook's garden hidden behind and guarded by a young finger lime tree. Mint grows wild until I dig it up, then forgive it and save some, capturing it in a pot.  The lemongrass grows in 6 foot high clumps and sets off an allergic skin reaction when I try to tame it. The chillies are used sparingly, seeds and all, bright crimson pops of colour in the garden and cooking. There are always herbs scattered throughout my garden, some neglected, some loved.  The random sprigs of herbs twisted together reflect my daily harvest.

The shadows are just as important as the herbs in this work, with multiple light sources and refraction of light playing around the edges.

This was originally part of the Half Dozen Group of Artists ""Lambert Wall"" featured in the annual HDGA Exhibition in 2022.  The theme was ""Still Life"" and artists from the group submit an artwork as their take on that year's subject, all at the same size canvas, then massed together to form an art wall.  I nearly missed the deadline for delivery for the exhibition, but I'm so glad I took the time to finish this work afterwards.  It now has the same crispness and detail as the other two in the series."