Winter Density Lettuce

Here's one from a couple months ago, Winter Density Lettuce:

I have not too much to say about this one. It apparently does well in heat as well as cold even with it's wintery name.

Wild Bergamot

This posting is for Liz who keeps asking me to post more. :) Here you go!

And here is what the SESE website says about this plant: 

A favorite of hummingbirds and bees. Flowers of varying shades of lavender may be added to salads. Use strongly fragrant dried leaves for tea and potpourris. Medicinal: Used by several Native American tribes as a carminative.

And in case you didn't know what a carminative was, (because I didn't), dictionary.com says it is:

a drug causing expulsion of gas from the stomach or bowel.

And in case you were wondering what that crazy looking bug is flying up to one of the flowers, it is a hummingbird moth. I was so surprised the first time I saw one of these. They move just like hummingbirds, quickly and then hovering, but are clearly not birds at all. 

Deer Tongue Lettuce

Here's is another illustration from a month or so ago. This one is of Deer Tongue

Lettuce is currently my favorite thing to paint. Although sometimes if it is really wrinkly the details can drive me nuts, I just think it always comes out looking really neat. I love the texture of the leaves and how, even though most lettuce is mostly green leaves, they are all so different.

Calabrese Green Sprouting Broccoli

Here is an illustration I did a little more than a month ago of Calabrese Green Sprouting Broccoli.

Does anyone else have trouble spelling broccoli every time? I had to check and see how to spell it because I always want to put two l's instead of two c's.
I don't normally think of broccoli as a particularly Italian thing, but Wikipedia would have me believe it so. It reads as follows:
"Broccoli was derived from cultivated leafy cole crops in the Northern Mediterranean in about the 6th century BCE. Since the Roman Empire, broccoli has been considered a uniquely valuable food among Italians. Broccoli was brought to England from Antwerp in the mid-18th century by Peter Scheemakers. Broccoli was first introduced to the United States by Italian immigrants but did not become widely known there until the 1920s."

Early Wonder Tall Top Beet

Here is a illustration I did a month or so ago of early wonder tall top beet. I really like the way this one turned out. As I was working on the beets and before I put the greens in it reminded me of some strange anatomy illustration of a bunch of bleeding hearts, which I think suits the beet. As Tom Robbins says they are the most passionate of vegetables. :)

Sweet Banana Peppers, AKA Long Sweet Hungarian

So here is the first veggie illustration I did after quite a break. It was a few weeks ago. I think the break was actually really good. It made me miss painting veggies and I became obsessed with detail again. It seems I am back to illustrating because it is interesting rather than to just get it done.
And soon I get to start working on next year's catalog cover! Hooray!

I'm Alive and the 2013 SESE Cover

It's been a long time and lots has happened and I am not going to write about it all. :) It is funny how when things are the most interesting I don't have time or energy to write about them and that it's only when things get a little more monotonous that I feel like posting or have much to post on here. So here is the beginning of me posting again. It will not be every day and I may not say as much about each painting or drawing as I said before, but there will be posts. :)
So here is something I worked on some time after our hitch hiking adventure, The 2013 Southern Exposure Catalog Cover. It was inspired by my past covers and also a wonderful children's book illustrator, Trina Schart Hyman.