The Textile Cuisine

Here is my newest textile work with a cooking theme. I finished it some months earlier but much to my surprise I had to revisit it and make some changes. The idea came from an older piece where I visualized the beginning of spring as a big pot boiling with first blooms. "Summer cooking" was made in the summer and I thought it was done although it looked differently from what you see now. I liked it and the response from viewers was great but it dawned on me that people see something different from what I wanted to show. At first it didn't bother me (everything in the eye of beholder of course) but finally I decided to give it another try. Long, autumnal evenings came handy for adding more embroidery stitches here and there. The whole piece remains the same but the small additions make the difference. The sun got some new golden touches too: And the blue leaves appeared: Now you can compare both versions yourself. Hope you prefer "after" th...

The name of cauliflower comes from Italian "cavolfiore" which means "cabbage flower"(and this comes from Latin caulis - cabbage and flos - flower). In Polish "kalafior" we don't see neither cabbage or flower but at least it sounds great. And the fresh white colour of the first cauliflowers really adds sparkle to the veggies stalls. Do you remember my "Green market" (it is HERE )? Personally I love the taste of cauliflowers but I also find their interesting shape inspirational. Last year it was used in many forms. Ever seen "Cauliflower tree": And you may remember fermented cauliflower I presented here some posts ago ( HERE ): It was also my role model for Medieval initial "C": This year I decided to focus on the head of this white and edible flower: And I saw it as a big jewel: What will be next?

So the raspberries aren't that shining but they seem rather strong and powerful (and a bit patriotic considering these are the colors of Polish flag). Maliny okazały się nie być zbyt świecące, raczej intensywnie czerwone (i zaskakująco patriotyczne). Another kitchen landscape completed. And I thought it is a good occasion to reveal some details of the whole concept. As you know, I take the pictures of actual foods/veggies and I show them along the textile works. For example, the picture of blueberries and blackberries looked like this: Kolejny pejzaż kuchenny do kolekcji. Pomyślałam sobie, że to dobra okazja do objaśnienia całej koncepcji. Jak zauważyliście, uszyte smakołyki pokazuję zazwyczaj w towarzystwie zdjęć, na których widać prawdziwe owoce czy warzywa. Na przykład moje jagody i jeżyny wyglądały tak: Sometimes I make the artwork exactly the same as picture, sometimes differently. What I find interesting is the fact that the first is the kitchen "scene"...

I'm afraid that I totally neglected my kitchen this summer. I mean textile kitchen of course. But I missed it terribly and collected some yummy ideas to stitch and... this "Summer breakfast" is the only kitchen related piece I managed to complete. Wygląda na to, że tego lata zupełnie zlekceważyłam tematy kuchenne. W sensie szycia oczywiście. Bardzo się za nimi stęskniłam i już mam zgromadzone mnóstwo nowych, apetycznych pomysłów i... jak na razie uszyłam tylko takie "Letnie śniadanie". I'm not sure if it is well balanced breakfast but these are the ingredients which came to my mind while thinking about fresh and crispy morning table. Some of you may remember another artwork based on the same concept - see it HERE . This time instead of long veggies I went for cutlery :) Nie jestem pewna, czy to dobrze zrównoważone śniadanie, ale takie właśnie składniki przyszły mi na myśl o świeżym, letnim porannym stole. Kiedyś już uszyłam podobny krajobraz - zobac...

How not to be inspired on everyday basis if you find such a beauty in your mundane stuff? :) No i jak tu nie inspirować się bezustannie, gdy nawet przyziemne i pospolite sprawy zaskakują takim pięknem?

Some months ago my fellow artist Ania said, that she liked my "Beet soup" very much and that (as the old one is gone already) I should make another one. Great idea - we have this Polish special for summer, beet soup with more cream and yoghurt, served cool. Yummy! No wonder, just look at the ingredients, directly from the green market: Kilka miesięcy temu, koleżanka artystka Ania powiedziała, że bardzo lubiła moją "Botwinkę" i że koniecznie powinnam (tamta już dawno poszła w świat) uszyć jescze jedną. Bardzo dobry pomysł - w końcu lato to czas chłodników! No to na rynek po składniki. And here is my beginning: A to mój początek: To make you sure that I didn't miss anything :) Sprawdźcie, czy o czymś nie zapomniałam :) Somehow, quilting in spirals was my first choice, just like in the old one. It has to be the matter of cooking (and stirring) real soups, I guess. Moim naturalnym wyborem było pikowanie spiralne, tak jak ...

If you remember my old carrots you are not surprised that when I saw THIS picture I had an iinstant idea for a quilt: Jeżeli pamiętacie jeszcze moje marchewki , to nie zdziwi Was, że patrząc na TO zdjęcie od razu miałam pomysł na quilt: Well, it's rather a quiltlet but anyway :) No, raczej quiltcik, ale jednak :) Despite the fact that winter is still here, I'm longing for spring food. Mimo, że ciągle jeszcze mamy zimę, bardzo tęsknię już za wiosennym jedzeniem. That's why I find playing with roots in textiles so fulfilling :) Dlatego chętnie bawię się korzonkami w tkaninie :) It was really funny to make this humble parsley on rich, silk jacquard. Again - it's very difficult to photograph. The piece is pretty long and the silk is shinning like a crazy. Bardzo spodobał mi się pomysł umieszczenia skromnej pitruszki na bogatym, jedwabnym żakardzie. I znowu - trudno zrobić temu dobre zdjęcie. Pietrucha jest raczej długa, a jedwab błyszczy się jak s...