
When I was a young mother with a newborn babe, the house where we lived had a huge, old fig tree in the backyard. I didn’t know I liked figs then, butI loved the fig tree and so did all the birds and squirrels in the neighborhood.
My infant son and I spent many days that first summer after his birth resting, playing or crying (yes both of us) on the grass beside the tree. The tree’s sheltering, quiet grace and the broad reach of it’s branches lent me strength and helped me feel grounded during those very difficult sleepless weeks and months.
A few weeks ago I ate my first figs and fell in love with them. I was always a little scared to try them; something about their soft squishiness bothered me. But once I took that first delicious bite I realized what I’d been missing.
Now I think of figs as the oysters of the fruit family, just as I think of oysters as the peaches of the fish family. When I slide a succulent raw oyster into my mouth and bite into it, I’m immediately brought back to the happy days spent in the warm salty sea growing up in Southern California.
And now that I’ve painted these little beauties, I’m gonna go eat ’em!
10 replies on “Figs: the Oysters of the Fruit Family”
Hi Jana, Fantastic Figs! I am looking forward to the next Sketchcrawl #20. There has not been many responses on the forums…but I intend to take a sneak peek into the Academy of Science that opens this Saturday 9/27. It’ll be great to meet ya at the SF crawl! Have a wonderful weekend.
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gorgeous watercolor, Jana, the color combination are wonderful
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I love the way you switch between mediums and are still proficient in each. I want to do this myself but have long held onto the notion that at some point I would have to commit to one in order to achieve excellence. Would you mind sharing any thoughts you have on this? I love your work and your subject matter, in particular the animals, lanscapes and botanicals.
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I haven’t seen one of those plastic green baskets in ages!
The year we lived in Greece the backyard was a bit of a shambles but there was a fig tree, a real novelty for us Canadians, and we ate the fruit right off the tree with great delight!
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What a wonderful memory connected to these gorgeous fruits, I have to admit I have never tried a fresh fig – now I Must! Beautiful rich deep color!
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Utterly gorgeous. The basket gives so much help, and this is some of the best fruit you ever did.
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Jana – Have I found some figs for you! I like that secondary color scheme, and especially that lovely lavender-green part in the lower right corner!
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Gorgeous. I even love the basket!
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These figs are just luscious, especially with the aqua color or the basket.
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Thanks for the kind comments everyone. This painting just flowed out of my brush as a gift. I love it when that happens!
Jana
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