Sprouting Bloody Butcher Corn

 Sprouting Bloody Butcher Corn

Sprouting Bloody Butcher Corn

Oil Paint on Canvas

16 x 40"

$1,500

Whenever I go into a store that sells seeds I can't help myself and I spend a few minutes perusing their offerings. Sometimes I'm looking for something new to add to my garden and sometimes I'm looking just for the sake of my art. When I came across a packet of Bloody Butcher Corn seeds from the Seed Savers Exchange at Earle May I knew they were a must have. The name grabbed my attention and the color sealed the deal, plus I love supporting the Seed Savers Exchange. I picked them up, brought them home and tucked a couple into a wet paper towel to wake them up. 

According to the information provided on the seed packet Bloody Butcher corn was known to settlers in the Virginia area since 1845. The plants can grow up to 12' tall and have at least two 8-12" long ears per stalk. It is typically used for flour, cornmeal or corn-on-the-cob when it's young and it has good drought tolerance. 

I've never actually planted it in my garden since I only have a small city garden and it is a very large plant. One day if I get my country wish, I will be excited to not only sprout the seeds for art-making, but I will plant and grow them as well. 

The seed packet didn't provide any information about why this variety is called "Bloody Butcher," so I turned to the internet and I found this awesome site for a distiller called Jeptha Creed:

https://jepthacreed.com/

Here they explain why they use Bloody Butcher corn and where the name came from:

https://jepthacreed.com/news/why-we-use-bloody-butcher-corn/

"Why is it called “Bloody Butcher”? It’s not as dismal as it sounds. During the corn’s milk stage, when we would pick cobs to eat with dinner, Bloody Butcher is white corn. Then, a tiny red dot appears on every kernel of the corn. About 15 days later, the cob is shot through with burnt oranges and reds in a splotchy pattern, said to resemble a butcher’s bloody apron. By the time corn reaches maturity, it has a deep purplish cast. It’s a grisly name for a truly lovely (and lovely tasting) corn!"

Visit the above link to read more about how they work with it on their farm. It's so cool. 

Christmas Lima Bean 2

I love heirloom seeds for several reasons, but one simple reason that I love the Christmas Lima Bean so much is because it is so pretty to look at. They are big seeds, and I love the mauve and burgundy patterns as well as the small, pale vein-like lines than run up and down the seed coat. They are really fun to draw and paint. 

Here is a great description of the seeds and beans from Shiloh Farms in PA:

https://www.shilohfarms.com/heirloom-christmas-lima-beans-organic/

See my previous Christmas Lima Bean paintings here: 

http://plantingseedscultivatingart.blogspot.com/2013/02/pair-of-christmas-lima-beans.html

http://plantingseedscultivatingart.blogspot.com/2013/01/christmas-lima-bean.html

I found the frame before I made the drawing. I stop fairly regularly at a nearby thrift shop to look for a few specific items that I have been collecting. On one stop I happened to walk by the section with frames and saw this one on the shelf. It caught my eye because of the shape and the warm tone of the wood. It felt so nostalgic. The frame originally showcased this message in cross-stitch:

"Of all the joys and blessings

In a long and happy life

There's none more precious than the love

Between a man and wife

Happy 25th Anniversary"

I picked up the frame to look at it closer and turned it over in my hands. The cross-stitch fabric was wrapped around a piece of cardboard and taped in place with yellowed and brittle scotch tape and then that packet was nestled into the opening of the frame. 

The edges of the frame around the opening are really rough and uneven. The varnish application is also uneven on the back side. 

I love that this must've been an entirely handmade gift for someone special. Was it made by a kid for their parents? Was it made by one of the spouses or was it a joint effort by one cross-stitcher and one amateur woodworker? What became of the people it was made for? 

I love that the frame has awkward edges and corners and a misshapen opening in the front. It's perfectly imperfect. It has a story that I will likely never know, but I wanted it to be mine anyway. My plan was to re-purpose the frame to display a drawing of a Christmas Lima Bean. 

I don't know what to do with the cross-stitch. The message doesn't speak to me personally. I love my husband, but I think we both agree that this isn't our style or a message that accurately represents us or our feelings about marriage. And even though it makes no sense, there's a part of me that feels like I shouldn't throw it away even though the original owner obviously no longer needed it. It must've meant something to the person who turned it over though, because they chose to send it out into the world instead of into the landfill. If the cross-stitch means something to you, reach out and let me know. You can have it. 

The drawing of the Christmas Lima Bean was made with graphite and colored pencil on toned paper. It is 8 x 10" and also has slightly uneven edges. 

The vintage frame cuts out a lot of the corners. Since the drawing is a standard size it still fits nicely into a 

conventional frame. 

I think I may hold on to the original for a little while, but giclee prints will be available. 8 x 10" prints are $25 and half-size 4 x 5" prints are $17. Message to for more info/to purchase. 

 

Sprouting Yellow Corn

 

Sprouting Yellow Corn

Oil Paint on Canvas

40 H x 16 W x 1 1/2" D

July 2019

I finished this painting in the summer of 2019. I had a great time painting it. I was in the middle of taking an unofficial break from working in oil pastels. I felt the need to work with brighter more vibrant color for a while. This composition is a close up view of most of the action.

I always start my images from a picture I took of a seed I sprouted.

The series of oil paintings that includes Sprouting Yellow Corn, are meant to emphasize the candescence of the occasion, focusing more on the spectacle than the reality. So I only use the picture to help make sure the composition is based in reality. After the initial layers of the painting are blocked in I stop looking at the picture and start trying to rely more on how I am feeling about my subject as I work. 

Giclee Prints are available for this painting. Full size - 40 H x 16 W - $160 + tax and shipping - and half size - 20 x 8 - $85 + tax and shipping, both prints have a one inch white border around the image. In the photo below the original painting is on the right and the print is on the left. 

kimmelion@yahoo.com or DM through instagram @plantingseedscultivatingart

How It Started, How it's Going

 

A few years ago I started making line drawings of the sprouted seeds I photographed. I wasn't sure that I was trying to produce finished work. It was something that I could do while my kids were playing and it felt like it was helping me see better. 

I drew beans too but I was most often drawn to images of corn.

I worked on these drawings for a couple of months. The first drawings felt busy so I worked to distill the images to more and more simplified forms. I would often cross section my sketch book page into four equal parts and work with one image of a sprouted seed at a time. I started out by drawing almost every line or change in the surface that I saw and from there I drew progressively simpler images until all the spaces were full and I felt like only the most important lines were used to communicate the image. It was a really fun exercise. I even bought a stack of frames for my favorite drawings. 

Then one day . . . 

                            I set my sketchbook on the shelf under my work bench.

                                                                                                                    And it sat there for 5 years.

                                                                                                                            

I don't know why.

Recently, I dug into the now piled high shelves in my studio in a fit of pandemic cleaning and pulled out the sketchbook and rediscovered loads of these line drawings. I was so happy it almost felt like a reunion. I stopped what I was doing and spent a lot of time looking them over again. I even cut the sheets up and put some of them in the frames I purchased.

Shortly after that day I was on a long drive, taking in the countryside, and thinking about my work. In the tranquil space of my car the images in the line drawings united with the landscape. I started to see the lines in the corn drawings in the same way that I was seeing the rows in the fields. 

I decided to experiment with adding color. 

I loved these colored images, but wavered on whether these vibrant colored pencil drawings were a finished product or another step forward. I decided that it was time to use some of the barn wood that I had been sitting on for a few years. I hadn't been able to use it yet because I had been waiting for the right idea to come. 

Three Cornscapes

Oil Pastel on Barn Wood

Three separate panels 9 x 12 x 7/8" 

March 2021

Sprouting Green Bean 2

Sprouting Green Bean 2

Oil on Canvas

40 H x 16 W x 1 1/2" D

$1,500

This is a conventional Blue Lake variety green bean.

Detail

Studio Night

I enjoyed a wonderful spring night in my home studio. This is an early sketch of a new painting. It is a detail of sprouting Black Aztec corn. The windows were wide open while I worked and every breeze carried the heavenly scent of lilac. 

Sprouting Green Bean 1

Sprouting Green Bean 1

Oil paint on barn wood

11 3/16 x 27 15/16 x 1 1/16"

 I finished this painting in September 2017. It is a closely cropped view of a sprouting green bean. The bean I sprouted was a Blue Lake variety of green beans. It's my favorite variety and its the seed packet that is most likely to be open on my gardening shelf when I'm looking for something to sprout. The flesh of the bean is actually much, much lighter, but the warm color of the barn wood was too beautiful to cover completely.  The way the seed coat of a green bean seed rips open when the bean is sprouting is a little more dramatic than seeds like corn, pumpkin or even lima beans. It usually rips from top to bottom, exposing much of the inner flesh while the root pushes through at the bottom.

Detail, Sprouting Green Bean 1

The wood came from my friend's acreage in Ohio. It's beautiful place and it was nice to think about her and her beautiful family every time I sat down to work on this painting. 

Detail, Sprouting Green Bean 1

Sprouting Black Aztec Corn

Years ago I was visiting an indoor winter farmer's market in the small gymnasium of a former old brick school building. One of the vendors was selling corn meal made from Black Aztec Corn and Bloody Butcher corn. He had a couple of the seeds that the corn meal was ground from and he let me have some when I told him about my series of sprouting seeds. I went home and wrapped a few of them in a wet paper towel to help them wake up. A few days later I took the first photographs that would influence two paintings.

Just barely beginning to sprout

The Black Aztec Corn that I brought home likely originated from a similar variety of corn that was grown 2000 years ago by the Aztec civilization. This corn is a hybrid of the ancient Aztec corn. It began showing up in seed inventories in the late 1800's. This variety of corn can be eaten like sweet corn when it reaches it's milk stage and the kernels are still light in color. As it matures the corn begins to turn shades of deep blue, purple and black. Growers say that when it is harvested in its maturity is makes a nice corn meal and indeed it did.

The first painting I created from this sprouted seed, Black Aztec Corn 1, I wrote about here: https://plantingseedscultivatingart.blogspot.com/2014/09/blue-corn.html
It was included in the group show "Midwest Summer: Light and Warmth" at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art in the summer of 2015.

Black Aztec Corn 1

Oil pastel and gesso on steel siding

16 3/8" x 18 3/8" x 2 1/4"

Image size 9 5/8' x 7 3/4'

**SOLD**

The second painting took an interesting turn. This painting is oil on canvas and the different substrate and larger size had a different effect on my painting. I decided to focus on the main activity within the center of the seed. In real life the subject was not as colorful, but the act of new growth is so full of energy and light. It became more important to be truthful about the energy in the expanding seed than the physical appearance.

Sprouting Black Aztec Corn

Oil on Canvas

24 H x 48 W x 1 1/2" D

I finished this painting in November, 2017.

Painting Classes

In September I moved into my new studio space on the 3rd floor of the Cherry Building in the NewBo District of Cedar Rapids. Moving into that space has afforded me the opportunity to lead several two hour painting sessions for up to 5 young painters. It has been so much fun! I love, love, LOVE being able to teach your blossoming artists how to paint.

Each of the sessions follow a general pattern. After everyone gets settled into their spot, they start by sketching out their ideas on a piece of paper. It's just a quick 15 minute or less sketch to work out shapes and sizes or get some tips on how to draw a figure or animal before they put it down on the canvas. Each painter gets to work on their own idea. The small class size allows enough time to guide each painter through the challenges they might face in making what they see in their imaginations come to life on the canvas. There is a lot of time to answer individual questions and do demos with each painter if they want the personalized help. 

When their ideas are finalized we talk about color schemes for the entire painting. Once the background color or style is chosen I encourage them to cover the entire canvas with paint before they begin painting the subject.

While the background paint dries we have a little snack, usually popcorn, look out the windows and chit chat. It seems like there is always something good to look at during class. Sometimes it's a stunning sunset, sometimes its an entire parade!

Next we begin painting the subject. I have a variety of brush sizes for the children to use to be able execute their ideas to the best of their ability. I usually try to keep them aware of how much time is left so that they can be sure to get all of their composition onto the canvas before they leave. It's great when the kids can get up and look at each other's work and offer suggestions. While they are working on their composition we talk about how to make the colors more vibrant by building up layers of paint. I also share tips on how to correct mistakes or how to work with them by turning them into something new. Sometimes the mistake is actually an exciting opportunity.

Finally, you return to pick up your child and their new work of art.
The mess? You get to leave that here!

To find out about the upcoming dates for classes e-mail me at kimmelion@yahoo.com or look for the Planting Seeds, Cultivating Art page on Facebook @plantingseedscultivatingart.

New Studio, New Classes

I am renting a new studio space in the Cherry Building in the New Bohemia District in Cedar Rapids, IA. I haven't even been in it for a month and already I notice a huge difference in the flow of my work time. It's not huge, but it's more space than I had at home.

With this new space comes an opportunity for a new venture. I now have the space to offer some kids art classes and maybe even some for adults. 

My goal for the classes is to give children a chance to explore painting for a couple of hours and leave the mess behind. It won't be a step by step class, but rather a chance for them to put their ideas on canvas while getting some help with the details. I'll help them plan out their composition, talk about filling the canvas, do some demos when necessary, and encourage them to turn mistakes into opportunities. Art is one place, outside of athletics, where persistence can yield rewards. It can teach you to push through frustrating moments, challenge you to think outside of the box and ultimately create something to be proud of. 

Flier with dates coming soon. 

Studio Shot with Sprouting Bean

The light was so gorgeous this evening and everything outside my window is so lush. It was a perfect summer evening.

I am trying to finish this painting up. It is so close, but still just not quite there.

Two in the Works

One is getting closer, one is just beginning, both are keeping me up late into the night. 

One is on 100+ year old barn wood, one is on 100+ year old slate roofing tile, both are fun to paint on.

Pumpkin Seed 2016

Sprouting Pumpkin Seed

10 1/4 H x 6 1/4 W x 1 D"

Oil Paint on Wood

I finished the first version of this painting of the pumpkin seed in 2012. It was even on display in a gallery for a while, but it didn't sell. I was happy to bring it home and hang it on my wall, but admittedly, I never really fell in love with it. I remember struggling when I worked on it, but I also remember feeling good when it was done. The thing I noticed over the years though, was that every time I was considering entering a show and I would look over at my finished work, I never felt this one was good enough to enter. It looked bland and it didn't feel alive. It took way to long to realize that I should just try again. While I was waiting for my recent commission to dry, I plucked this off the wall and gave it a second shot. 

 

Originally I didn't want to frame it, but it just didn't feel right hanging as a slab of wood. I added a rather raw, weathered frame. The block of wood that the painting is on is just slightly off square, and the frame adds even more awareness to the angle, but this feels natural to me. I used the block of wood as I had found it, without cutting any edges because I didn't want freshly cut sides contrasting too much with the rest of the weathered surfaces. I also felt that since the size of the wood was such a good fit for the image it would be most authentic in it's true found state. This feels good to me. This feels like how I garden. Most of the time gardening does not yield uniform shiny, smooth, sexy produce.  It's dirty and imperfect in so many ways because there is so much that is out of your control. So it feels natural to me that my work that is inspired so directly by my love for growing whole, healthy food is also imperfect.