Persimmon on a Plate

IMAGE OF THE WEEK
Persimmon on a Plate 72dpi© Durga Yael Bernhard

This is one of the first still lifes I ever painted, at the age of 22.  It’s done in acrylics on heavyweight watercolor paper.   If my memory serves, the painting was done in 1983, after I returned home from visiting California for the first time, where I was first introduced to the unique persimmon fruit.  I found another specimen in the “exotic fruit” section of a local grocery store– albeit not as ripe and juicy as the one I had eaten while driving across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge – and took it home. I cut it open on a plate, and set to work. I wanted to capture the space under the knife, and the contrast between the foliage on the printed tablecloth and the mushy overripe quality of the fruit.  I must have felt quite daunted, as painting in general was an exercise in trial and error at that age, which often ended in frustration..

This painting was also my way of trying to capture the memories of California, which I had fallen in love with – along with my handsome young host in San Francisco – in my youthful wanderlust.  Seeing this old painting again did indeed bring back memories!

To this day, I still love painting still lifes.

A good week to all –

dyb

D Yael Bernhard
Author / Illustrator of
LOVE ISNew! – a unique crossover book for all ages
THE LIFE OF AN OLIVENew!! Explore the life of a 2000-year-old olive tree
JUST LIKE ME, CLIMBING A TREE: Exploring Trees Around the World
NEVER SAY A MEAN WORD AGAIN – A Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review;
winner of the Sydney Taylor Award and National Jewish Book Council Award
THE DREIDEL THAT WOULDN’T SPIN – A Toyshop Tale of Hanukkah
WHILE YOU ARE SLEEPING – A Children’s Book Council Notable Book
A RIDE ON MOTHER’S BACK – An American Bookseller Assoc. Pick of the List
– and more!
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