Teaching composition of food at Davidson College in North Carolina. For many years Katie St. Clair, my sister, and I have been creatively collaborating. We both have deep desire to meld our creative passions and teaching to enable students to think beyond their chosen art form. This September it happened! "The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play of instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves". -Jung This was the opening quote on the assignment sheet for the Basic Painting class. Katie invited me to come teach her painting students about deconstructing food and reconstructing the fibers to make a composition. This composition not only contains, the massive array of colors and textures found in produce but is made complex with the secretly emotional play of the recognizable food matter. The class began with a presentation of how food has inspired creative expression since the beginning of recorded history and throughout every culture. Each painting had a diverse perspective on how food effects our vision of the current time, our emotional understanding of others and our own identity. We set up the class room, which looked as though it was part a farm harvest room, part restaurant and part art studio. The tables were overwhelmed with purple cabbage, carrots, potatoes, beets, pumpkin, turmeric root, celery, figs, broccoli, and mushrooms we had foraged the night before. We split sixteen students between two stations; knife skills (how to safely master a chef knife-for the class and for life) and other texture tools (zester, peeler, corer, melon baller, and a mandoline). Sugar, sesame seeds, spray bottles and soap bubbles were available to also create texture. After students went through each station, they began to build their composition on a plate of plexiglass. Students then photographed their still lifes to eventually use as inspiration for a medium scale oil painting. The first step was to create three thumbnails which are small studies and compositional tools to explore different spatial awareness and edge relationships in a painting. For the studies, the students painted with natural pigments and vegetable juices we brewed the night before. They then chose one of their thumbnails to drive inspiration for the final oil painting. All this… is to break our habitual patterns of choice- color, brush movement, saturation, texture and state of mind. This allows us to feel the walls of our own box-like parameters and unlatch the window into a new world where we are free of choose. This is what a cross-pollination of art forms can do.
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I won! So it seems. A financial gift to a doer feels as if a wise soul lifted my chin so that instead of seeing what is present--- my surroundings, I can see the marvelous sky. A doer, does. I do because my heart wants to do so. So when a doer gets help gifting others, doing happens with even more enthusiasm.
I am always in the midst of doing. This gift made me pause, step back and see what’s been, what is and what could be. What I call a gift was a grant from Strong Cincinnati and the Mayerson Academy. It allowed me to run a week long Kids Cooking Camp and a six session adult cooking course with the people of Madisonville. From finding students, writing curriculum, organizing equipment, testing recipes, calling students, collecting data, lugging food around and teaching, I found myself understanding more clearly than ever--- two things: 1- I adore people and food. 2- There is a reason cooking education is not common place (since it was removed from schools). Not only does it take an extreme amount of detail oriented planning, organization, follow through, and physical hardiness, it also takes money. Money to cover ingredients, supplies (aprons, soap, pans, cups, spatulas, foil, to-go containers, towels, recipe print outs, binders, pens…) but also the organizer’s/teacher’s time (finding recipes that fit the dietary needs of the class, planning the flow of the class, printing off all recipes/handouts/legal forms, finding volunteers to help assist, buying ingredients, harvesting the seasonal ingredients, setting up the kitchen, teaching, taking pictures, cleaning up, and taking inventory for the next class. It is no wonder cooking education for middle to low income people is hard to come by! If one was to charge only $20 a class (keeping it reasonable) and finds donated ingredients as well as kitchen space, one cannot even gain a reasonable hourly rate. Now consider food costs and rent costs. It is impossible without a financial partner. Yet it’s vital! Lack of culinary education is the root of many illnesses, the loss of pride and independence and our path to a healthy future. It brings cultures and families closer. It is our international language. There is a way to invite all to the table and it is through the making of the meal. We all eat and desire to eat food that creates a feeling of home, warmth and community. Through Madisonville Cooks Youth Camp I met a wonderful, truly authentic boy. He was thrilled to cook, he so desperately wanted to do something well! Through the week long camp, I picked up on his trouble reading and writing. I spoke to my Mother, who tutors dyslexic students. On the graduation day, she and the boy’s Mother met and within the blink of an eye, organized lessons for him. I said goodbye to the family that day with a hug and tears from the mother. She said “my son has been withdrawn and sad until he met you and found cooking- thank you”! It was not the last time I would see the family. The boy has been my cooking assistant ever since, and the Mother attended the adult cooking course! Now they have more tools to connect and feel confident. They can cook and eat together! My chin was lifted. I do the work by nature, whether a gift comes or not. However, Strong Cincinnati noticed. They made it possible for me to do more. Giving a financial gift to a doer is offering the next step to an entrepreneurial creation. Let the doers do! Morsels, slivers, foam, globs, grains—bits and pieces left from a beautiful plate, there in the sink. I’m beginning to visually love what's left, more than the precisely plated dish.
The kitchen is one place where all your senses can be sparked. So much that happens in this room gets overlooked by the end goal. The final judgement- time to eat. Don’t get me wrong… I love to eat. However, I am becoming more curious about the process before and after we eat. Our connection to food as we prepare the meal has a direct relation to how tasty the food is when finished. The more I connect with the food, taste, smell and investigate, the more gratifying the whole experience is. Certain foods in my hands have an optimistic effect on my outlook. Kneading dough, gently hand-stirring a cold pasta dish, pushing lettuce down in a cold water bath and allowing beets to extravagantly take over the cutting board with their color makes the process almost more enjoyable than eating the meal itself. Why do we then disengage after eating? I say, play further! Check out what's left in the sink. You may find bits and pieces that are just as vibrant and interesting, as what you prepared to eat. What falls from your cutting board, or unexpectedly lands on the floor, or what is tossed aside for compost, can be as striking and inspiring as the neatly plated meal you just configured. After all, if we can change our mindset from "cooking as a chore" to "cooking as a fiesta you can enjoy three times a day", we can also savor the whole process, preparation to clean up. Exploring what makes you smile. I have often thought about what gave me joy as a child... building magical environments, making "I dare you to drink this!" smoothies, and placing tiny items in tiny nooks. I found joy in creating experiences.
Recently, I confirmed what made me smile, still, brings me to a place of joy. The idea of making an I Spy (as in the book series) experience occurred to me as a great... cheap... Christmas present. After setting up multiple scenes, with a friend who also feels giddy when moving small items, we chose the “kitchen sink” as our focus: everything and the kitchen sink. While standing on a chair and holding my breath with the most concentrated face to take this picture, all life stood still. I snapped the shot and felt pure joy. Simple, alive, free joy, radiating off two women playing in the kitchen sink. If you look closely at this image it contains much more then you would assume. Toys of childhood and chicken of the woods mushrooms for adulthood. I am happy to know I have followed my joy and will continue to play with creating spaces, combining foods and finding beauty in the smallest of things. Therefore, I spy with my little eye.... A gala A green watercraft The most sour of fruits A red ride for a kiddo A clove from a head A sharp tool to carry wherever you may go And lastly, a butternut |
AuthorKristen St. Clair |