Aaron Brodeur
As the Farms Wane
Inspired by: Adriaen van Otade, Company in a Tavern David Seltzer, Sea Salt/Lemon Sage Jules Aarons, West End Meat Market
carved TruCast mounted on cradled board
30″ x 36″
2024
As the Farms Wane alludes to the decline of agriculture and the rapid disappearance of family farms, and how that predicament impacts society. Historically, civilizations grew out of agriculture which enabled the establishment of complex societies. What will happen when the farms vanish? What will be of the farmers and their livelihoods?
@aaron.brodeur_studio
Joseph Cantor
Heriloom Apples
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
photograph
11″ x 14″
2022
Over the last few years I have been expanding and challenging my technical skills to broaden my approach to photography. One area of study has been in still life, with an interest and homage to the Dutch Masters still lifes. When I saw Henry George Todd’s Study of Strawberries, I was struck by the similar nature of composition and muted colors. What Todd and the Dutch Masters have done in oil, I am attempting to recreate in a photograph.
Brooke Cardwell
Candyland
Inspired by: Matt Siber, McDonalds
chalk pastels on paper
36″ x 21.5″
2019
Fast food may not be the first thing someone conjures up when imagining candy, but this work challenges the viewer to consider the food we consume and its effects on our bodies. A candy land has been created using sweet treats and decadent morsels, caught somewhere between enticing and repulsing.
@starbrooke.art
Keri Anderson
Avalanche
Inspired by: Paul Quain, Loading Cattle, Aran
oil on canvas
24″ x 30″
2024
When I think of the American chicken industry, I can see this massive avalanche of chickens in overwhelming quantities touching each other suffocating others chickens in their path. Chickens that are raised for their flesh are treated like inanimate objects and are confined to massive sheds that hold tens of thousands of birds each. Frustrated birds peck at one another and cause injury or even death. Such intensive confinement also breeds filth and disease. Avalanche became a metaphor to me about the devastation and challenges that factory chicken farming industry brings to our environment. You are what you eat.
@kerianderson68
Aldona Casey
Ravished
Inspired by: Justin Walker, Daddy Bruce
spray paint and acrylic paint on stretched canvas
18” x 24”
2024
Walker’s piece places an unappetizing meal next to a helpless woman equating her, visually and narratively, to meat. I have created lesbian imagery, a pornographic category devoured by men, as the “meat” of my piece. Walker’s character has no autonomy or control as to where the viewer gazes, similarly, the eyes in my piece eat away at the privacy of the characters. I incorporated food into the literal fabric and infrastructure of my piece. The pomegranate carpet suggests sexuality, placed directly under the bed with a bright yellow and red pattern. The pear wallpaper is overbearing, wrapping around the characters.
Taylor Apostol
Siena Day Trip Pile
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
hand-carved alabaster
10″ x 16″ x 12″
2023
Carved by hand in alabaster, Siena Day Trip Pile is a mass of discarded gelato cups, water bottles, cigarette packets, and pigeon feathers. Removed from their usual place in a trash bin, scattered on the ground, or being driven to a dump or waste processing plant, I give them a life of their own. Much like Henry George Todd’s painting, Study of Strawberries, my sculpture is a still-life of a seemingly innocuous pile. On closer inspection, my pile examines the close relationship between food and the endless accumulation of trash.
@taylorapostol
Maria Cazzato
St. Agatha’s Breasts Dissected
Inspired by: Mixteca-Puebla Artist, Tripod Bowl Justin Walker, Daddy Bruce
hand carved basswood bowls, oil on wood, gold, table sugar
9″ x 9″ x 16″
2024
This piece is an interpretation of the story of St. Agatha, a venerated Christian martyr whose breasts were famously ripped off with tongs. Recasting her breasts as bowls of sugar questions the female body as a vessel of martyrdom. This sculpture situates martyrdom in a contemporary context by examining how women are forced to utilize pain to access salvation. By transforming the breast into a vessel for food, the sculpture portrays self-consumption as a form of penance and considers womanhood as a state of cannibalistic devotion. The female body becomes a holy vessel to be dissected, consumed, and torn apart.
@maria.cazzato.art
Michael Ashby
The Virtue Of Solitude
Inspired by: Unknown Artist, English Teapot
pen and ink
13″ x 19″ (framed)
2024
The togetherness that can be experienced in sharing a good cup of tea is exquisite. However, when one is consumed in the correct manner, while in chosen solitude, the experience can be quite sublime. Even bordering on the transcendent if one is open to the beauty found in uncertainty. A certain gravity of that moment can be felt and appreciated. It is this moment that I strive, so ever humbly, to imbibe. For solitude is not loneliness and can be intoxicating.
Ben Cline
Kosher Table
Inspired by: Jules Aarons, West End Meat Market
woodworking
16″ x 16″ x 30″
2024
Hand gilded glass “window” set in a hand crafted and distressed frame inspired by the photo “West End Meat Market” by Jules Aarons. The “window” sets upon a hand crafted cherry side table.
@clinecraft
Boden Azora-Minda
Happy Meal
Inspired by: Matt Siber, McDonalds
acrylic on canvas
24″ x 24″
2024
Matt Siber’s “McDonald’s” made me contemplate the way that Americans consume food particularly fast food and how food is presented to consumers. “McDonalds” to me represents our current food culture of instant gratification and how big industry works on convincing us that we want something that is not healthy for us. “Happy Meal” has the undertone of “Night of the Living Dead” as it depicts Ronald McDonald as a zombie laying in wait for the boy who is eating his “Happy Meal”.
Karin Cloutier
All in Season, for Some
Inspired by: Matt Siber, McDonalds Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
acrylic and ink on canva-paper
12″ x 16″ (unframed), 16″ x 20″ (framed)
January 2024
Food can elicit very different emotions depending on your economic status. From the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder, the daily stress to feed yourself and your family, within your financial means, leaves little time for consideration about what is healthy. Those higher up the ladder possess the means to equate food with health and opulence, often to the point of gluttony and waste; they obtain whatever they want, whenever they want, simply discarding their excess. Todd’s “Study of Strawberries” and Siber’s “McDonald’s” represent these extremes – the surplus of fresh food for some while others only have McDonald’s quality options.
Ricardo Barros
Three Photographers Honor a Fourth: Stephen DiRado, Frank Armstrong, Ricardo Barros – After Jules Aarons
Inspired by: Jules Aarons, West End Meat Market
photograph, digital print on cotton rag paper
20″ x 24″ (framed)
2023
Three Photographers Honor a Fourth: Stephen DiRado, Frank Armstrong, Ricardo Barros – After Jules Aarons. Jules Aarons is known for his mid-century photographs of immigrants in Boston’s West End. He often photographed from a distance; his presence was acknowledged yet unobtrusive. He had an appreciative eye for cultural heritage. Fitchburg, where I now live, boasts a similar richness in history and ethnic diversity. If renewed prosperity has thus far eluded Fitchburg, adding resident artists to the mix may be its salvation. I pay homage to Jules Aarons’ work with this photograph and invite other artists to explore Fitchburg’s potential.
Heather Barros
Butternut Squash/Nutmeg
Inspired by: David Seltzer, Sea Salt/Lemon Sage
oil on canvas
20″ x 16″
2024
David Seltzer, “Sea Salt/Lemon Sage”: I didn’t taste the lemon and salt nor smell the sage until I read this title. Now, I can’t undo those sensations. They come back every time I see this image. For me, the white shape within the yellow rectangle alternates between concave and convex. In my kitchen, something seemed familiar when I placed cut squash into a rectangular pan. My colors and forms matched his but in an unexpected way. I knew I had to paint it. I named my piece “Butternut Squash/Nutmeg.” With a nod to David Seltzer, I never added the nutmeg.
Lisa Barthelson
you are what you eat, plastic! eating the rainbow? family debris
Inspired by: Matt Siber, McDonalds Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries Justin Walker, Daddy Bruce
found object assemblage, repurposed plastic family debris and thread
16″ x 16″ x 7″
2024
Todd’s Study of Strawberries, Siber’s McDonald’s and Walker’s Daddy Bruce all speak to the warning that what you eat may not be food you imagined! Fraught with meaning from life spans, to consumerism and its byproducts, including everlasting plastic, to the health we pursue when seeking nourishment. In a warming and toxic world, what are we eating, the healthful rainbow? All the plastic ever made still exists, breaking down into smaller particles over time. Some scientists have estimated that the average person may eat 5 grams of microplastics in a week, about the weight of a credit card, bon appetite!
@lisa_barthelson
Anne Beinecke
Red Bull with Roses
Inspired by: Paul Quain, Loading Cattle, Aran Matt Siber, McDonalds Justin Walker, Daddy Bruce
acrylic, pencil on cruelty-free watercolor paper
18″ x 24″
2020
In “Red Bull with Roses” the billowing pulses of crimson reds and sap greens belie a more threatening substrata of heat and blood – the existential threads that tie together the cruelty of animal exploitation in the meat industry with the callous violation of Earth’s lush landscapes, contributing greatly to the progression of the climate crisis. This work does not shy from the fact that for all creatures the heart pumps red blood, whether in light or in mourning.
@anne_beinecke
Ray Bernoff
Safe Foods
Inspired by: David Seltzer, Sea Salt/Lemon Sage
aluminum foil, stone clay, Hershey’s kisses wrappers and plumes, found objects, cardstock, spray paint, acrylic paint, glass microbead paint
12” x 24”
2024
With celiac disease, every meal is a risk. Gluten hides everywhere, from restaurant griddles to soy sauce and licorice. Since my diagnosis, I’ve identified “safe foods” I can always trust not to set off an intestine-destroying immune response: whole fruit, plain potato chips, most hot dogs, Hershey’s chocolate. When I’m stranded and hungry, I look for them. Drawing on the bright colors and abstract inedibility of David Seltzer’s ‘Sea Salt / Lemon Sage’, I made my safe foods easier to find by rendering them in an ANSI-inspired worksite safety palette. Use the headlamp for the full high-visibility experience.
@rmhbernoff
Susan Black
Meals on Wheels
Inspired by: Justin Walker, Daddy Bruce
collage on paper
12″ x 9″
2024
Food and sex take on different forms to address our changing needs. Walker’s photo tantalizes; this collage comforts. Young or old, body and soul continue to seek satisfaction.
Chelsea Bradway
Chelsea Market
Inspired by: Jules Aarons, West End Meat Market
black and white photograph on fine art paper
26″ x 32″ (framed)
2023
Growing up in the Berkshires I have always found NYC a bit daunting. It wasn’t until my son’s 13th birthday when he asked to go to New York that I fell in love with it. Gone was my fear and in came an explosion of wild excitement. Angels of New York Series was born. There is something magical about walking through the streets of New York and not being noticed or being noticed. People’s faces lit up, they had let go of fear even if for a moment just as I did when I first embraced NYC.
@offical.all.things.sparkley All things Sparkley Photography
Lisa Bramhill
The Hanging Deer
Inspired by: Jules Aarons, West End Meat Market Paul Quain, Loading Cattle, Aran
acrylic paint on gallery wrapped canvas
16″ x 20″
2024
The Hanging Deer reminds me of when I was young. My father was a hunter and venison was part of our diet. Especially the venison stew feast with my family of six eating at the dinner table. There are layers of paint and mixed emotions here. I’m also reminded of the cold butcher shop with meat hanging and butchers in their white coats. It all seemed so normal. Today I think of how little I know about where my food comes from and how it is processed. I miss those simpler times of the bakery, milkman, farmer, and the butcher.
@lisabramhill /Lisa Bramhill Art
Leslie Breault
Family Threads
Inspired by: Unknown Artist, English Teapot David Seltzer, Sea Salt/Lemon Sage
mixed media collage
14 3/4″ x 18 3/4″
2024
Shared experiences, oral and written accounts, heirlooms, music and food are some of the many threads that make up a family’s history. The English teapot evoked images of recipes passed down through generations, becoming an ancestral food “quilt.” Sea Salt/Lemon Sage informed my color palette. After copying personal family recipes, I dyed the papers with tea, coffee and spices before cutting and arranging them, along with antique fabrics, into a mid 20th century scrap quilt pattern.
@lbreault
Jakob Fioole
oops
Inspired by: Charles “Teenie” Harris, Cotton Candy Booth Adriaen van Otade, Company in a Tavern
oil on linen
10″ x 8″
2024
Both works I’m responding to show settings from everyday life. People in a scene where food or drink plays a central, joyful role, making it feel familiar. It inspired me to use food as a disarming layer in my own painting.
@jakobfioole
Melody Fortier
Sacred Cadence of Decay and Genesis
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
watercolor paint and watercolor pencil on acid free cold pressed paper
28″ x 22″ (unframed) 29″ x 23″ (framed)
2024
My painting is a celebration of the rhythm, the cadence if you will, of the life process. Desiccation and decay coexist along side the promise of regeneration that resides in the dried kernels. For me this sacred design of nature is beyond miraculous, I am an avid gardener and my gardens are my sanctuary. I chose to paint a single cob, floating, perhaps ascending, as a nod to the mystery, the power and the divine that is interwoven into this cycle. We cannot exist without it.
/Artist Melody Fortier
Sharon Freed
Central Part Of Anything
Inspired by: Jules Aarons, West End Meat Market David Seltzer, Sea Salt/Lemon Sage
digital photography
12″ x 12″
2019
@sharonfreed
Timothy Gannon
I’ll Grab Dinner
Inspired by: Unknown Artist, English Teapot
acrylic on canvas
24″ x 35″
2024
@timgannonart
Alana Garrigues
When They Feast, We Eat
Inspired by: Jules Aarons, West End Meat Market Matt Siber, McDonalds Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
acrylic gouache on canvas
16″ x 20″
2023
Looking at the FAM artwork, I was struck by how separated the act of eating and feasting was from the environment and the way our food grows. The study of strawberries looked the most wholesome and brightly colored, and I thought of the pollinators and land necessary to grow them. In my own garden, I plant a floral feast to attract and entertain bees and butterflies so I may eat. This is in stark contrast to the cold industrial McDonald’s sign. Butterflies and bees as symbols of migration and workers, “they” is also a political call for equitable human rights.
@alanaofloveandlight
John Garton
Empty Pilsners
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries Adriaen van Otade, Company in a Tavern Matt Siber, McDonalds
oil on gesso panel
15″ x 20″
2024
In setting up and painting the still life Empty Pilsners, I drew inspiration from Henry George Todd’s Study of Strawberries and Adriaen van Ostade’s Company in a Tavern. Rather than ripe berries, I selected tumbling empty glasses, but set up and painted in a theme of vanitas painting. A cool emptiness prevails. The Dutch etching celebrates companions in a tavern, but my image captures the stillness of drinking glasses afterwards.
Leonard Gerwick
The Red Table
Inspired by: Charles “Teenie” Harris, Cotton Candy Booth
acrylic on canvas
24.5″ x 29.5″
2020
Christine Croteau
Sugar-Free SimplicitEE
Inspired by: David Seltzer, Sea Salt/Lemon Sage
sculpture found objects
12” x 12” x 3”
2024
My piece is in response to David Seltzer’s “Sea Salt/Lemon Sage” painting. I enjoy the simplicity of his work and the visceral nature it exudes. I can taste and smell the sea salt and lemon when viewing it. In my piece, “Sugar-Free SimplicitEE” I chose to use simple shapes and colors, yet tried to convey a similar visceral experience. I am a person living with Type 1 diabetes, so I had at my disposal plenty of sugar free candy. I found the color, combination and placement of the candy and marble slats echoed Seltzer’s piece nicely.
@croteauchristine
Jeri Gillin
Pass the Cotton Candy
Inspired by: Charles “Teenie” Harris, Cotton Candy Booth
Saori style weaving
30″ x 31″ (plus fringe)
2024
Can anything bring more joy than cotton candy at a long-awaited summer fair? The faces of the children speak of their delight and of their eagerness to sample the ethereal treat; looking carefully, I continue to be intrigued by the fact that regardless of ethnicity, only males are visible in the photograph. A variety of yarns were used to represent the diverse faces in the photograph. While the pink of the cotton candy is implied in the monochromatic image, it came to life in my weaving. Unspun roving is used to represent the wispy nature of the confection.
Jessica DeHaemer
Hold the Pickle
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
handwoven mixed fibers and recycled fabric
11″ x 14″
2024
Inspired by Henry George Todd’s “Study of Strawberries”, DeHaemer’s “Hold the Pickle” is not only a still life, but expands on the themes of creeping decay and our mortality. “Hold the Pickle” illustrates the delicious, gluttonous feast of a double cheeseburger, while incorporating the symbolic warning of the modern decay of nutritious meals. While our mouths water and we feast on these meals, the overabundance of fats, chemicals, and calories is ultimately leading us to a very unhealthy place.
@LerayjessDesigns
Francine Gintoff
POTUS
Inspired by: Matt Siber, McDonalds
acrylic paint on silk dress
56″ x 18″
2020
This dress is 1 in a series of 65 dresses that reference a particular person through a painted symbol. The name of the person is on the hanger. The piece connects to Matt Siber’s “McDonalds” C-Print. It is a painting of a Big Mac.
Alice Dillon
Dabey’s Apple Pie
Inspired by: Adriaen van Otade, Company in a Tavern
quilted and appliquéd fabric, thread
12″ x 26″
2023
@adillonart
John Gintoff
Frookty
Inspired by: Justin Walker, Daddy Bruce
inkjet print collage
36″ x 24″
2024
These images are part of an ongoing exploration that I have been conducting for the past two years. Originally the marks were randomly drawn over the collages employing different colors, widths, and transparencies responding to the shapes beneath them. After dabbling with this procedure, I decided to do a series of images which were loosely based on A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. In these images I decided that the title of the image which had been predetermined would be written over the image using the above technique. In this way the image’s title would become an actual part of the image.
Kristi DiSalle
When Life Gives You Lemons…
Inspired by: David Seltzer, Sea Salt/Lemon Sage Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
acrylic, lemon peel, and wax on canvas
20″ x 30″
2024
Food insecurity is a problem for far too many in our nation and the world, and yet, while people starve, according to the USDA, “food waste is estimated at between 30-40 percent of the food supply.” This piece calls attention to the problem of food waste by being made in part of that waste. The colors and composition harken to the pieces from FAM’s collection. The theme tells a story of fresh food being used to its full extent.
@kristileighcreations @kristileighillustration wonderandwhimsy
Henry Glennon
Fraises et Fixatifs
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
oil on canvas, not varnished
12″ x 12″ x 1/2″
2024
A still life inspired by Study of Strawberries by Henry George Todd. That Henry, added touches of blight to the plants’ leaves to represent mortality. This Henry added some of the most poisonous chemicals he had lying around to the composition, with the same intent. He then ate the strawberries, so as not to be wasteful.
Maia Dolphin-Krute
Untitled
Inspired by: David Seltzer, Sea Salt/Lemon Sage Matt Siber, McDonalds
gum bichromate print (photograph)
24″ x 21″ (framed)
2023
This series of prints was inspired by the 1903 book “The Book of Bread.” It was a reference manual for bakeries and featured bread portraits: a series of chromolithographs showing the ideal structure and size of different types of bread. This series features images of homemade breads, reproduced in gum bichromate prints, one of the oldest forms of color photography.
Annie Dubois
The Blue Ladle
Inspired by: Unknown Artist, English Teapot Charles “Teenie” Harris, Cotton Candy Booth
acrylic on plywood
9″ x 24″
2024
The gesture of hands ladling and reaching for food mostly evokes institutional or charity meals. The long stem establishes a physical distance; otherness is inherent to the gesture and the setting. But in our Andaluz village, where multiple generations randomly gather at her kitchen table and must be fed, the matriarch holds the ladle low on the stem. The utilitarian utensil becomes a vehicle for nurturing and togetherness.
James Dye
Mother Minds the Chickens
Inspired by: Jules Aarons, West End Meat Market Paul Quain, Loading Cattle, Aran Adriaen van Otade, Company in a Tavern
dip pen and India ink
28″ x 21″
2024
Through the art of storytelling, human kind attempts to understand the universe and divine our place and purpose within it. Our elemental narratives draw from a communal well of primal imagery which forms the basis of a shared subconscious language spoken through our dreams and manifested in our creative expressions. Building upon these foundational archetypes, I create works of the imagination that speak to the human need for narrative while exploring the subjective nature of art and the symbiosis of image and story.
Kate Egnaczak
McMud Meal (Park Picinic)
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries Mixteca-Puebla Artist, Tripod Bowl Matt Siber, McDonalds
debris found in Elm Park’s mere ponds: styrofoam take-out container, McDonald’s cup, lid, and straw, bottle safety ring, waxed bag, single use shopping bags, caution tape, dirty, and leaf litter, mud burger made with Elm Park mud
12″ x 12″ x 12″
2024
One all-mud patty, special “sauce”, lettuce, cheese, tomato, served on a plastic bun, with caution tape fries, and an extra large dirt drink. The “extra value” in this recognizable fast food meal is an abrupt reminder of the consumerism that motivates our tastebuds, yet are as nutrient-deficient as mud and trash it is made from. The mud burger patty, baked in the sun, may have the highest nutrient content. It’s absurd, yet so close to reality. Ubiquitous, almost ceremonial, vessels in the grab-and-go culture, still muddy from the mere ponds in Elm Park, inspired the culinary creation.
@train_by_living
Madge Evers
Equinox, Oak Spring I
Inspired by: Mixteca-Puebla Artist, Tripod Bowl David Seltzer, Sea Salt/Lemon Sage
cyanotype and acrylic gesso
18.5″ x 21″
2024
All food begins in the soil. A wild and edible plant, onion grass appears in early spring; online advice about how to eradicate Allium vineale from one’s lawn abounds. Like the Mixteca-Puebla artist Tripod bowl, the work contains comforting patterns and forms that could be interpreted as snake-like. Both works suggest the many connections between all beings in the natural world. Like David Seltzer’s Sea Salt/ Lemon Sage archival print, Equinox, Oak Spring I uses a photographic process to present an abstracted version of familiar ingredients.
@_sporeplay
Nikki Howland
Three Sisters Rattle
Inspired by: Mixteca-Puebla Artist, Tripod Bowl
dried pumpkin gourd, wood burning and water based markers, willow and lilac branches, twine, leather, beans and dried corn
10” x 5” x 5”
2023/24
Indigenous objects and myths fascinate me which is why I chose the Tripod Bowl as my inspiration. The Native legend of the “Three Sisters” tells of Squash, Beans and Corn – gifts from the Sky God. These three vegetables were not only a nutritious source of food, it is also a successful planting technique that is still practiced today. These three plants thrive when planted together. Inside the gourd are dried beans and corn; a ceremonial object of ritual expressing the magical gift of the three sisters.
@nikkihowland
Elijah Johnson
Cows
Inspired by: Paul Quain, Loading Cattle, Aran Unknown Artist, English Teapot Matt Siber, McDonalds
acrylic on teabag
6 1/2” x 8 1/2”
2022
The importance of cows in our culture is immeasurable. Where would we be without cows and their big, beautiful eyes! So add a splash of milk to your breakfast tea, grab an ice cream and say a hearty “Thank you” to cows, we salute you.
Timothy Johnson
Daily Dose
Inspired by: Matt Siber, McDonalds
photograph (archival inkjet print)
14″ x 14″ (unframed), 20 1/4″ x 20 1/4″ (framed)
2023
When I am preparing meals, I habitually put the fruit/vegetable sticker on the kitchen cupboard door above my work space, in the same spot, making a little stack. Every six months or so the stack falls off from accumulated weight, and I just set it aside. The stacks are curious little objects – colorful and funny. They also make me think about the larger implications of what it takes for me, or anyone, to have access to fresh fruit and vegetables on a daily basis. My image is of ten years worth of these stickers (2013-2023).
Matthew Kamholtz
Cattle Crossing, Nogales, AZ, 2018
Inspired by: Paul Quain, Loading Cattle, Aran
digital photograph, archival pigment print
20″ x 26″
2018
In peak season, over 1,500 cattle cross daily at Nogales from Mexico into the United States for slaughter. Migrants will often cross through the same gate.
@mkamholtz
Fiona Kennedy
Life of a Strawberry
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
painted paper collage
20″ x 20″
2024
I created this piece in response to Henry George Todd’s “study of strawberries”. Todd’s painting was meant to show some disease or decay on the berries noting mortality, our own mortality. I used heavily painted papers and carefully selected color palette to demonstrate not only the vibrant fresh fruit but also a traitorous decay that will eventually take over the berry.
@fionakennedy.art
Patricia King
Folded Strawberry
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
hardcover book, colored pencil
8.5″ x 5″ x 5.5″
2024
Unlike the creeping decay in the “Study of Strawberries”, my strawberry springs to life from the pages of a discarded book.
Christopher King
Raspberry Chenille/Macrame Button Drizzle
Inspired by: David Seltzer, Sea Salt/Lemon Sage
macrame with nylon cord and buttons attached to a woven rayon chenille panel
25” x 12”
2024
I am inspired to make “tasty art” by Sea Salt/Lemon Sage, “… inviting the viewer to yield to sensory stimulation …” From secondhand, stash-house chenille yarn, I found a thick, sherbet raspberry weft and wove it into a multicolored warp to create the base layer. I decorated with two strands of macrame button drizzle, one with a spiraling half knot, the other with a four strand braid, both with inherited buttons. A dragon shape can be seen in some orientations. Functionally a table runner, this weaving brings joy to the table, inviting the diner to sample visually and through touch.
@kingchrisg
Oleksii Kradetskyi
Boston 1948 – 2024. Rivka, Naka, Joel
Inspired by: Jules Aarons, West End Meat Market
oil on canvas
24” x 30”
2024
A 1950s urban renewal project razed a large Italian and Jewish enclave and displaced over 20,000 people in order to redevelop much of the West End
Teresa Lamacchia
Deconstructed Teapot
Inspired by: Unknown Artist, English Teapot
acrylic paint and paper collage on canvas
14″ x 14″
2024
The original is a small, delicately glazed teapot with Chinese influenced designs and a handmade twisted handle for pouring. Tea served from this pot is an elegant experience. The painting, however, mercilessly deconstructs the pot. The orange motifs from the glaze are now loosely applied, dripping brushstrokes of background color. The pot itself has been sliced into ascending bands of disconnected strips. There is a shadowy outline of the original pot.
Walter Landry
Adam’s Apple
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
drawing and mixed media
16″ x 20″
2023
In my still life drawings I arrange and illuminate commonplace objects to suggest poetic narratives.
Michele LeMaitre
Black Tea, Poured
Inspired by: Unknown Artist, English Teapot
2D interactive sculptural mixed media
12″ x 12″
2023
Water is the base element used to brew tea. Once poured, the tea water flows from the tea pot into the cup, creating swirls and reflections, which change in color depending on the tea water’s movement and surrounding light. This piece is an observation of the tea water’s surface movement and light, within the cup of Black Tea, Poured. The viewer is invited to move from side to side, and up and down, to experience the colors changing on the tea water’s surface.
@the_water_artist /MicheleLeMaitreArt
Robert Grady
English Teapot and Biplanes
Inspired by: Unknown Artist, English Teapot
oil on linen
36″ x 36″
2023
While the teapot in the Fitchburg art collection is thought of as an object of luxury, the English teapot in this still life speaks about war and deprivations during war time. The pastoral theme on the teapot contrasts to the weapons of war on the tea towel. The teapot is empty, reflecting the grim realities of wartime – lack of food, absence of luxury and disruption of routine, such as quiet tea times.
Marybeth Lensel
PotLuck
Inspired by: Mixteca-Puebla Artist, Tripod Bowl
mixed media
12″ x 3″ x 12″
2024
Potluck: Everyone is invited but what do you choose to bring to the table. There is more than food at a feast, we bring ourselves & make decisions on what to share. Like symbols, we are perceived in multiple ways through the eyes of others.
@mlsomewhere
Deborah Griffin
Strawberries
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
acrylic paint on paper
11″ x 15″
2024
Finding my way back to being an Artist who is viewed rather than an Artist who only makes in private. I am an acrylic paint Artist who enjoys abstracting pop culture into precise geometric paintings on paper breaking down objects and imagery into their representative colors. Upon viewing the works from the Fitchburg Art Museum, I was immediately drawn to Henry George Todd’s Study of Strawberries. The colors seemed to perfectly fit with my idea of fresh wild strawberries. They looked too delicious to not try my own study.
@iamdgcreates
Edward Lilley
Place Setting
Inspired by: Mixteca-Puebla Artist, Tripod Bowl
micro-cracked glass vessels
15″ x 15″
2020
I have worked with glass art for a number of years but rarely showed it. From my professional materials science back ground I have had an interest in the fracture of brittle materials especially high tech ceramics. That work was to understand the failure of the ceramic. Glass fracture is more interesting than ceramic fracture because crack branching occurs in glass leading to numerous fracture lines. This is demonstrated in the micro-fracture of the repurposed vessels shown here.
Samantha Hansen
Dessert
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries Justin Walker, Daddy Bruce
acrylic paint and paint marker
8″ x 10″
2024
This piece was inspired by Justin Walker’s “Daddy Bruce” and Henry George Todd’s “Study of Strawberries.” It combines the concept of commercial appetite from the former, with subtly deteriorating strawberries from the latter. What can initially appear delectable may really be rotting–which is an aspect of (and problem with) our society’s excessive consumerism. We have all been reduced to a meal meant to be devoured.
@Femmegremlin.art
Madeleine Lord
No More Dinner
Inspired by: David Seltzer, Sea Salt/Lemon Sage Mixteca-Puebla Artist, Tripod Bowl
photograph
18″ x 18″
2019
Plates, forks spoons should be on the table to serve the dinner, not abandoned in the mud. This is the antithesis of Feast, implying the end of a kitchen and family that would gather there. The empty ceremonial tripod bowl, Mixteca-Pueblo was used to invoke a prayer for plenty and gratitude when it occurred. The decorations on the stems of the forks and spoons elevated their daily utility. David Seltzer’s Sea Salt – Common Sage illustrates the memory of favorite food. Dinnerware abandoned to puddles still holds memory of diners once all connected sharing a meal.
@madeleinelordmadimetal
Meaghan Hardy-Lavoie
amuse-bouche
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries Justin Walker, Daddy Bruce David Seltzer, Sea Salt/Lemon Sage
digital inkjet print
11″ x 14″
2024
Taking inspiration from Justin Walker’s photograph, “amuse-bouche” is a conceptual still-life, meant to challenge the conventional perception of ‘Feast’. It invites the viewer to examine the ideas of nourishment and pleasure which can both aim to satisfy various tastes and desires. Highlighting the juxtaposition between physical sustenance and corporeal sensuality, here a feast can also represent the fulfillment of desires, the satisfaction of cravings, and the enjoyment of life’s pleasures.
@meg.does.things
B Lynch
Waiting
Inspired by: Jules Aarons, West End Meat Market Mixteca-Puebla Artist, Tripod Bowl Paul Quain, Loading Cattle, Aran
paper, wire, foil, paint, cardboard
13″ x 8″ x 6″
2019-2024
“Waiting” is a tableau, the elderly man sits with his bowl/pot awaiting the finishing of the cooked fish on the coals. His surroundings are bleak. The graffiti and uncomfortable seating signal his lack of agency. No comfy cheerful kitchen for him. The tripod cooking pot, the waiting and watchfulness of the “West End Meat Market” and the rough utility of “Loading Cattle” all spoke to me as I created this tableau.
@blynchstudioart
Lisa Hayden
Plate Collection
Inspired by: Unknown Artist, English Teapot Mixteca-Puebla Artist, Tripod Bowl
acrylic on canvas
12” x 12” x 1.5″
2024
People have always liked to collect plates and bowls, and as the English Teapot shows we have also always liked to show them off. My painting is on a square canvas to indicate the modern way of showing off our collections on social media.
@meltedtheory
Caterina Maina
Hairy Fruit
Inspired by: Justin Walker, Daddy Bruce Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
archival inkjet print from 4×5 large format color negative
16″ x 20″
2023
“Hairy Fruit” came about while thinking about how still lives of fruit have often been used to depict or suggest the female form, sensuality, and the reproductive system. Using the hair I shaved off my head two years prior, I wanted to connect it to body hair. As in Henry George Todd’s “Study of Strawberries,” the brown discoloration disrupts/questions the beauty of the strawberries, as does the hair in my image. I use food in connection with the female form, even though no form is present in my work, which evokes Justin Walker’s “Daddy Bruce”.
@4x5junkie
Carolyn Quirk
Plenty
Inspired by: David Seltzer, Sea Salt/Lemon Sage
ink, acrylic, and glass
6″ x 8″
2023
The title of this abstracted piece is Plenty, it’s an abstract version of an abundance of fresh oranges, blueberries and lemons using light. I looked at Sea Salt / Lemon Sage and it brought back a lot of good memories and inspired me to make this piece entitled Plenty.
Jillian Masi
January Harvest
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
oil on canvas
9″ x 12″
2024
Inspired by Henry George Todd’s “Study of Strawberries”, this piece shows strawberries in the way most people today experience “gathering” them: that is, at the grocery store, stacked neatly in near identical, glimmering plastic packages. While Todd’s piece hints at diseases which would taint an already limited fruiting season, “January Harvest” seeks to make the viewer consider their detachment from modern food production, what fruit may be “in season”, and the plentiful availability of fresh produce year round that the average American might take for granted.
@jmasi_art
Pamela Redick
Noodle Place Nighthawks
Inspired by: Jules Aarons, West End Meat Market Matt Siber, McDonalds
acrylic on wood panel
8″ x 16″
2019
In the winter of 2019 while working on a photography challenge I found and photographed this place in Newport Rhode Island. The mood of it inspired me to paint it. I would not have noticed the place if I were looking for subjects to paint. It relates to the commercial establishment in the Jules Aarons photograph. It is a gathering place not in the fancy part of town populated by locals with the fast food vibe of Matt Siber’s McDonald’s.
Rebecca McGee Tuck
The Day After
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
collected sea debris: netting from a beach game, wood from a beach chair, and blue foam from exploded fireworks
36” x 26″ x 4″
2023
“The Day After” is crafted from remnants of exploded fireworks collected from the beach on July 5th, following Fourth of July celebrations. Inspired by Henry George Todd’s exploration of symbolism and decay, I reflect on the allure of fireworks juxtaposed with aftermaths of pollution on coastlines. Like Todd’s still-life, which contrasts ripe fruit with decaying disease, my sculpture juxtaposes the beauty of fireworks with inevitable consequences of human activity. The transformation of discarded materials into a cornucopia is a stark reminder of our impact on the environment and the fleeting nature of existence, particularly the ocean’s vulnerability to our actions.
@rebeccabombshellart
A. Reid
Worcester Mammoth Horticultural Bean
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
ink on paper
12.25″ x 15.5″ (framed)
2022
Seed packet illustration for the Worcester Mammoth Horticultural Bean. Introduced in 1890s New England seed catalogs as a productive and popular pole bean for market growers, the fawn-colored, cranberry-spotted Worcester Mammoth fell to mid-20th-century agricultural standardization. During its heyday, the Worcester-based Ross Bros. seed catalog touted it as: “The Largest Bean, The Longest Keeper, The Brightest Pod, The Most Productive.” The Worcester Mammoth was banked by farmer John Withee in the 1970s as part of his bean seed collection, which was transferred to Seed Savers Exchange in 1981. Farmer Jen Burt has been growing the Worcester Mammoth since 2021.
Anne McNevin
The Recipe Club
Inspired by: Justin Walker, Daddy Bruce
photomontage printed on Hahnemuhle photo rag metallic glossy fine art paper
22″ x 27″
2024
Responding to Walker’s vision of taste and appetite in “Daddy Bruce” I layered photos of Jill Watts preparing bread with scans of recipes from a cook book prepared by my friend Cindy Braun before she died. Well worn covers of old books provided a background. Contrasting the disembodied young woman’s legs in “Daddy Bruce”, Jill’s arms surround a mixing bowl while making bread. Rather than Walker’s dehumanized objectification of appetite and taste, these women’s culinary creations provide sustenance to others. Cindy was young, Jill is not, both are well aware of the power of good food.
Parker Milgram
Chameleon Eating A Banana
Inspired by: Charles “Teenie” Harris, Cotton Candy Booth
Photoshop and royalty free sound effects sourced from Pixabay
00:00:12
2024
Chameleon Eating A Banana stars Edna, an original character I developed for a picture book. While working on this animation, I explored Edna’s emotional arc as she finds and consumes one of her favorite treats–a banana. She goes through many stages: The craving for a banana, the excitement of finding a banana, the anticipation of eating a banana, the gulping down of a banana and, finally, the satisfaction of having consumed said banana. It’s interesting for me to see how Edna’s body shape and scale pattern changes depending on her current mood and thoughts.
@parkermilgram
Evan Morse
Checkout, Star Market
Inspired by: Jules Aarons, West End Meat Market Adriaen van Otade, Company in a Tavern
Hydrocal plaster, pigment
18″ x 16″ x 2″
2018
This relief sculpture shows an everyday scene of someone in the checkout of a supermarket. Part of my interest with this scene is that it brings to mind our relationship with our food sources. Most Americans are very removed from food production, and at the supermarket you can purchase a vast variety of food, some from distant places. This piece especially relates to ‘West End Meat Market’ and ‘Company in a Tavern’ because of the quotidian subject matter and how it is a record of a certain cultural place and time.
@morsesculpture
Eric Nichols
Summer Dinner, 2020
Inspired by: Adriaen van Otade, Company in a Tavern Charles “Teenie” Harris, Cotton Candy Booth Jules Aarons, West End Meat Market
archival inkjet print
11″ x 14″
2020
During the summer of 2020 our collective worlds began to contract as we settled into a more isolated life as the COVID-19 pandemic surged across the world. The photos in this series of images are from my part of a larger body of work made in collaboration with my wife and fellow artist Brittany Severance. Brittany and I turned our cameras on each other to explore how we see ourselves and each other as we navigated our time in near isolation.
Scott Niemi
Celebration
Inspired by: Mixteca-Puebla Artist, Tripod Bowl
acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas
36″ x 36″ x 1.5″
2023
“Celebration” is inspired by the “Tripod Bowl” ceramic piece. I’ve long been intrigued and inspired by the decorative and symbolic qualities represented in Aztec and other Mesoamerican peoples work. The abstract looking design on the bowl is structured, but it also represents chaos. The idea that the vessel was presumably one used for offerings of food/drink inspired me to work on my piece with the idea of a Celebration in mind. I also like the suggestiveness of the Tripod Bowl alluding to snake heads, as in the feet, since I typically infuse my work with human and animal references/symbols.
@Scott-Niemi-Art
Carrie Nixon
The Fluffernutter, State Sandwich of Massachusetts
Inspired by: Charles “Teenie” Harris, Cotton Candy Booth Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
oil on mylar
36″ x 30″
2024
This painting of a Fluffernutter-invented in Massachusetts in 1917-responds to two images from the Fitchburg Art Museum. It connects to Henry George Todd’s “Study of Strawberries” engaging the theme of Vanitas, with the drippy Fluffernutter and the berries as metaphors for the fragility and brevity of life. It also links to Charles “Teenie” Harris’ photo of the eager children anticipating cotton candy; the Fluffernutter and the cotton candy are sugary treats that many of us crave even though they are slightly “sinful.” Hence, this painting is a commentary on sensual desire.
@carrienixonart
Karen Nunley
Rice Bowls
Inspired by: Mixteca-Puebla Artist, Tripod Bowl Unknown Artist, English Teapot
collage, acrylic, ink, pastel on paper
22 1/2″ x 18″ (unframed) 31″ x 25″ (framed)
2024
Viewing the Mixteca-Puebla tripod bowl, I knew my piece would be about vessels. Vessels to hold food and drink range from plain utilitarian bowls to Fitchburg’s ornate English teapot. The teapot and design inside the bowl pushed me to include patterning. As I worked, an Asian theme developed, probably influenced by the Chinese pattern on the teapot, and rice bowls emerged. I liked this idea, as over half of the world’s population depends on rice as a staple in their diet. I am fortunate not only to own several rice bowls, but also to have enough food to fill them.
@kmcnun
Kat O’Connor
Returns
Inspired by: Jules Aarons, West End Meat Market Paul Quain, Loading Cattle, Aran
acrylic on paper
30″ x 22 5/8″
2023
Why the fascination with painting (or photographing) dead things? I’m not exactly sure, but historically speaking, artists paint form and beauty. Think of the Marco d’Agrate sculpture of St. Bartholomew. For me that has always been about studying the structure and anatomy of the human form. ‘Returns’ feels almost religious to me. I was inspired by the Blue Fish so common on the shores of Cape Cod. Fisherman discard the heads and take the body to eat, much the way the chickens of Jules Aarons’ ‘West End Meat Market’ hang headless and ready for the dinner table.
@katopaints
Melissa Parent
Blood, Sweat, & Tears
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries Justin Walker, Daddy Bruce Unknown Artist, English Teapot
mixed media collage, with acrylic, watercolor, embroidery
20″ x 24″
2024
Blood, Sweat and Tears, is a piece that reflects both the vibrant, luscious aspect of food as well as the darker mystery about how it gets to our plates. When presenting food and consuming food, there is a sensual nature present. We eat with our eyes, we lust after our food. Often we forget how much labor it involves. Pests, rot, disease, injuries, dirt all accompany the harvest, then again in the kitchen, creating and recipe writing. Love and heartbreak come into play, passing down family recipes, trying new things or failing, as we strive for perfection and illusion.
@Mparent_art
Kristin Parone
Fruit Feast
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries Unknown Artist, English Teapot
acrylic gouache
18″ x 24″
2024
The word ‘feast’ often conjures images of carnivorous platters of meats. As a vegetarian, my mind goes toward juicy succulent fruits. The egg cup depicts a rooster, yet he is not on the menu. The table-scape still life is also meant to be a feast for the eyes with busy fabric tablecloth and a floral bouquet including a large orange to represent the unexpected representation to the theme. Oranges are everywhere in this scene! The tea represents community, conversation, and connection.
@kristinparoneart
Abraham Passmore
The Old Man and the River
Inspired by: Jules Aarons, West End Meat Market Charles “Teenie” Harris, Cotton Candy Booth Adriaen van Otade, Company in a Tavern
oil and Casein on gesso board
16″ x 24″
2024
When I saw the loan and the sense of community around food, especially in “West End Meat Market” and “Cotton Candy Booth” it made me think of fishing with my grandfather and the my father in law made the perfect model for capturing the feeling of a providing father figure. For me the theme of Feast is a theme of family and connections that food can foster.
@abe_paints
Anju Pillai
Consumerists Bliss
Inspired by: Matt Siber, McDonalds
acrylics and collage on panel
18” x 22″
2024
In “Consumerist Bliss” I invite the audiences to a vibrant tableau brimming with brand logos. The central figure, captured mid-leap, in ecstatic celebration embodies the joy found in the choices afforded by consumer-driven society. The artwork is a critique of the advertising industry’s power over our culinary desires, calling to mind the same themes as Matt Siber’s “McDonald’s”. The blue web that cradles each logo represents the pervasive network of consumerism that traps as much as it supports, offering a nuanced commentary on the complexities of our relationship with corporate branding and the allure of endless choice.
@artaesthetics_by_anju_pillai
Ashley MacLure
Bone and Paper
Inspired by: Mixteca-Puebla Artist, Tripod Bowl Unknown Artist, English Teapot
stoneware, glaze
12 ” x 12 ” (both bowls)
2022
Bone and Paper My mother’s “safe foods” were meat and chocolate ice cream. It wasn’t until I got older that I heard her vomiting at night in her bedroom. She used newspaper delivery bags– the long skinny ones that hold papers– then tied them in a knot and left them beside her bed filled with whatever she ate that day. I don’t remember the meals, or my mom’s weight, but the feeling of helplessness. Her bones, and the paper bags. These tea bowls are sharp, jagged like bones, inky like newspaper. My mealtime ritual.
@ashley.maclure
Gyani Pradhan Wong Ah Sui
Loss of Innocence
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries Matt Siber, McDonalds
35mm photograph printed on inkjet paper
8″ x 10″
2022
According to the Diamond Sutra, awakening is the first step in cutting through the illusion of reality on the path to nirvana. I came into adulthood in the US and only after having emigrated did I realize the capitalist constructs that had dictated my drive for material wealth and success that had originally fueled my desperate need to escape the small world I had begun to feel trapped by. Loss of Innocence portrays this adolescent awakening as I began to piece together the true weight of having left everything I had known behind and the indifference of a capitalist world.
@gyani13wasp
Morgan Tartakoff
The Catch
Inspired by: Jules Aarons, West End Meat Market
multi-block linoleum print with thread
7″ x 12″
2024
Jules Aarons’ West End Meat Market’s line of chickens immediately reminded me of stings of fish and of the famous saying “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime..” But today, there’s a catch to eating your catch. Mercury and PCBs from years ago still remain in MA fresh water aquatic life. What once was a means of providing a feast for your family is no longer a safe option. It may fill the belly but will poison the brain.
@LittlePebblePrintshop
Cathy Taylor
Feast or Famine
Inspired by: Paul Quain, Loading Cattle, Aran
archival inkjet print
11″ x 14″
2024
The collage brings up the question about who exactly is invited to the feast, and who exactly gets to attend the lavish banquet. While some may be sitting down ready to begin their many courses of sumptuous food, others are fighting the beast of hunger as it marks its next victim. The have’s and the have-nots are increasingly evident on our globe today. ‘Loading Cattle’ Native Americans starved to death when cattle replaced the great buffalo. Buffalo meat is sustainable, healthy, and important to the culture of the people of the Great Plains.
/Cathy Taylor
Pamela Taylor
Goals
Inspired by: Jules Aarons, West End Meat Market
gouache on paper
7″ x 9.5″ (unframed) 15″ x 17″ (framed)
2023
Karen Reid
Onions On The Sill
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
oil on panel
11″ x 14″
2024
This painting is a an exercise in observation, A still life created in my studio. I feel personally drawn to go back to my core skills of painting light. These onions take on their own personalities and energies that truly come through by the art of seeing. A true joy for me. Henry George Todd’s Study of Strawberries encouraged and inspired me to go back to creating work that stimulates my experience in painting from life.
Sarah Thompson
Feast Your Eyes (Burger and Skies)
Inspired by: Matt Siber, McDonalds
acrylic on canvas
16″ x 20″
2024
Feast Your Eyes (Burger and Skies) is a piece created in response to Matt Siber’s McDonald’s print from his Floating Logos series. Siber’s image of familiar fast food signage suspended against a brilliant sky evokes a phenomenon I love—a dramatic sunset or cloud scape as a backdrop over a corporate parking lot. When we stop for an errand or a quick bite, we also have the opportunity to take in a feast for the eyes. A fiery sunset over a McDonald’s is nature’s glorious rebellion: an invitation to slow down and enjoy it, even in a fast food environment.
@sarah.thompson.artwork
R. Douglass Rice
Behind the Glass
Inspired by: Jules Aarons, West End Meat Market
mixed media photocollage on found window
26 5/8″ x 16 1/4″
2024
” West End Meat Market”: At the turn of the century, people knew from where there food came. Today, not so much. I currently cook twice a week in a local meal center. I have also visited, farms, orchards, fishing docks and my friend’s meat processing plant. He has a hundred head of grass fed cattle. I accompanied him to his processing plant and took over fifty photographs of hanging sides of beef. Inspired by Soutine, I have created eleven 56″x 46″ paintings of sides of beef in oil on canvas. Some photos of these paintings are incorporated into the photo collage.
@r_d_rice /R. Douglass Rice
Winifred Tickner
Feast Because of Farms and Farmers
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
painting and small objects
14.5″ x 11.5″ x 2″
2024
Using mixed media and small objects.
John Rizzo
Anthem, Green, Central Market, Lone Butcher
Inspired by: Justin Walker, Daddy Bruce
photography
12″ x 18″
Nielsen Metal Gallery Fram size 17 ” x 22 “
Documenting the streets and markets of Europe is a passion of mine, making images is my vocation. I look to capture the unusual, funny, moments and romance that unfolds before my eyes as I walk and observe – as a cat burglar might looking for the right window. In my case, it is looking for the photographable moment or action.
@johnrizzoitaly
Francis Warner
Company in a Bakery
Inspired by: Adriaen van Otade, Company in a Tavern
acrylic on panel
17″ x 22″
2024
A surreal interpretation of Adrian von Ostade’s image, incorporating sweets found locally, and through current social gatherings.
Ann Rosebrooks
Mason’s Picnic II
Inspired by: Matt Siber, McDonalds
acrylic on canvas
20″ x 16″
2023
Painted from memory and imagination of a weekly, mason’s picnic event.
Jill Watts
Raccoons
Inspired by: Paul Quain, Loading Cattle, Aran
collage, photographs, paper, ink, crayon, Yes paste on Ampersand board
14″ X 11″
2023
Loading Cattle, Aran, became something of a negative inspiration for my submission to this show. I realized I wanted to celebrate animals having a feast instead of being a feast. As a feeder of feral cats, I often end up hosting other animals who come to feast on cat food. A family of Raccoons discovered my porch and the cat door thus, at times, have gotten more than the cats.
Jessica Sadlier
Eye Candy
Inspired by: David Seltzer, Sea Salt/Lemon Sage Charles “Teenie” Harris, Cotton Candy Booth
sculptural freestanding thread stitchwork on painted stretched canvas
8″ x 8″
2024
This piece is a feast for the eyes with its variety of texture and color. From a distance the gradated palette of pink threads and the linear painted background seem simple and clean, but upon closer inspection they work together to focus attention on the swirling elements. There is a surprising abundance of contours and shapes that appear as the viewer moves around.
@jhsdesignstudio
John Wesley Small
Takeout
Inspired by: Matt Siber, McDonalds
oil on stretched canvas
16” x 20”
2024
@john.wesley.small
Emily Smela
Allison, on Break
Inspired by: Paul Quain, Loading Cattle, Aran Matt Siber, McDonalds
Ilford HP5 film, inkjet photo
20″ x 24″
2021
Emmy has worked in the agricultural field for ten years now, and has spent much of that time photographing her coworkers. She has seen the incredibly long days farmers put into their craft, and still watches them struggle to pay rent and support themselves in this field. That being said, every year they come back for more. It is through the joy of watching the cycle of growth and rebirth every season that keeps these farmers sane. In this photo we see Allison, covered in soil, tired to the bone, wondering how many more years she can keep going.
@smallsights.photography
Catherine Smith
Porcelain Big Mac
Inspired by: Matt Siber, McDonalds
porcelain
8″ x 10″ x 4″
2024
Chinese culture gave the world porcelain. American culture gave the world the Big Mac. Matt Siber’s manipulated photograph of a so familiar McDonald’s sign, which appears to be floating in a radiant blue sky, critiques by asking the viewer to consume the graphics without the allure offered by hyper-yummy, corporately engineered, fast food. Whether we are employees, customers or critics, few of us have escaped internalizing multiple opinions about the company that employs the second-largest private workforce in the world. This piece is a reminder that we love and elevate so many things that are not so good for us.
@Catesmith.art
Edwin Smith
Seeing is believing. Believing is seeing.
Inspired by: David Seltzer, Sea Salt/Lemon Sage Justin Walker, Daddy Bruce
digital photography on paper
12″ x 15″
2024
Your eye creates an expectation for your experience, with food, the visual presentation is critical. Conversely, your experience determines what you see. Believing is Seeing.
Tracy Spadafora
Melting Glacier Popsicle
Inspired by: David Seltzer, Sea Salt/Lemon Sage Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
encaustic and collage on wood panel
12″ x 12″ x 1.5″
2024
Like the fruit in Henry George Todd’s Study of Strawberries, my relief painting of a frozen treat may seem appetizing at first glance. As Study of Strawberries includes a symbol of our own mortality, my popsicle, juxtaposed with glaciers, uses humor, (although not Good Humor), to reminder us of an existential issue of our time, global warming. As David Seltzer uses sensory stimulation in Sea Salt / Lemon Sage, I use blackberry scented melted wax, to stir up pleasing memories. But, the message revealed by the title and the background image suggests something that conflicts with any sense of pleasure.
@traceyspadafora /tracy.spadafore
Karen Stokke
Why Cinderella Really Fled the Ball
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries Justin Walker, Daddy Bruce
epinephrine injection trainer, edible dried flowers, foam pumpkin decoupaged with paper napkin and acrylic, found materials, wooden drawer
3.75″ x 7″ x 5.5″
2024
For people with severe food allergies, every dietary choice must be made with an awareness of one’s own mortality, mirroring the juxtaposition of allure and decay in Todd’s “Strawberries.” Walker’s visual of thighs and heels evoked an image of epinephrine being injected into a person’s thigh during an allergic reaction, with urgency for medical attention before the epinephrine wears off not unlike Cinderella’s race against the clock. Lastly, just as Walker’s piece conveys taste as “in the mind,” people with food allergies have social and psychological considerations, such as wanting to escape a situation where they feel unsafe.
Suzanne Stumpf
Raku Tripod Vessel
Inspired by: Mixteca-Puebla Artist, Tripod Bowl
porcelain
4” x 8”
2019
Raku work dates back to the 1500s and is held in high esteem for Japanese rituals such as tea ceremonies. The crazing/crackling that evolves through the intense firing and cooling process is unique from vessel to vessel. Its unpredictability is evocative of mysterious messages.
@Suzannestumpf
Susan Swinand
Spicy
Inspired by: David Seltzer, Sea Salt/Lemon Sage Charles “Teenie” Harris, Cotton Candy Booth
cinnamon, black pepper, chili powder, turmeric, salt, cumin, poppy seed, collage, acrylic medium, pencil on canvas
8″ x 8″
2024
I started with the idea of a hungry mouth, but the drawing evolved into abstract shapes that relate to eating. I was influenced by the humor and appetite depicted in “Cotton Candy Booth” by Charlie “Teenie” Harris. I was also inspired by the geometric, salt piece by David seltzer and was curious to see what colors and textures I could get out of the spices. I wanted a simple, sensory, spicy, humorous image.
@sswinand /Susan Mc Briarty Swinand
David Wesley White
You can obliterate a watermelon, but the seeds still grow
Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries
paper mache, dye, acrylic paint, watermelon seeds, plastic sprouts
15″ x 15″ x 9″
2024
In the vein of still life, a ripe display of fruit is rendered in visceral detail. While the strawberries in Todd’s painting subtly allude to the fragility of life, White’s sculpture confronts the viewer with a stark depiction of violent dissolution. Although the shredded flesh of the fruit is barbaric and hopeless, the inclusion of sprouting seeds points to resilience and new life.
@davidweswhite
