Winter is here: most humans spend less time outside. As an artist, I like pour over spring, summer, and fall photos for painting inspiration. I miss the Highland Park Farmers Market, so it has become one of my favorite themes to paint. Also, I took an online course with Shari Blaukopf called Sketching Markets in Ink and Watercolor, so that was an added incentive to paint my local market.
I have two favorite stands at the Highland Park Farmers Market. The first one I go to is the organic stand: that stand is depicted in the paintings at the top and bottom of this post. I often look for kale. It tends to be greener in the spring or fall, as kale prefers cooler temperatures. Sometimes I buy arugula, corn, parsley, or squash. I enjoyed painting all the overflowing cabbages and cauliflower in the top painting.
My favorite item of all are the summer peaches. New Jersey peaches in July and August are amazing. I worked hard to apply rich, opaque paint to my peaches illustration.
In this painting I challenged myself to include a person, some signs, and a background. Farmers markets are lively places: much for the artist to capture.
The Highland Park Farmer’s Market is over for the season, but the memories remain.
This one of pumpkins is a bit more abstract than the apples photo. It’s also more washed out, but I like the painterly quality. Some of us have a hard time picking one, whether it’s an apple or a photo.
This week’s Thursday Challenge is FOOD (Farmers Market, Vegetables, Meat, Cooking, Restaurant,…).
Tomorrow is the last day of the Highland Park Farmer’s Market for the 2010 season. I will miss my Friday visits to see the vegetables, fruits and flowers. And of course, chat with the people. This past week I met Debbie at the market, whom you can read about in this interview.
On My Blog
Linda’s Recital on Sunday at Etz Ahaim in Highland Park – bassoon and piano
Elsewhere in the Blogosphere
Batya put together a nice Meet the Blogs post. Thank you for the mention, Batya.
Factual Friday is cool. For example, Mrs. S. has more friends on Facebook than Mr. S. – isn’t that a precious fact? ๐ Seems to have something to do with blogger friends.
Hannah posted about a program to teach empathy called Bullies and Babies. Some commentators are skeptical: does this work?
Friday was a beautiful, not too hot day in Highland Park. What a joy to visit the farmer’s market. I usually buy peaches, yellow squash, parsley and a cucumber. If the organic stand features kale, I buy some of that, too. What produce do you like to buy?
For more posts with a little or a lot of red, visit:
It’s a wonderful time of year in New Jersey: the peaches are finally available in the farmer’s markets. These are the best tasting peaches…um, yum, de-de dum. It was even worth traipsing off during the heat wave last Friday to get yet another bag.
The peaches are beautiful to behold as well as eat. Can I have my peach and eat it, too?
Small tomatoes in my garden are finally ripe. I also have some garden grown cucumbers (my first year growing cucumbers). I saw one of my bigger tomatoes finally turning red. How long will I hold out before picking it?
For more photos with a little or a lot of red, visit Ruby Tuesday:
Farmer's Market, Highland Park, New Jersey
I decided to play a bit with the Live Trace tool in Illustrator and came up with this version of one of my photos of the Highland Park Farmer’s Market. I want an illustration for my upcoming soup post, though this one won’t be it. But the tool has potential for other projects.
Raspberry in our backyard, September 2009
We still have plenty of raspberries in our backyard. One of the great things about raspberries and kids is that it gets them to enjoy the “fruits” of the garden in a tangible and edible manner.
Radishes at the Highland Park Farmer Market
I took some photos at the Highland Park Farmer’s Market last Friday.
Lettuce at the Farmer's MarketFrom heirloom to cherry to yellow, take your pick of tomato!
For more photos with a little or a lot of red, visit Mary at Work of the Poet:
Every Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the summer and early fall there is a farmers market in Highland Park. I buy organic parsley, lettuce, beets and kale (what I buy varies each week) from a particular organic food stand at the market. Sometimes I buy the flowers for someone else as a gift.
My favorite produce that grows in New Jersey are the peaches. I buy a lot; my eldest son loves peaches, and so do I.
In fact, the peaches are one of the best parts of living in New Jersey. In the photo you can also see sugar plums, another tasty treat.
For more photos with a little or a lot of red, visit Ruby Tuesday:
