Pomegranate

Finished another painting today. I love the symbol of the pomegranate. The definition is literally "seedy apple". To me, that is really close to what this was like...painting an apple. I found the following which is translated from Egyptian hieroglyphics:

"The pomegranate speaks:
My leaves are like your teeth
My fruit like your breasts.
I, the most beautiful fruits,
Am present in all weathers, all seasons
As the lover stays forever with the beloved,
Drunk on 'shedeh' and wine."
from Garden Song translated by Ezra Pound and Noel Stock

The ancient Greeks associated the pomegranate with Persephone. She was abducted by Pluto and taken to the underworld. She had to spend part of the year in Hades because she had eaten 6 pomegranate seeds!

In Judaism, the pomegranate is the symbol of fertility.

To make pomegranate sauce, juice 8 - 10 pomegranates. Strain out the seeds and mix with about a half a cup of sugar and a couple drops of lemon juice. Cook over medium heat for about 15 or 20 minutes. It will thicken into a clear and light syrup. Keep refrigerated.

This painting was started several times because the photo I used showed the fruit with a white reflected line. This happened because it was on a brilliantly white table. I changed the background color and then had to change the color of the reflected light. I probably painted it three times until I was happy with it. The center of the flower I had to make up because the photo was so bad and because the fruit was old and the stamens looked gray. I am happy with the final painting. It looks great in the gold frame as well.

until later....