My grandmother Elvira with my mom
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2017
As the holidays approach, I've been thinking a lot about family and the foods of holidays past. Thanksgiving memories of my grandmother's pies, breaded cauliflower, my mom's cranberry sauce. Christmas memories of all sorts of fancy cookies that both my mom and grandmother would spend days baking. Homemade ravioli and stuffed artichokes at Easter. Birthday candles on top of my mom's cheesecake. Growing up, special occasions meant special food. This series of paintings was done in honor of my late mother and grandmother in recognition of their generous, giving spirits. I chose foods that remind me of the wonderful meals that came out of their kitchens, not just during the holidays but year round. I'm calling this project Elvira's Kitchen, because when my mom was little their family lived near railroad tracks and their address became known to the vagabonds traveling by boxcar. They would show up at their backdoor knowing that they could get a good meal from a lady named Elvira. My grandmother couldn't imagine people being hungry so she always gave them what she had. She grew up during the depression and though poor, she says that they always managed to have food on the table. In an effort to make food available to more people during this holiday season, this series of paintings was available to bid on through EBay during the week of Thanksgiving. 11/28/17 - Thank you for to everyone who placed a bid on my paintings! I'm so thankful that this project was a success. We raised $865 and these four paintings and another $200 on a commission that was the result of this project for a total of $1065! 100% of the sales will be donated to the the RI Community Food Bank whose mission is to "To improve the quality of life for all Rhode Islanders by advancing solutions to the problem of hunger." Please visit their website to learn more about their work. |