...a little more about 'Sanguinello'

'Sanguinello' - the colour of the flesh inside : a delicious raspberry red!

26 February 2012

‘Sanguinello’  was inspired by a sojourn in Piemonte, Italia where I breakfasted daily on ‘spremuta d’arancia‘ (freshly squeezed oranges) of every hue from tangerine through to persimmon. I didn’t see any citrus trees whilst there; but the colours of the fruit in the markets and the ever-changing blush of the ‘orange’ juice sparked something deep down.

Ideas can take a while to come through to my painting them.

Sanguinello – a blood orange – grows in Sicilia and ripens just about now (February). It is a sweet and delicious fruit with crimson flesh. There is a hint of this inner secret in my painting as you will notice I have used red and crimson tones in the shadows of the yellow skin.

This is the first of my series of Mediterranean paintings: images of citrus groves full of ripe fruit suffused in golden sunshine. A feast for the senses. I want you to smell the citrus oil, be tempted to pluck a fruit from the tree and taste it right away.

Seriously; when I exhibited these paintings many people thought that I was burning citrus oils in the gallery! I was so pleased that the paintings had this effect. A true engagement with the senses.

3 March 2012

omg ! Today I bought some blood oranges. I’ve never seen them for sale in Ireland before. I’ve just tasted one. Zinging with deliciously sweet juicy citrus-iness! This variety is a small fruit which fits neatly in my hand. The real surprise – apart from the taste – was the colour of the flesh inside: a glorious raspberry red.

I do remember once when I was a child my mother brought some home. When she told me and my siblings they were blood oranges I recoiled I in horror refusing to taste them although the blotchy red splashes on yellow fascinated me. It has taken me a while to get over that first impression.