Food Tells a Story of Love

This post first appeared on my Patreon page. Join by July 31 2016 for your free bonus drawing!

"I loved to cook, so I cooked. And then cooking became a way of saying I love you. And then cooking became the easy way of saying I love you. And then cooking became the only way of saying I love you." - Nora Ephron, Heartburn*

Inspiration comes from all around. My love of food isn't just from my own experience. I'm also moved by other people sharing their love for food. For a heaping dish of inspiration, I turn to the movies.

I like to watch movies in the studio. Or, more accurately, I like to listen to movies via headphones while I work. There's a part of my brain - you know, the little voice that whispers that everything you do is crap and you should probably give up forever? Yeah, I need that part to take a seat while my good creative stuff is flowing. A little background narrative is a great place to park the verbal critic so I can create in peace.

However, some movies demand my full attention. And not just my eyes and ears. They take over my tastebuds, too.

What makes a good food movie? It's not just pretty shots of sumptuous dishes. Food tells a story of love. Love of craft, love of nature, love of color and texture and flavor, and the way we take these things in with all of our senses. We use food to show love, and a good food story does too.

It also makes us hungry. So here, in no particular order, is a list of movies that I absolutely cannot play while I'm working. Because of the drool.

Links point to the films' entries on IMDB.

Chef (2014) This movie is a love song to the Cuban sandwich. Ham, pork, cheese, mustard, pickles, butter, bread. Also, follow your dreams and that stuff.

"Okay well my credit cards are maxed out and we're not charging for food yet so we're gonna have to wait on the sound system."

"Yeah, but you look happy, baby, don't you?"

"So happy. So happy."

Chocolat (2000) It's not all sticky sweets in this quaint French village. Raw cacao beans? Ground chile pepper? Roasted rabbit with chocolate mole? Seconds, please. And while we're in France...

The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014) What happens when Too French and Not French Enough become neighbors.

"Now, last night, we served this. Miserable, overcooked asparagus. In this restaurant, the cuisine is not an old, tired marriage. It is a passionate affair of the heart!"

Ratatouille (2007) I'm now realizing how heavily my list skews French. We're not even done.

"How do you tell how good bread is without tasting it? Not the smell, not the look, but the sound of the crust. Listen. A symphony of crackle. Only great bread sound this way."

Babette's Feast (1987) Classical French cuisine ventures out to the austere reaches of Denmark. Food so rich you'll feel a little ashamed of watching people eat it.

The Lunch Box (2013) Have you heard of the dabbawalas of Mumbai? They use a meal delivery system so complex and accurate that the Harvard Business School marvels at how well it works. Until one day it doesn't.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011) The world is so big that it seems hard to believe that anyone could be the best at something. But here's Jiro. Not to mention Jiro's rice dealer, who only sells his best grains to Jiro because no one else in the world can cook them as well. And don't get me started on the omelettes.

Julie & Julia (2009) And we're back in France. Does anyone in the world love their cuisine as much as the French do? Maybe they deserve it.

"Every time you taste something that's delicious beyond imagining, and you say, 'what is in this?' The answer is always going to be 'butter.'"

*I recently read Heartburn for the first time, loved it, and can't wait to see the movie. I have a feeling it will land on this list with a bullet. Ephron also wrote the screenplay for Julie & Julia.

Honorable Mention: anything directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Spirited Away, Ponyo, Kiki's Delivery Service, Howl's Moving Castle, and so on. Every Miyazaki film has at least one spectacular food scene in it. It's practically its own subgenre. Here's a starter kit.

These are my favorites, and there are plenty of food movies I haven't seen yet. What should I taste-test next?

Save

Happiness Through Music

Just for fun. These all came to me at once today. Let's explore. Si Ri Ga Ma Pa!

Conkarah and Rosie Delmah give us a reggae cover of Adele's Hello:

James Corden and Sean Hayes cover Justin Bieber on that piano from Big: (Bieber part starts around 1:30)

One-woman cello orchestra Zoe Keating's closing performance at the World Economic Forum:

Listen to your happiness today. Here's mine: Grace Jones, La Vie En Rose

Deep-cleaning the Studio, Part 1

It's a new year! And I've got a lot to work on in 2016. Time to properly clean the studio. Mostly that means dusting. But I'd also like to reduce the general visual clutter in here. Smooth out the lines, if you will. Quiet environment, quiet mind.

That little sign says "Bad painting is better than no painting at all."

Does anything collect dust quite like books? Oh, yeah, wooden bookshelves do.

For the first time, I've organized my books by size rather than subject. Smoothing out the lines. However subjects are still organized by shelf.

Genre fiction, skewed toward science fiction & fantasy, plus books I loved as a kid. Bingo & Yahtzee are here too.

General fiction, poetry, essays & memoirs, travel, reference. Yes I put Ready Player One in general fiction and not with the sci-fi. Don't judge.

Graphic arts, a brief stop in Southwest American & Spanish Colonial art, on to Modern & Contemporary.

Quiet bookshelf, quiet active mind. Ahh.

Now on to things like ...this.

See how it all turned out.

Departures and More

Departures. Acrylic on canvas, 20 x 20 inches, 2015 by Sarah Atlee. $1,080

To purchase Departures, contact me at sarahatlee@gmail.com.

About Departures

I'm into Quilting. It influences my painting in a big way. I'm a member of the local chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild. What distinguishes "modern" from traditional quilting? There are no hard and fast rules, of course, but the MQG has a handy list of things to look for:

"...several characteristics often appear which may help identify a modern quilt. These include, but are not limited to: the use of bold colors and prints, high contrast and graphic areas of solid color, improvisational piecing, minimalism, expansive negative space, and alternate grid work. 'Modern traditionalism' or the updating of classic quilt designs is also often seen in modern quilting."

Improvisation is the element here that really gets my juices flowing.

But the Juices Were Not Flowing

Earlier this year I was noodling away on an abstract series, finding myself stymied. I wanted to go in too many directions. I was being fussy. I was thinking too hard. I was stuck.

I asked myself, "What if I painted the way I quilt - without fear?"

Sherri Lynn Wood and Improv Patchwork

In February 2015, I was lucky enough to attend QuiltCon and take an improvisational patchwork class taught by Sherri Lynn Wood. She taught us to be present in our space, and to cut, cut, cut and sew, sew, sew - without worrying about the overall design. It was a revelation. We made quilt tops that seemed to grow organically in our hands. The patchwork pieces grew, and I grew. I went home and pre-ordered Wood's new book.

Order your own copy of the Improv Handbook here.

Then I had to wait for, like, six weeks before the book shipped. What on earth was I to do in the meantime?

Departing

I took a painting that wasn't working. I laid down a stroke of color with my brush. Then I put down another, next to that. Then another. It became a row of stripes. It curved here and there. Another row grew next to it. I had found a path, and I followed it. I was through.

Save

Bonus Gratitude!

A special bonus gratitude session to round out the series. There's someone very special I haven't yet mentioned in my gratitude series.

You.

Thank you for reading this. Thank you for visiting my website. Thank you for sharing your kind words of encouragement. Thank you for saying hello, for your handshake, for your smile.

Thank you for subscribing. Thank you for coming to see my shows. Thank you for sharing your stories about how you connect with my work. Thank you for bringing my art into your home and making what I do a part of your life.

Thank you for supporting an artist, any artist. Thank you for taking the time to look at art. Thank you for looking.

You are my supporter, my patron, my colleague, my collaborator, my friend.

Thank you.

Do we know eachother yet? I would love to connect with you. Sign up and let's stay in touch!

What  - and who - are you thankful for? Express your gratitude in the comments below.

Read Coffee, Sleep, Paper - In Gratitude, Part 1 Read Boundaries, Bracelets, and Biz Coaches - In Gratitude, Part 2 Read Monkeys, Quilts, and Toilet Art - In Gratitude, Part 3 Read It's the Little Things - In Gratitude, Part 4