One potato, two potato

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Every once in a while I see a picture and wish I could paint like that. Actually that's not true. I Wish I had painted that actual piece. 'The secret life of potatoes' by Lidiya Douknevitch is one such marvel. I just love it.

And I am not the only one as it has - most deservedly - won the Joyce Cuming Presentation Award at the SBA Plantae 2019 exhibition. I will not be at all surprised if it also wins public favourite as well (...no prizes though, for guessing which painting I voted for...)

There are all sorts of wonderful things about this piece; it is absolutely bursting with life and energy, such brilliant balance and counterpointing of colour and textural contrast. The shrivelling bodies of the potatoes are handled really expressively. This is unusual in botanical work, but a perfect choice here, making us really feel the life leaching out of the 'parent spud' and into those smooth, fat, glowing baby taters.

And even more unusual, it's FUN - those tubers hover in/out of the the frame like strange, organic, alien space ships. It makes us look again at the prosaic old spud, mouldering quietly in a dark corner of the pantry, and see in it all the wonder, and miracle, and mystery, of life.

I have another reason for loving this particular work, though. It is a subject that I have dallied with myself. Here is a little piece done well over a year ago, and that I have always lovingly referred to as 'Spudnik'.


I was inspired by this fabulous potato painting by Norma Gregory. Again, a brilliantly executed and joyous celebration of what might be considered a rather lowly subject.




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