Illustration Friday: Folklore

When I was little, one of my favorite stories was about an ogre who showed up at an old woman's house and was bullying her. She offered him a basket of apples, but one of them was actually a pin cushion that only looked like an apple. When he took a bite of it, the pins stuck in his teeth and tongue, and he went away howling. I love stories where bullies get outsmarted. I think I changed it into a tomato because my mom had one that looked more like a tomato than an apple. Anyway, it's a pretty old painting, done in my first gold leaf and egg tempera phase. I'm posting it here for this week's IF prompt, Folklore.

Spring Cleaning

This is the companion piece for Starsweeper, the painting I posted last week. Ultramarine blue (in glass, it is cobalt) is my favorite color, and many of my pieces feature this wonderful hue. So this is for Paint Party Friday's question, do you have a favorite color? The answer is an enthusiastic yes!

Two years ago, both Starsweeper and Spring Cleaning were badly damaged while in the care of a neglectful gallery owner. They are tucked in a corner in my studio and I haven't had the heart to look at them since. This summer, though, I'm going to gather my courage and look at them to see if I can repair them. I'd love to have them back.

The Oni and the Tomato

I read a story once about an oni who came to an old woman's house and said he was going to eat her up. She told him that she would be much too tough and stringy, and wouldn't he rather have a nice tomato instead? She offered him a basket of tomatoes, still warm from the sun. In it, she had hidden her pin cushion, which looked exactly like the tomates from her garden but was full of pins and needles. The oni took one bite and went howling away down the lane. I've often thought about how the old woman prevailed over that bully by using her wits instead of violence. I'm posting this today for IF's topic, Giant, because the old woman beat a giant problem, literally and figuratively. Also, in this beginning summer season, I have Giant tomatoes on my mind.

This is an egg tempera painting on panel, with gold leaf.