AN EVENING IN BEDLAM

THE COCKTAIL PARTY, Circa 1990

Blue Hill, Maine

" You realize, James, " Barbara said as she cupped her glasses, as to emphasize her point, "You must choose, you are either Roman or Florentine, you cannot possibly be both."

I stared vacuosly into my drink and nodded. A cocktail party on Parker Point was a long way from Italy. I didn't have the foggiest idea of what she meant. At the time I had only been to Italy once and the closest I ever got to Rome was the airport. She had lived there for years! "Wh...what exactly do you mean by that?" I finally stammered in response. She backed off slightly, giving me a look that was part surprise and part benign dismissal. "Guess you'll just have to find out for yourself," she said turning to give her attention to another, more worthy guest. "Oh," I muttered.

FAST FORWARD

FLORENCE

Florence

James Aponovich

pencil underdrawing, panel, 12" x 16"

Q. Although I do not as usual read "blogs", I was advised to follow yours by my American colleague, Kurt ( whom, I assume you know). I cannot disagree in its interest, however, in reference to your depiction of the City of Florence, I was astonished not to find the Badia and Bargello. For what reason did you omit them?

                                                                                                     - Giancarlo A., Art Historian, Milan

A. It's not Florence, it's a painting ( I do not mean to be cheeky, refer to Matisse*)

* When Matisse was asked why he had painted a green stripe down the face of Madame so and so, he replied, " It's not Madame so and so, it's a painting!"

I admit that I have had a difficult time warming up to Florence. That does not necessarily mean 

that 'I'm Roman', but Rome is a Baroque powerhouse, full of ostentatious grandeur, spectacle and over the top flavor. Florence, on the other hand is a Renaissance city, prone to a certain somberness and restraint, attributes that I am well familiar with living in New England. However, there is something in Florence that literally rises above all else.

IL DUOMO e IL CAMPANILE

Santa Maria Dei Fiori

Duomo (detail)

James Aponovich

pencil on panel, 12" x 16"


Brunelleschi's Dome and Giotto's Bell Tower, together dominate the city. For the most part, as you walk the streets you cannot see them, turn a corner and they tower above you, all out of human scale like a leviathan breeching. I have always wanted to paint them.

"This is insane, this is insane!"
                                                                         -Tom B., Appliance Repairman, NH.

In the first light of the morning, I often draw at the kitchen island, my 'office'. I began a panel depicting Florence, after a sketch I had completed of the Duomo and Campanile from the top floor of Orsanmichele. It is pure fantasy, at that early hour, last nights dream cycle is easily conveyed into the buildings and streets of my imaginary yet real city on the Arno. When Tom, our friendly repairman was in the kitchen working on the fridge, he saw the panel on the island, picked it up, looked at it and kept saying, "This is insane..." Insane you say.... I'll show you insane!


SPLITTING A HAZELNUT

The Fairy Fellers Masterpiece
Richard Dadd ( 1817-1886)
oil on canvas, 21" x 15"


Richard Dadd was a Victorian English Artist  contemporaneous with Lewis Carroll of Alice Through the Looking Glass fame. Dadd, however is not a recognizable name. In fact, even when he was alive he was referred to in the press as, "the late Richard Dadd!" I feel for him. This is his most well known painting, it was a commission of sorts and it took him some six years to complete, he had plenty of time on his hands.
The painting is quite small but utterly fantastic with every square inch crawling with minutiae. The scene is set with an erect woodsman about to split a hazelnut with his ax. All around are an hallucinatory assortment of fairies,  Spanish dancers, Lords, dwarfs, and one spectacular grasshopper blowing on a long trumpet, well worthy of Bosch.

(detail with grasshopper)

(detail with Woodsman and ax)


Dadd used to say that he would stare at a blank canvas until  forms started to emerge. Curiously, Leonardo da Vinci recommends throwing an ink soaked sponge against a wall and then observe the 'pictures' left behind, ever wonder where the landscape in back of the Mona Lisa came from?
Bt the way, the person who commissioned Dadd was the Warden of Bethlehem Hospital in England, what we now call Bedlem, Dadd was legally insane and spent the last forty years of his life there.


            

{week 28}

copyright 2015 James Aponovich

THE FOOD ISSUE... Mid Winter Edition

WHAT!  LOBSTER AGAIN?

Lobster
James Aponovich
oil on panel, 10" x 8"


THE ELEGANT FIRESIDE DINNER
(or if you must, brunch)

The last time we encountered lobster ( blog post #6), it was stuffed into a hot dog roll, fun and delicious but definitely not elegant. It is my opinion that lobster meat does not lend itself to diverse
 preparations, ( unlike say, chicken), although they do refer to a small lobster as a "chicken lobster." The meat tends to toughen with prolonged cooking, so if you want to avoid the 'dunk in the butter' thing, there is......


BUERRE BLANC

White butter sauce, usually made with white wine, vinegar, shallots and of course butter. Since no drink goes better with lobster than Champagne (or Prosecco) and Meyer lemons are ripening in the atrium....This just might work. So combine-

1 small glass of Champagne or Prosecco
2 Tbs. lemon juice and some zest
2 Tbs. shallot, finely diced
2 Tbs. cream
Lots of Butter


Bring some champagne, lemon juice and shallot to a simmer and reduce to not much at all. Add the cream and zest and reduce some more, then add the butter until glossy and irresistible....salt, pepper. Done!

" Lobster Fired Over Cold is some wicked good"
                         - Basil Ladd, Bucks Harbor, Maine

A Downeast expression that some call 'Lazy Man's Lobster' But it is just lobster meat taken out of the shell and finished in a saute pan with butter, enhancing the lobster taste.



HOW TO SERVE

You could serve the meat by putting it back into the lobster carcass, but I find that a bit gross
( plus you can't eat he shell), so I turn to
 Elizabeth and ask," could you bake some profiteroles?
Please?"

Lobster and Cream Puff Pastry Shells (profiteroles)


Baseball size profiteroles are perfect, but nobody minds puff pastry shells from the supermarket.

Now, put a little buerre blanc sauce into the shell, stuff as much lobster as you can, then drizzle more sauce on top, pour a glass of bubbly, sit by a roaring fire, and as they say Downeast....
"Finest Kind! "




{week 25}

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

E~N~E

E ~ N ~ E

"The dogfish are back" *

                                                    -Kimball Petty, Little Deer Isle, Maine

* Local Mainers response to the returning 'summer people', who like the small sand shark ( dogfish) only come when the weather is warm (er).

DOWNEAST

 Blue Hill From Parker Point

James Aponovich

oil on canvas

As far as I know, there is no agreed upon point as to where "Downeast" actually begins. To mariners gunkholing up the Maine coast, it starts when you set your compass East / Northeast to follow the coast after Cape Elizabeth. To others, it is when the glacially fingered Mid Coast opens to Penobscot Bay, home of ancient volcanos. To diehards, it's only after you reach lonely Naskeag and set out onto Blue Hill or Jericho Bay that the real Downeast begins,. It is also, as they say.....

.......A STATE OF MIND

Pine Tree, Sebasco, Maine

James Aponovich

oil on canvas

We have lived there, for fifteen years we owned a house on Eggemoggin Reach,  about a mile from the Deer Isle bridge. We lived amongst the aging hippie diaspora   who settled there seeking the "good life,' albeit on rocky soil and frigid waters. We also knew the Grindles and Grays,  descendants of English prisoners released on the shore of what was then Massachusetts Bay Colony, later the British exported 

their 'unwanteds' to Australia. We were friends with Consuela and Julia, aristocratic Atlanta belles who taught us gardening and grace. We were all there bound by one common question, often asked: "How did you ever find this place?" We all came there from different circumstances and for different reasons, but the convergence united us all until the tide turned and it was time to move on.

THE TIDAL POOL

The Tidal Pool, Low Tide

James Aponovich

Oil on canvas, 8" x 12"

The current thinking is that early in our planets life, the earth was only rock, no water and little, if any

atmosphere. Our little sphere endured an aerial bombardment of asteroids, leaving craters and somehow, water, which after countless eons, created oceans.We still go to the coast of Maine and find that primordial scene recreated, the ebb and flow of water and rock. The scars from that violent epoch are still visible on that other rock, our Moon. On Earth the scars are hidden, but here the sea gradually erodes the granite shore exposing the once molten, ancient basalt. As the land slips under the sea and the Earth spins under the Moon, it all becomes magic.

Moon Rise Over the Gulf of Maine, High Tide

James Aponovich

"The sea has many voices, many gods and many voices."

                              -T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets

THE FOOD ISSUE ( week 6 )

THE FOOD ISSUE

Basket of Fruit with Grapes and Morning Glories

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 26" x 26"

YOU WANT FRENCH OR ITALIAN TONIGHT ?

It is said that if you ask 100 professional French chefs to each make a Bearnaise  sauce you will get 100 sauces exactly alike. On the other hand, ask 100 Italian cooks to make a ragu and you most certainly get 100 versions along with some heated arguments. In Italy things change , not just from region to region, but even town to town..

So, when I speak of Italian food, I am referring to the places I am most familiar with, Umbria, Tuscany and Rome. When I speak of food from my native New England, the conversation

 gets kind of sparse.....what dishes most represent New England? bluefish and beans? New England boiled dinner? Boston cream pie?

THE ROGER SWAIN SIX

Roger Swain, the eminent Botanist, Horticulturalist, Public Television personality, listed only six indigenous edible crops in the United States, they are:

Fox grapes ( Concord grapes)

sunflowers

wild rice

cranberries

blueberries

pecans

"That's piss poor!"

                       -R. Swain

Throw in a roasted wild turkey and you got a pretty decent Thanksgiving dinner. My point is that we don't have much to work with here in New England......well, thinking about it, there is one thing we do have.............

Lobster
James Aponovich
oil on panel, 16" x 12"


HOMERUS AMERICANUS

The North American lobster abounds off the coast of New England. Purists say you must go Down East in Maine to where the frigid Labrador current is home to the best lobsters. Having lived there, I cannot disagree.
Although most people prefer to dunk their boiled lobster in copious amounts of melted butter, ( and yes the bibs you wear around your neck do make you look silly ) there remains an ardent group that searches out the quintessential New England lobster recipe.

Sanders Lobster Pound, Portsmouth, NH.

Inside Sanders Lobster Pound

THE ALL AMERICAN
NEW ENGLAND
LOBSTER ROLL

Some recipes are all the more difficult due to their simplicity.
 Try boiling an egg.....perfectly.
It  may be axiomatic that less is more, but what is most important here is balance.
If this were a painting ( and it is a work of art) I would be referring to proportion, how one area relates to and balances the other. So, I have chosen to profile the lobster roll not because of its "chefy" complexity, but  because of its seemingly infinite variations on a relatively simple list of ingredients.


INGREDIENTS

Lobster, freshly caught is best, preferably from waters on or above the 43rd Parallel. Boiled and cooled then diced or torn. If you can buy shucked lobster meat, make sure it is fresh.

Mayonnaise, yes, some is necessary, it is after all, lobster salad. The amount you add is up to you. 

Make your own mayonnaise or use Hellman's, or if you are a true New Englander, Cains.

Celery, crunchy and finely diced.

Scallion, only if you must.

Lemon Juice, for brightening

Salt & Pepper

New England Style Hot Dog Roll,  buttered and toasted.

A bag of Cape Cod potato chips, if you live in Maine, Humpty Dumpty potato chips.

Prepare the lobster salad, it should be chilled, but never cold. Keep the lobster pieces the right size to comfortably fit the roll. Reserve the claw meat to decorate the top. Brush the sides of the roll with melted butter and place on a hot pan until toasted a golden brown, open the roll to release some of the heat and fill with lobster salad mixture, do not overfill.

Lobster roll from Alisson's
Kennebunkport, Maine

There is a continuing controversy that never seems to be resolved....
What is the best thing to drink with lobster?
There is nothing wrong with a tall glass of Geary's Ale to have with your lobster.
But, our choice  of beverage is a cold crisp Prosecco when lobster is on the menu.
Our  favorite is Turina Lugana Spumante Brut.
CHEERS!

APPLEDORE, Isles of Shoals ( week 5 )

APPLEDORE,  ISLES OF SHOALS

"It must be so nice to be able to paint on an island off the coast of New England...."

"Appledore ain't exactly Martha's Vineyard, lady."

West Wind, Isles of Shoals, 1904

Childe Hassam

The Isles of Shoals are a group of islands lying ten miles off the coast of New England and are divided between Maine and New Hampshire. Appledore, Smuttynose and Duck belong to Maine, Star and White to New Hampshire. It is not easy to go ashore on Appledore. Both Cornell and the University of New Hampshire have research facilities on the Island. Beth and I managed to hitch a ride on a supply boat out of Portsmouth, NH.

BLACK BACKS AND MUSKRATS

Appledore Basket

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 18" x 24"

In many ways Appledore is not a comfortable place. Hundreds of Black Backed gulls fill the air with their screams. Don't go there when they are fledging, they will attack you. Their white droppings are matched by the brown of the muskrats that roam the island, fearless and nearly blind. Poison Ivy rambles everywhere. Rogue waves have been known to sweep people off the rocks. Great Whites feed on the seals off Duck Island. Yes, the wild is still here.

AN ISLAND GARDEN

Poppies, 1891

Childe Hassam

" Like the musician, the painter, the poet, and the rest, the true lover of flowers is born, not made."

                                                                                             Celia Thaxter

I had heard of Appledore as the summer home of Celia Thaxter, the Nineteenth Century poet and celebrated gardener who would host artists and intellectuals in her home. The American Impressionist painter, Childe Hassam was one of the more noteworthy and spent some twenty summers on the island.

DEATH BY WATER

Little Pond, Appledore

James Aponovich

oil on canvas

The Little Pond, Appledore,  1890

Childe Hassam

Thaxter had a charming summer cottage near her father's large hotel on the island. Many people from Boston would travel to the island to take in the therapeutic "airs". The Boston painter, William Morris Hunt, suffering from depression came to Thaxter's cottage on advice from his doctor. One morning she found his body floating in a pond behind her house, an apparent suicide. Eventually fire swept through both her father's hotel and later her cottage, leaving only foundation rubble. Her garden survived and is currently being restored. Appledore has a melancholy side.

ON THE OTHER HAND

Appledore in Fog

James Aponovich

oil on canvas, 20" x 22"

Beth and I came to see the garden and to paint it. It was a brilliant, sunny day and as I painted, I struggled with the buildings that survived the fire, as well as

 the large watchtower, a remnant of World War II.

Earlier, as we were approaching the island, I had noticed something on the horizon. I knew all too well, having once lived on the coast of Maine.....fog. The fog banks that roll in from the Gulf of Maine are thick and dangerous. Mariners say, "the ceiling has dropped," and so it had.......

But it erased the watchtower and softened the buildings, I loved it. It reminded me of a painter from Prouts Neck, Maine

The Artist's Studio in an Afternoon Fog, 1894

Winslow Homer

They will close Appledore soon for the winter. The ice and snow are too harsh, but come next season I will return whenever I need to wash my vision with sea, rock and gulls. Just watch where you step.

Agapanthus, Appledore

James Aponovich

oil on canvas