Sum & Substance (Cauliflower Moon Rising) by Monica Bean

I live in a part of New Jersey that is green and lush with fertile land and many small farms. The dedicated farmers that work this land nourish our physical bodies and unknowingly feed my creative spirit. This painting is an ode to that.

Garlic, an ordinary allium, is often shunned because of its strong personality. Here, it becomes the centerpiece - the “leading lady”. The wooden box conjures the brown earth from which the allium grew. The background returns her to the field with the cauliflower moon rising above - a nod to the phases of the moon and its importance to agriculture and farming. A culinary staple is transformed into a luscious bouquet.

I am guided by a quote from Robertson Davies, “Let your root feed your crown,” so elegantly interpreted by Bo Bartlett as “to paint your life, to be true to your temperament in order to maintain truth and originality through one’s work”. Words to live and paint by.