Essence Unpeeled

Oil painting on canvas board | Unframed

21.5 cm x 25.5 cm

Garlic is one of my favourite ingredients to cook with. There is no such thing as too much garlic. In painting "Essence Unpeeled," I wanted to transform the humble garlic into a subject of profound beauty and potential. The canvas becomes a stage where each bulb and clove is cast in a light that reveals their textured, papery skins and the subtle play of purples and earth tones that speak of their natural essence.

The dark backdrop hints at the garlic's journey from the rich soil to the culinary canvas of a kitchen’s chopping board. There's an intimacy in the clusters and the fallen husks, a suggestion of the preparatory dance of cooking. One can almost hear the crisp snap of the skin being broken, the first step in releasing the pungent aroma that is both familiar and transformative.

This painting is more than a study of form; it is an olfactory invitation. I invite you to lean in closer, to inhale the promise of flavour that garlic embodies. Each bulb is poised at the precipice of becoming, ready to infuse its robust essence into a simmering pot or a sizzling pan, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary with its zest.

"Essence Unpeeled" is a tribute to the sensory power hidden in everyday life, a reminder of the simple yet profound joy found in the act of cooking, and the alchemy that turns ingredients into a feast for the senses.