From Farm to Table ~ The bounty!

Have you ever been to an outdoor Farmers Market in Europe? It is simply a must - a requirement for the soul. It is always a cherished memory for me to recollect the ones I have strolled through - many of them in France, my native country. I seek them out constantly. It is not difficult to be tempted by the bounty of Mother Nature's richness. It is not difficult at all. 

On the other side of the world, here at home in Marin County, Northern California, weekly Farmers' Markets abound in each small local town - and year round! Here too, the earth is rich. The climate is temperate. The sun is shining on the land. The farmers are devoted. The community is hungry.

I do not always go there to shop. I go to soak in the patterns, the vibrant colors, the textures, the tastes, the smells, the hustle and bustle, the feel. A lot of inspiration for my art comes from these outings. Look closely at these images; you will not just be hungry - you just might be tempted to pick up a paintbrush!

I might arrive just past sunrise as the tables fill up with displays yet untouched; or I laze out of bed on a Sunday morning, and walk through the thick of the morning rush - rubbing elbows with tempted gourmands sipping their hot lattes, indulging in fresh made crepes, all eagerly awaiting the roast chicken vendor. Welcoming sellers with their multitude of seasonal samples, one more delicious then the next, keep tempting me. Sometimes as I sit at a table and listen to the live music, I am so clearly reminded just how good this all is for the soul.

What bounty!

And then there's TALENT ~ the art of Ted Emrick

I suspect we have all fallen in love at some wondrous point or another. I, for one, can easily fall in love with a lonesome tree on a hillside as it reaches for the sky; I can fall in love with a thick luscious apricot home-made jam; I can fall in love with the soft moves of a sensuous gesture; and I must say that falling in love with the art of Ted Emrick was not hard to do at all. Ted Emrick and I go back to our college days at the San Francisco Art Institute in the mid-eighties. It only took us a mere 27 years to get back in touch. 

The time had come.

Back then, his reverse glass paintings were on a scale that blew me away in their effortless and mind-boggling intimidating creativity. I knew he was not done. I knew then he would go on to great things. 

I was right. I held on to a secret. Today there are sculptures in Ted Emrick's world made of unique materials that seem so stunningly unrelated. 

He molds and shapes these materials. 

He blends colors into them that dance joyously together. 

He slices glass with undulating grace. He stacks it.

He paints between the lines. 

He sees what we do not see. 

He inspires the textures he touches to reveal themselves. 

Twisting Orion's Belt ~ the first photograph he sent me after 27 years...no wonder!

The power of the glass. The power of the waves Ted sees in the glass.

I am moved beyond words when I look at art like this ~ the stacked glass, the sliced shells imbedded like fossils of long ago; the human body standing strong against the ripples in the ocean.

Ted's front yard at his home on the Central Coast. 

~ even there he creates in the light of all that sea of glass. Does he see it as I see it?

Ted's latest reverse glass paintings are something for the eye of the beholder. 

The technique might be a secret. I know I must find it out.

Ted's most recent artistic endeavor ~ life size pods - seed pods, light dancing from within, the female figure eager to reveal itself ~ all floating in an ethereal world. 

Deep breath... these leave me in awe.

Ted Emrick's world is before anything else a world of surf. Back in the 80's, he would often disappear from the Art Institute for days on end. He would look at Alcatraz from the balcony of the Institute and the waves would call his name; the waves would call him home. He would then head south to the energy of the rolling waves of his Central Coast, only to return invigorated, ready to release new gemstones of art, new gemstones of incredible art.

After 27 years, in our very first correspondence,Ted sent me two photos. The first one is at the top of this blog - divine to say the least; the second one is this one of him surfing - to me, they epitomize the man I can truly call my friend ~ an amazing artist, an amazing inspiration. 

Reach out to him you must ~ at tedemrick.com

These are the words he attached to this last photo.

"Sometimes you just have to let go, close your eyes and let life flow from around you!"

 By now you must know my closing line ~ take a deep breath and repeat after me:

"It's good for the soul"

Create ~ Adeline