drawing my vegetables I learned to grow
hannah tofts
drawing my vegetables I learned to grow hannah tofts
drawing my vegetables I learned to grow by hannah tofts a series of over 50 A4 sketches inspired by a tin of Van Gogh colour pencils a growing adventure in a greenhouse and a vegetable plot after a move from a city to the sea amsterdam to west coast scotland 2009-2014 my new tin of colours had just the perfect courgette-flower-yellow...
This was my very first greenhouse and vegetable plot. Exchanging cafes for coffee in my new glass routine; a green exchange I’d always wanted to try. I got busy planting, labelling, digging, tending and organising seeds and seedlings. I loved watching them grow, there was always something new to see. New colours and shapes, extraordinary wonders of hearty vegetables evolving from tiny seed. A treat to harvest with glowing pride, real tastes and honest earth activity; my soul was truly nourished. The greenhouse became my refuge where I could organise, order and style, read, think and be calm, be outside inside in this confronting wild nature up the head of a loch in all the powerful elements. It was my house in green. The courgettes were prolific in my first year, inside and out. I watched the flowers twist, unfurl and reveal the sumptuous colours of orange, peach, ice blue, lilac, lime, mint and courgette flower yellow. My first inspiration, too fabulous not to record. I started drawing just for myself, not for a commission or aim, to draw simply for me, to look. I struggled at first with my new romantic living. It was hard to let expectations go, to allow practice as process rather than result, to give in to the seasons. It took long invested hours, but I drew almost every vegetable I learned to grow that learning year. Take the moment; I didn’t know it then, nothing lasts forever.
After 2 growing years and a lot more digging I played around combining images and scanning them up to a metre high. Then they looked different, more than a sketch, and the pencil sat honestly on the paper in digital print; I naturally draw at same size or 11/2 up but love big pencil marks. I cleaned up the smudges to work on a limited edition series of prints in various sizes, printed lightfast on German etching paper 300gsm. To order as single images small and big! or as combinations in Pumpkin Oranges or Courgette Yellows. The brilliance of digital printing means the colours are exact, especially orange.
Inspiration is a funny thing. During my growing adventure I discovered my 25 year old collection of seed packets in the attic. I always loved the colours of fruits and vegetables, fascinated by how they grow and are sold and displayed in other countries. I’ve collected all types of printed ephemera of fabulous graphics, gaudy colours, fine engravings, cheesy postcards, patterns, prints and abstracted shapes to do with fruit & veg, with 3d paper mache, plaster, wood and plastic produce. I’ve consistently documented the food markets I’ve gloried in around the world, consumed by their colour, senses and variety. The colours make me happy, the shapes make me smile. I travel with vegetable and fruit words first. I love eating and cooking with them all. It’s funny, because I’d forgotten this ‘red thread’ in my life... forgotten fruit and vegetables have always inspired. And now I was learning to grow my own produce to draw while teaching the art class on a tuesday in the vegieplot to look at how to mix that courgette or pea green. It made me look again.
drawing my vegetables I learned to grow by hannah tofts exhibited Kintraw Barns Summer Festival 2011 my dad called it ‘Greenhouse Art’ LIMITED EDITION PRINTS TO ORDER lightfast digital prints on Hahnemuhle paper 300gsm single images 22x32cm and 50x70cm, framed or unframed combination prints 23x50cm and 38x110cm contact: hannahtofts@hotmail.com www.hannahtofts.com/drawing-my-vegetables-i-grew grown and drawn on location in the greenhouse and vegieplot by Hannah Tofts west coast Scotland 2009-2014 www.hannahtofts.com designed by Jan Battem www.battem.com exhibition photograph by Shannon Tofts www.shannontofts.com printed by www.createspace.com thank you mum for my tin of gorgeous creamy pencils
live a dream
courgettes, pumpkins, potatoes, runner beans, french beans, mangetouts, peas, broad beans, carrots, parsnips, beetroot, celery, radishes, red cabbages, kale, brussel sprouts, purple sprouting broccoli, silver beet, chard, spinach, fennel, celeriac, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, chillies, spring onions, garlic, lettuce, radicchio. coriander, parsley, rocket, dill, chervil, tarragon, basil, blueberries, gooseberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants and rhubarb!