Leslie Parke, "The Party", 29 1/2 inches x 43 inches, oil on linen, 2010
I come from a family that had copious amounts of china. There was informal china and formal china, china for the beach house, salad plates, dessert plates, bread plates, luncheon plates and dinner plates. Cups with two handles for consume and cups with one handle for coffee, and demi-tasse cups and on and on. Despite having china for every possible occasion or combination of food, it was almost never used. It was considered too precious and belonging to someone else — as much of it was inherited.
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Leslie Parke, "Tumble", 24 inches x 24 inches, oil on linen, 2010
In an effort to counter act that, at least once a year I pull out all the china and use it for a big party. In this case, I tend to try to make the food match the china, rather than visa verse. I have not mastered a tomato aspic, although the china is screaming out for it. One year, after the party and before I put away the dishes I decided to pile the plates on a table and make a still life out of it. I had been painting piled up newspapers and recycled cans, this just seemed to be one more thing I could pile up. And, in deed, I didn’t stop with the plates, but also added crystal.
Besides relating to the paintings of recycled materials that I was doing, I felt that they also related to my landscapes which are all about light, reflection, transparency and translucency. To make the connection more evident, I put the china into the river. You may notice the leaves floating over the dishes.
- Leslie Parke, “China in the River”, 28 inches x 20 inches, oil on linen
Artist Leslie Parke lives on the New York/Vermont border and works in a studio that spans the top floor of a 19th century factory building. Over the years she has worked on both sides of the pond in Sweden, France and Germany.
Now I see the water on the china!!
It’s lovely! Can’t wait to see it in the flesh.
me
Oh Edie, what else can I throw in the river??
OOooh, I love the idea of these precious, nostalgic items floating down to the bottom in the River with the leaves, rocks and fishes. What a great idea for a painting. There’s so much symbolism here. I use someone’s precious china/fiqurines, etc in my art and platters speak to me. Imagine if they could speak to us…all the stories that they could tell from around the holiday tables they’ve served! Put mismatched platters in the river next please!!
Don’t you just love Alyson’s class?
You are absolutely right, Jane, there is a lot of symbolism here. It was so interesting to see people react to this painting at the Open Studio. I think it brought back a lot of Thanksgiving diners, both good and bad.
Just had to look at the china in the river – reminds me of the Titanic. All that lovely china making its way to the bottom of the cold ocean. So many lives never realized and china never used.
Jewel,
These paintings frequently evoke this sort of feeling in people. All the paintings I have done in the last two years have dealt with loss in one way or another. I didn’t even realize that that is what they were about until after I finished the series. Just last night it dawned on me that this whole series started when I was an artist in residence in Vallauris, France and one of the other artists there, with whom I shared a suite and collaborated with on some pieces died at the end of the residency of a heart attack. The whole town of Vallauris is filled with ceramic artists. It makes sense that this image would represent that loss.