STORY BEHIND THE ART OF SALLY JACOBS

24th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists and Marin Art and Garden Center

Fennel

Foeniculum vulgare

Wandering the huge outdoor Hollywood Farmers Market on Sunday morning is always a time of pleasure and rewards. I’m ever alert for kitchen and studio nourishment. A bonus: I’m the unofficial, but known, market artist, drawing and painting its fruits, flowers, and vegetables. Until the COVID pandemic, the market’s information booth sold my cards and vegetable posters and offered me a vendor booth at Christmas for my prints and calendars.

I particularly love painting vegetables: cauliflowers, swiss chard, onions, ginger, garlic, lettuces, scallions, bok choy, celery root, several varieties of squash, on and on. But it took me a while to approach fennel. I like roasting and eating it, but, of course, the fronds looked somewhat daunting. In the end, what really attracted me was the ribbed bulb. It presented a great invitation to depict texture and dimensionality using challenging muted “dirty” colors. I accepted the invitation and I’m glad I did.

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