The Model
By Federico Leon de la Vega - January 2007
Instructions: look for pomegranates in the Vallarta markets; you shall find them since September. Select them by their bright red color and their weight: the heavier ones have more juice. Thoroughly prepare yourself for a significant experience: inhale deeply, as if meditating on the action to be taken. Choose a fruit whose crown is beginning to crack -mature pomegranates are tastier. Caress its peel, consciously feeling its texture. See the interesting forms inside the orifice of its crown, the pistils remaining from the flower that was. Now prepared, place both thumbs on the fruit’s belly, while pressing it against both index fingers. Listen to the sweet moaning of the fruit as it splits in two almost perfect halves. The first corns will then drop. Do this operation on a white dish, porcelain, preferably: colors are extremely important for both the aesthetical and gastronomical enjoyment. The crimson red juice must be seen on pure white. Smell. Once open, look at the pomegranate’s interior in detail: there are sections. Some will display corns ready to fly out. These you should please immediately by biting into the fruit and sucking the juice softly. Then carry on to chew the fiber, which has a sort of nut flavor. On other sections a fine film will retain the corns. Do not hurry to peel it off. Stop a bit to think about what your are doing, as you undress this fruit and, already knowing its taste, take time to thank God for such a flavorful, beautiful and interesting creation. Proceed, then to decisively bite. Should the juice run down your chin and neck, so much the better (although it is said the stains are hard on clothes, so if this concerns you it might be better you take off your shirt, for fuller enjoyment).
I have taken the effort to provide these instructions because I needed to explain all I felt and would like to make feel in the process of executing the painting, which I now show in the accompanying photo. Ever since I picked the pomegranates and placed them for initial drawing it was all fantastic. Painting has its limitations, and so I needed to make sure I could somehow convey the sweet sound of the pomegranate being opened.
The sweetness of this experience lasted long after the eating and painting. It went on for the three weeks the painting was shown at the Café des Artistes in Guadalupe Sánchez street, in Puerto Vallarta. Candlelight dinners, soft music and distinguished guests accompanied the pomegranates during the advent... until someone bought them. The buyer and her family will enjoy the red hues, so proper for the Christmas season, while I will remember them by this photo I now share with my readers. My joy in painting peaked with the extra income, a significant blessing just before Holy Night.
Merry Christmas to all, and prosperity through 2007!
Federico León de la Vega
E-mail: fleondelavega@hotmail.com
Author Note: This is a chapter of a book I am writing about my adventures as a painter artist.
The Federico León de la Vega Estudo – Café is open to the public and is located in Paseo de la Marina 31, Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit. Opening hours are Monday to Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Sundays from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m.
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