Monday, September 1, 2014

A Plant's Eye View of the World: Part 6

This is the last of the six paintings in my "Evil Greens" series "When Plants Get Mad: Kamikaze Tomatoes".

In the case of tomatoes in the greenhouse, I suspect they know they are goners and so have nothing to lose.

But dive bombing the eater, rather than be eaten - well, what a way to go!

I used some of my favorite colors in this painting, notably the Gamblin color  'Radiant Blue', which I used for the sky.

(At one point, stores in the city where I live said they would no longer be carrying Gamblin colors. Catastrophe!  So I stocked up madly.

But, even in the US, they were hard to find at retail. Luckily, one of the suppliers I use is now stocking Gamblin product again. I just treated myself to a tube of Radiant Yellow but I haven't used it yet.)

Back to the painting: As with the others in the series, this one looks at the issue of our eating habits and assumptions. Vegetarians really have nothing over the rest of us omnivores, because, plants have to be killed for us to eat vegetables.

The only difference is in the way these food are a renewable resource. Keep the roots and you can grow again. That suggests eating potatoes and carrots isn't very pure...

Also, let's not forget that plants themselves  - some of them - are carnivorous: In total, there are some 670 species across the world. Butterflies, frogs and flies are just some of the food these plants consume.

Something to think about, next time you are on your way to the grocery store, or sitting down to eat in a restaurant...

Copyright Deborah C. Sawyer