Monday, April 13, 2009

Prequel: monstera fruit

I am going to post a proper introductory story - with a photo and little background but right now I am too excited to be invited to this group not to post one of my recent discoveries:
Fruit from a Monstera plant.

A little story behind it: I got it quite some time ago as a small house plant. Later that year my husband noted that if the rate of it's growth will keep as is we have to choose who occupies the room - HIM or US. I thought of it as a joke but later that year I realized that it's time to make a decision ;) We moved it under the window and now - a few years later - have a nice shade ;)

It's name is Monster and it bore three fruits (about a year ago)! I picked one of them when I realized that two already fell on the ground and were eaten by enthusiastic squirrels :) And here is my sketch of it. I used a bit of pencil (a rare occasion for me) to make sure that pattern on the cone is captured correctly. Then - used my Lamy with black water resistant ink to draw as much as I wanted and added watercolor.

sk09_122

Length of this fruit was about 10 inches and it smell very nice and fruity. I did not try to eat it though - while I was drawing a whole bunch of ants occupied it (and mind you - it took me a mere 20-30 minutes to finish this one! How did they know that free sugar is there? ;)

Thanks for inviting me, Kate - I will be back with a proper introduction soon :)

5 comments:

  1. Delightful, Nina! Thank you for posting AND for your enthusiasm!

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  2. Lovely and enthusiastic drawing! is it safe for humans and did you taste it?

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  3. Thanks, Kate!
    Thanks, Jeanette!
    Here is what encyclopedia says about the fruit: "When it first flowers, the fruit contains so much oxalic acid that it is poisonous, causing immediate and painful blistering and irritation, swelling, itching, and loss of voice. It takes a year for the fruit to ripen, at which point it is safe to eat."
    It smelled like eatable (it's been on a plant for almost two years before I took it off) - but ants ate it before me ;) (well, not completely but it's one thing to try a new thing and another one - to try a new thing that's swarming with ants ;) That was just a little too much for me ;)

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  4. As always Nina your artwork is a delicacy to the eyes. Happy painting.

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  5. Wow. The colours... and what an interesting subject. I never knew they bore fruit like that.

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