Story behind the art of Patricia Giancontieri

27th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists and the Society of Illustrators

Garlic

Allium sativum

My choice to use a cured garlic specimen in this piece was inspired by a particularly robust harvest in 2020, derived from cloves I had planted in October 2019 (I am an avid gardener). It is the hard-neck variety of garlic - Allium sativum subsp. ‘German Red’. 

The bulbil (tiny secondary bulb) was a delightful surprise at harvest, as I thought, in June, I had clipped each scape (the leafless stalk that arises from the leaves, which will bear a flower and evolve into the bulbil). Removal of the scape assures the energy of growth will remain within the bulb and not be diverted to a flower, thus growing a larger bulb or head of garlic. That this one escaped my pruning shears was most fortuitous. I immediately knew I had to paint this specimen.

As the garlic cured, the leaves, stem, and roots dried to wonderful shades of brown: sepia, umber, sienna, ochre, and parchment, in undulating ribbons of celebration. I trust that these subtle variations of color will engage the viewer. I chose to not remove the roots or outer skin of the bulb in order to show an untouched specimen.

Thought of as natural penicillin[i], garlic is ancient. The earliest known references indicate that garlic formed part of the daily diet of many Egyptians, and from personal experience, I know Italians use garlic daily.



Perhaps because I too am in the autumn of life and because we have lived through a pandemic in which the moodiness of life was so prevalent, this theme speaks so deeply to me. I am challenged to see the beauty in things fading, and the depth and richness of color in maturity. It is also the hope that this stage in nature implies: seed, bulb, clove, containing future life, that sustains me.

[i] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles

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Read more about this artist's work: 23rd Annual