I’ve always been a big fan of lemons, and growing up on the east coast they were considered fancy and exotic. Only rich people bought actual lemons to keep in their fridge. Us poor people occasionally would buy a bottle of lemon juice to use sparingly and keep it in the fridge for a year. When we went out to dinner and the restaurant put a lemon wedge on the water glass I would get so excited that I’d stick it right in my mouth and suck on it, smiling through watery eyes and puckered lips.
I had to quit caffeine for 13 years for health reasons – one of the hardest things I’ve done. I used to make a big cup of heavily steeped black tea with lemon juice in it, which I had to switch to decaf tea for those 13 years. I would start off a cold winter morning holding a hot mug between my hands to warm them up, letting the subtle smell of tea and lemon waft up into my face through the steam. Lemon took on an almost meditative quality when combined with the tea, and to this day it calms me down whenever I smell it.
So you can imagine my sense of awe and wonder when I moved to California for the first time and there was a lemon tree right outside my window! It felt like I was in a tropical paradise. Instead of hot tea, I would wake up in the morning from the desert heat, open the window and smell the fresh lemons growing. When I got sick I shook a few lemons off the tree, cut them open and added them to hot water with a little honey. Lemons to me are exciting and special, but also comforting and familiar.
This piece of artwork was the beginning of my first consistent style as an artist. After about 20 years of drawing I stumbled onto something that brought me a lot of joy through a combination of studying other styles and experimenting with different approaches. And that’s what this style is to me: an expression of pure joy. So it’s fitting that the first piece I created features a lemon, something simple and beautiful which has brought me much joy over the years. I’m thrilled that this piece has been able to bring joy to others as well!
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