242. Dark chocolate and bannana ice cream in blue and white porcellan (Dunkles Schokoladen-Bananeneis in blau-weißem Porzellan)

242. Dark chocolate and bannana ice cream in blue and white porcellan (Dunkles Schokoladen-Bananeneis in blau-weißem Porzellan), 2025, Öl auf Leinwand, 15 × 20cm, (Darryn Ansted)

Something that might be invisible is the surface under this bowl. I painted this and a lot of other ice cream paintings like this on a black mirror. It was strange but I liked that it was very flat and took away some color.

I am working my was through ‘Morning Star’ by Knausgaard. I can’t help but enjoy his mild, introspective meandering, pickled with an occasional slash of mania or self-destruction. He is pretty much the quintessional modern human: insecurity manifesting as overconfidence. Or rather, his characters seems to be cast in this lovable/infuriating mold. As I’m reading a good book again, well, listening to a good audiobook, I also get the feeling something is working well in the studio. Why is that?

I just read about a scientific paper that was published recently that suggests that language greatly informs vision. Essentially, if I say ‘look at that hare in the grass’ you might see a hare that you otherwise might not have seen. On that note, this bowl that holds two scoops of ice cream is a prevalent design of fine porcelain to see here in German country houses. It was fairly nondescript to my eyes at first. However, after now painting it twice I appreciate the brilliance of the design. Color on a vessel is hard riddle to solve. I am convinced this ‘Zwiebelmuster’ (Onion pattern!) is the solution. Blue does not interfere with eating. It won’t affect the appetite the way green or red might. Further, this particular blue is timeless, moderate. It is neither in the turquoise direction nor the purple direction. It is like something from the hearth in a seventeenth century Delft home. It is also not so much floral as in my view more of a garden scene, in a similar way to how a Persian carpet can reference a garden. It has also a blend of nature left to its own devices and nature that is cultivated by hand. However, there is also enough white space to think one’s own thoughts while eating from it. There is an elegant decorative touch to mediate the pictoral and the relief/sculptural bulging forms that runs along the outside of the rim. I can’t think of a better occasional bowl design. There are more spectacular bowls but we eat with people, and a bowl that does not scream is required in those times.