“Ladies, I’ve taken on a lov-ahhh!” Carrie Bradshaw divulged smugly to Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte in an episode from Sex & the City’s final season.
I always marveled at that line and its implications. Not a boyfriend. Not a relationship. A lov-ahhh.
Had I realized it at the time, I very well could have made a similar announcement to my best girlfriends over brunch with the same strut–had I only known it was happening.
I’ve always loved to eat. My loving, talented mama grew up making pies pies pies and quintessential Chilean dishes to spoil my dad and I; Chinese buffets were a guilty pleasure growing up and I was practically born crawling the aisles of Pike Place Market….
I had always loved food. But moving to San Francisco when I was twenty-four, my relationship with it transformed. I now revel in evenings spent wine tasting, watching a live food demo, or creating a dinner using the entire catalog of my fridge and cabinets. When guests come to visit, I don’t plan events. I plan food. Food is the event. The rest is the filler.
One might say I’ve taken on a love.
The other part of my story lies in my innate conviction as an artist. As a child who picked up a paint brush before I bothered trying to walk, I used to spend hours at my little desk, whipping out detailed illustrations and often entire books (with “uhmazzing” spelling, no less). In a video interview, age four, filmed by my cinematographer dad, he asked gently:
“Catalina, what do you want to be when you grow up?”
Without bothering for a dramatic pause, my Buddha smile beamed up towards the camera and belted out, “An artist! On Mondays, I will go to the store and sell my paintings, and on Tuesdays…..hmmmm, I don’t know what I’ll do on Tuesdays.” Quite the pickle for a four-year old.
Still a painter, I think of food creation (and appreciation) as a total creative process that certainly nurtures an artist’s need to create, and summons a similar exuberant joy. Food and Art. One in the same really and something I for one, devour daily.
So this is my food-as-art story (presently told from the gastronomically legendary San Francisco). Look for posts on Tuesdays (which solves THAT little dilemma).
***Many thanks to my friend Nelle for the name “Plate to Palette.” Good friends are truly a mirror to the soul, and the fabulous Nelle celebrates and uplifts her many friends here: http://friendsofnelle.wordpress.com/
This is wonderful!!
Love it thanks Cata! Will update your blog info. and link once done with finals! Think “Plate to Palatte” can still describe how, what, where, why “Cata Paints.”(and lives:-) in one way or another. “HOLD ON….” Love your recent posts and gorgeous inspiring colors and words. Thanks for sharing your passion and inspiration during a complex time!
xo