Why This Persimmon Painting Matters
I’m finishing my persimmon painting.
The painting is at a stage right now where it could be considered finished. But now I want to add the catalyst for the story telling in the painting. And that visual and symbolic turning point is crows feasting on the persimmon fruit.
I’ve created a series of pen and ink studies, exploring the movements of crows. And now in my sketchbook I’m working out where I want to place them in my painting: considering balance, contrast, and narrative weight.
There is one more thing I want to do before I start painting my crows. I’ve already studied them in pen and ink for their movement but now I want to sketch one in paint and study how the starkness of the black crow will interact with the vibrancy of a persimmon.
I think adding the oranges, yellows, and reds from the persimmons into the black birds is really compelling. It’s as if eating the fruit is physically changing them.
And with that provocative discovery now I can prepare for the real thing.
Persimmons symbolize transformation. They usually ripen after the first frost, as in everyday life it can take a challenge before the sweetness. And then the crows come.
In my paintings I like having a story with ambiguity. I want a window into a curious moment suspended that can inspire your wonder.
What might the crows mean? Some traditions see crows as a sign of transformation, wisdom, intelligence, good luck; while others see them as bad omens, a sign of death, decay, the scavengers.
This painting is called Fruit of The Gods. It is part of my broader series called, “They Might Be Gods” in which I am dealing with themes of immortality, power, ambition, and the human drive to shape the world around us.
Like persimmons after a frost, a story can ripen in its own time. I don’t want to tell you what the crows mean. I only want to ask, what do you see when they arrive?
I hope my painting, Fruit of the Gods, leaves space for your own myth to enter.
Your artist friend,
Jennifer Marie Keller