The Laughter of Pomegranates

Pomegranate  watercolor on Yupo by Meera Rao  9x8.5"

We have a small pomegranate plant in our back yard.  The flowers and fruits are bright red and beautiful. Unfortunately, the fruit from our tree though is not sweet and last year I juiced some and froze them in ice cubes. I use a cube or two when I want to add some sourness to dishes. The juice is a beautiful red but when cooked doesn't retain the luscious color turning rather drab. We don't put any pesticides on the plant and  the fruits ripen naturally so have lots of texture on them! 

Pomegranate is considered to have lots of medicinal values. Everyone knows it to be an anti-oxidant. I am most familiar with a preparation of the dried skin cooked, and ground into a paste with a little bit of coconut and buttermilk used as remedy for diarrhea and other stomach ailments.  Of course Grenadine syrup used in cocktails is from pomegranate :)  Check here for more on the wonderful fruit. 

The references in art and literature are plenty too, full of symbolism as well -- one quick Google search for images in art came up with wonderful selection too! 

Its not pomegranate season yet -- the plant is only now slowly and barely coming back to life after a long cold winter.  I used a few photographs from last season and my memory of handling them while juicing.  Also I buy the fruits often - love peeling the it slowly, loosening the seeds with its juicy red pulps and eating them fresh or using them in salads etc. I Love the red stains on my hand from the squirting juice too :)

I was happy to see that Yupo was the right surface to bring out the textured red on the fruit. I really enjoyed painting the sun dappled fruit free and loose, full of texture :) 

Here is a poem by Rumi to savor:

The Laughter of the Pomegranates:

If you buy a pomegranate,

buy one whose ripeness 

has caused it to be cleft open

with a seed-revealing smile.

Its laughter is a blessing,

for through its wide open mouth

it shows its heart,

like a pearl in the jewel box of spirit.

The red anemone laughs, too

but through its mouth you glimpse a blackness.

A laughing pomegranate 

brings the whole garden to life.

keeping the company of the holy

makes you one of them

Whether you are stone or marble

you will become a jewel

when you reach a human being of heart.

Plant the love of the holy ones within your spirit;

don't give your hear to anything

but the love of those whose hearts are glad.

don't go to the neighborhood of despair:

there is hope.

Don't go in the direction of darkness:

suns exist.

The heart guides you to the neighborhood of the

saints;

the body takes you to the prison of water and earth.

Give your heart the food of holy friends;

Seek maturity from those who have matured.

~Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi