Local artists collaborate on ‘fabulous’ cookbook

Many of us took to planting seedlings while quarantined and reaped the benefit of bountiful harvest all summer long at our family table. Sweltering hot days are seeing the sweet summer crops dry up, but the vibrant images of bright green cilantro, plump purple eggplant and ripe red round tomatoes can stick with us for a lifetime, along with the family recipes we created together in quarantine. 

 

Resident artists Kris Manning and Barbara Meierhusby started talking about an artistic endeavor to create a cookbook about a year ago to preserve Manning’s family recipes. Regular visits at a distance over quarantine helped the ideas stir, along with some great tomato sauces! 

 

Manning, the mother of two sons suggested, “What if we do a field guide? We could call it ‘The Field Guide to Fabulous Food!’ because a field guide is kind of like a map – it contains all of the elements you would encounter on a great adventure.”  

 

As many moms launching kids off to college can attest, these last few months have been ripe with cram sessions on life lessons. “The Field Guide to Fabulous Food,” she said, “is really for the guys – because you know they are young men now.  They are just beginning their adventures going off into the world and it would be great if they could take the field guide with them on their journeys.” 

 

Manning loves to cook, so this time in close quarters during quarantine has given her a chance to enjoy getting her sons’ input on their favorite recipes to “include the pesto!”

 

Manning’s decision to ask Meierhusby to collaborate with her came out of great admiration for her talent as a watercolorist. 

 

“To include her work is so special because I think everyone should know Barbara Meierhusby and her watercolors. She is a true treasure! I’m really excited about the work she’s doing,” Manning said.

 

Each page in the field guide will feature Manning’s family recipes, filled with interesting facts, helpful tips and antidotes and several watercolor images carefully created by Meierhusby.

 

The field guide format really appealed to Meierhusby because of its similarity to the artist’s sketchbook. 

 

“Artist’s Sketchbooks contain minute observations and personal annotations along with the vitality of the images,” she said.

 

Since the age of 4, Meierhusby has been fascinated by watercolors, a love that was fostered by her mother. 

 

“I was fortunate enough to have been introduced to watercolors on frequent visits to the Art Museums in Washington, D.C. We explored the Asian Art Collections of the Freer/ Sackler Museum, the Phillips’s Collection and the National Gallery. The artists’ sketchbooks were especially intriguing to me.”  

 

Meierhusby’s mother was a nurse, featured on the cover of the April 26th, 1943, issue of Life Magazine for her work helping with the nursing shortage during the war. 

 

“She pursued nursing as a profession but her passion was art. She kept amazing sketchbooks and would show them to me, so early on I had this experience firsthand of watercolors.”  Meierhusby still has her mother’s sketchbooks.

 

This idea of passing down wonderful memories is at the heart of the field guide. Food is so many people’s love language. Art is a language everyone can understand.  In the midst of a worldwide pandemic, we can all use comfort food and beautiful art.

 

Follow Manning on Facebook for images and updates on The Field Guide to Fabulous Food where nibbles of Meierhusby’s watercolor work can be found and details on the book release will be announced.

 

Heather MacQueen Jones is a Daniel Island artist journaling life’s journey through oil painting. Visit MacQueenJones.com, Instagram @heARTpalette.