I asked my dear friends at Marisol Spoon a few questions for this week's post. Spoons are an eating utensil, but the word has a definition as a verb that is much more romantic meaning: to make love by caressing, kissing, and talking amorously. It derived this meaning perhaps from the Welsh custom of an engaged man gifting his lady love with an ornately carved spoon. Marisol Spoon is an artist husband and wife team, I have known them now for over a decade and they are an inspiration when it comes to partnership, and art. I just love the little details in the picture above...don't you? Enjoy!
1. Marisol Spoon is the brainchild of two artists from Appalachia. Give us a little background on how Marisol Spoon came to be.
Marisol Spoon began with the idea of creating a children's book. We had been tossing the idea around for quite some time. We roughed out a version of our first book, and the summer of 2009 I began on the illustrations. I was enjoying the painting so much that before I knew it I had 12 completed pieces. We decided it would be fun to open an Etsy shop to see the response to the visuals we had so far. Next thing we know it we have a shop filled with prints, wearable art, stationery, and various other items. So I guess you could say Marisol Spoon has come about in a very organic way.
2. You are a husband and wife artist team. How is it working together...running a cyber mom and pop shop so to speak? How does your collaboration/partnership help your creative process?
For the last 10 or so years we've had separate art careers and bodies of work, which we still continue to build on. But the collaboration of Marisol Spoon has been rewarding in so many ways we never could have expected. We absolutely love working together. We begin by brain storming and looking for inspiration, we bounce ideas off one another and one or both of us draws on the same image until we love what we see. I usually draw the figures and the Mr. adds to it with objects, but that process changes all the time. I do most of the painting and we both design and make the other various objects.
3. Your work is a synthesis of folk and fantasy...vintage yet contemporary, with a dash of kewpie. Where do you draw your inspiration?
From all over really! Art history, 60's and 70's illustration, fairy tales, vintage tea canisters...
4. NYC was your home for the past three years before your return to Asheville, NC. This is a food blog so I have to ask...name your three favorite places to eat in the Big Apple.
Shake Shack -great burgers (I love them and don't even really eat red meat!)
Plump Dumpling - Best dumplings in NYC
Monaco- great prix fix dinners (grilled salmon is divine)
5. You guys are both southerners, which in my book means you know good cookin'. Do you have a favorite family recipe to share?
Well, to be honest we're just now getting into cooking. This isn't a family recipe but one that I tried recently which turned out pretty delicious.
Pumpkin Bread
Serves 8
Ingredients:
- 1 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp salt 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- pinch nutmeg
- 2 cups cooked pumpkin
- ½ cup sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup sunflower oil
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup yogurt
- Preheat oven to 160 degrees.
- Toast pumpkin seeds by placing them on a baking tray in a 140 degree oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Put ½ cup aside to sprinkle on bread.
- In a food processor, pulse chop the remaining ½ cup to a course consistency.
- Puree pumpkin and set aside.
- Mix dry ingredients together.
- Stir sugars and pumpkin together.
- Process oil and eggs in food processor with a metal blade.
- Add dry ingredients, then pumpkin and pulse to blend.
- Add yogurt.
- Put mixture into an oiled pan.
- Bake bread for about 50 minutes or until well browned. Allow to cool in pan.
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