Bitter Ending

by Christina Waters | Mar 5, 2012 | Home | 0 comments

Finally, I came to the end of the labor-intensive process. The orange bitters had steeped, it had been crushed, it had been filtered, it had rested.

The last stage had involved mixing together the high-octane orange peel-infused alcohol with water and finally with sugar that had been melted into a brown, taffy-like goo.  When I added the hot molten sugar to the mother liquid, it sputtered like a mini-Vesuvius. The recipe warned that the sugar might turn hard, at first, but then would quickly enter a liquid state.

And it all came to pass. Except for one thing. The final liquid never became clear.

It tastes exactly like orange bitters. Exactly.  It is, in all ways save visually, an authentic orange bitters. Yet it longs for clarity, like a merlot longs to be a clear shade of magenta.

I will be calling on a few winemakers to find out about fining. Surely there is some remaining alchemy I can try. If not, I will need to turn my attentions to some other artisanal creation.

Ideas?

In Light: Noah Buchanan @ John Pence Gallery

by Christina Waters | Mar 4, 2012 | Home | 0 comments

A youthful old master is showing his works in San Francisco’s John Pence Gallery through March 10.

The one-man show by Noah Buchanan fills a spacious room with a large suite of consummate realist oil paintings and drawings reminiscent of the work of Ingres, Odd Nerdrum, Vermeer and Lopez Garcia. Renowned among Bay Area collectors for his masterful nudes, Buchanan here shows himself every bit as adept with still life meditations and evocative interiors. A small study of red pears arrayed upon soft white linen, conjures some of the metaphysical works by Salvador Dali, replete with inner light suggesting the space of a private sanctuary.

A rare domestic interior, In Light of Solitude, is among the strongest paintings of this impressive group. Using the Northern Renaissance trope of an open doorway, leading through an empty, expectant space to yet another doorway, recalls both Vermeer’s spiritual suggestiveness and Carl Fabritius’ impossibly creamy light. Buchanan’s oil on panel interior is a clear invitation to enter into a sacred space, both transformative and yet utterly intimate.

Buchanan’s works have shown in London’s National Portrait Gallery and the Library of Congress, and are included the collections of George Lucas and Martha Mayer Erlebacher. Don’t miss the chance to enjoy vibrant new paintings in the finest modernist tradition. The John Pence Gallery is located at 750 Post St., San Francisco. Gallery hours – Mon-Fri 10am to 6pm, Sat 10am to 5pm.