Grocery Shopping with a Twist [Arts Explorer #7]

The food item I have decided to focus on is ORANGES. I eat an orange almost every day, so it's something I encounter often and see in a grocery store whenever I am there.

     There are many types of oranges, they can be white round or blond (according to Sauls (1998) these are the types of oranges that are used in juice production). Other orange types are bitter, bergamot, mandarin, trifoliate, marmalade, Hamlin, Valencia, navel and blood oranges.

     Things made from different types of oranges and uses for different parts of oranges (or the tree and parts of where an orange comes from):

·         frozen orange juice

·         fresh orange juice

·         earl grey tea

·         marmalade

·         flavour added to beverage

·         flavouring garnish

·         orange zest

·         orange oil

o   food/drink

o   fragrance

·         chemicals from oranges

o   wooden furniture cleaner

o   cleansing agents

·         orange blossom flowers are used in bouquets

·         orange blossom honey

·         orange peel can be used for a slug repellent in gardens

·         orange leaves for tea

·         cuticle pushers can be made from orange wood sticks

·         flavouring wood in meat grilling can also be made from orange wood

     When I was first putting the list together I was focusing on edible items that oranges are used in. Although my sketches are all items that are eaten/drank, I learned about many other uses. I never thought about ways in which they use the peels, the wood or the flowers from oranges. When I eat my orange or drink my orange juice it is not one of the things I think about.

 

     The art word for this arts explorer is texture. It was the first thing I thought of while trying to sketch the orange because just drawing a circle did not represent the texture of the orange. Texture refers to the surface of a piece of art in terms of its feeling, whether it is actually there or just implied (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009). Some terms outlined by Schirrmacher and Fox (2009) that relate to texture that I thought communicate the texture of an orange (and orange related products) are: bumpy, smooth, hard, soft, wet, shiny, dry and slippery (p144).

     Whichever food item or food category that you look at, there is so much more to them than what you see in your kitchen or the grocery store. This exact example can be done with children. It can help them make connections between different things they experience. As an educator, you can bring up a food, and ask the children what can be done with that certain food. It can be a discussion, or an activity in the creative arts centre. Children can show examples of what is done with apples, for example, however they are comfortable with. This can be a playdough sculpture, a drawing, or a poem. Let them be CREATIVE!

References:

Sauls, J. (1998, December). Home fruit production - Oranges. Texas Citrus and Subtropical Fruits. Retrieved on February 25, 2011 from http://www.aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/citrus/oranges.htm.

Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J.E. (2009). Art and creative development for young children (6th Ed.). Belmont,CA: Delmar.