Meet the Food & Art Cover Artist: Amanda Blair Dexheimer
What is your background as an artist?
I am formally trained in photography and painting. I did my undergraduate studies locally at Flagler College and went on to Penland in North Carolina and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston at Tufts University. My training in ceramics is less formal but perhaps more intense and intentional. I learned how to hand build from the master of porcelain, Jo Lydia Craven, in the foothills of North Carolina where my family owned a Christmas Tree farm. I’d call myself a jack-of-all-trades, a designer and innovator with a focus in porcelain hand-building, illustration and decorative painting on wood, furniture mostly.
How does the cover art connect to your heritage and upbringing?
I grew up spending my weekends in Gulf Hammock and fishing out of Yankeetown. My dad’s family raised watermelons and my Aunt Net and Uncle Ed had a small grove of pecan trees. I’m not sure I have a more nostalgic food memory than greens cooking for hours on the stove with a beautiful ham hock stuck down inside to build that gorgeous potlikker. At my grandmother’s house one day, I took a fist full of muscadine grapes, thinking they were the green ones. I stuck them in my mouth like a squirrel storing up for winter, only to be disappointed and overwhelmed by their pungent taste and a mouth full of seeds and skin. Muscadine haunts me to this day! Growing up, my dad loved our citrus trees so much that when it got cold, he’d wrap and dress them up in sheets, plastic and flannel. After he built the enclosure to keep them warm, he put his folding lawn chair inside the lighted dome. He would camp out in there, smoking cigarettes and tending to his trees. I live with these foods. I am immersed and enmeshed in them. They belong to me and I to them. I can conjure up their taste and color and smells just by looking at their names. Nature, my yard, the garden and all the Florida flora and fauna hold such a fondness for me. I grew up in a magical, wild, abundant native Florida. This tablescape—along with all my heartfelt work—transports me back to food, fields, on the water and always by memory.
Do you have any favorite dishes to prepare?
I love to cook. I cook every day, making meals and herbal medicines from scratch. Homemade kombucha and bone broth are weekly staples in our kitchen. We prefer vegetarian dishes like curry and mushroom ragu. We cook generational Southern staples like Perloo and conch peas. Homemade pesto slathered on everything is a house favorite. The kids each cook one night a week for family meals. Sunday breakfast is a joyous time together that we look forward to. All hands are on deck and everyone has a role. There are flowers and jam and a mixture of old country and gospel music pouring through the speaker. It's a kitchen orchestra really.
Do you currently have a garden? If so, what are you growing?
We do! We have persimmon, peach and loquat trees in our yard. We have blueberry, strawberry and blackberry bushes. Herbs such as bay, lemon balm,mint, rosemary, basil, lemongrass and ashwagandha are all staples. Ginger root, scallions, tomato, beans, cucumber and different types of lettuce are constantly turned over throughout their seasons. When I was a child, my father was always in the yard and garden. He taught me how to weed and grow. From a very young age, I spent my time learning about Florida flowers and fruit trees.
As an artist, how do you feel about the school of thought that considers chefs and cooks as culinary artists?
1000%, yes! It is a passion, a skill, a soul's work and a love beyond measure. A chef connects to the food in the same way an artist connects to color, texture and design. They are often synonymous! In my case, they are both at the top of my list, part of who I was made to be and a light inside burning daily.
Love the cover art as much as we do? Order a print from Amanda at amandablairdexheimer.com.
