These artworks are part of the Sustain series. To connect the themes in my project to the history of American vegetable gardening, especially the WWII era victory gardens, where Americans grew 60% of their produce during the war, Ivana creates artworks with a vintage aesthetic. She wants to evoke a sense of nostalgia for a time when more people grew food in the backyard and community gardens. Ivana innovated a technique using mixed media and digital photography image transfer on aluminum to create these unique artworks in warm tones that recall the historic tintype process. Subtle inclusions of the contemporary urban environment connect us from our past to our present and the artworks highlight a means to a more sustainable future. To learn more click here to read the full artist statement
Gathering Broccoli in September
Gathering Broccoli in September
You know that late fall satisfaction of cutting mature broccoli heads from thick stalks, feeling the weight of months of careful tending finally pay off in your hands? Can you imagine the crisp snap of the knife through fibrous stems, the fresh green smell of cut brassicas mixing with autumn earthy aromas? Picture yourself holding those dense, textured crowns while bees still hover around nearby nasturtium blooms and the garden shows signs of both abundance and waning. A pale hand cradles a substantial broccoli head with its tightly clustered florets creating rough, bumpy texture against smooth skin. Large, waxy brassica leaves with prominent veining contrast against darker shadows and delicate, dying vegetation. The sepia tones throughout the composition remind you of a time gone by when many more people grew vegetables in backyards and community gardens. This artwork expresses the resilient determination required to see a crop through from spring planting to fall harvest, celebrating the payoff that comes only to those who persist.
Envision this triumphant artwork in your kitchen or dining room, where fellow gardeners will recognize that specific pride of harvesting food you grew yourself. Friends who understand the patience required to nurture broccoli through pest pressure and summer heat will appreciate the quiet victory depicted here. This piece celebrates the perseverance it takes to grow your own food and the tangible reward of edible abundance earned through steady care.
“This broccoli I grew is called Early Girl variety. This piece celebrates my first broccoli harvest! Broccoli is fairly easy to grow, but aphids love it. Here are some organic gardening tips to help with aphid or cabbage moth infestations! If you get aphids, treat them with neem oil. If you see the white moths swarming your produce, spray the garden with BT. It is a biologic agent that kills the moth eggs on your brassica family veggies like this one. It can be a little extra work to grow brassica family veggies like broccoli but when you get to take in the harvest the reward is worth all the effort.”
This signed and numbered limited edition mixed media 8" x10" artwork is part of the Sustain series, created with archival materials for lasting beauty. It is coated in an UV light protection spray. Only 20 will ever be handmade by Ivana. Due to the handmade process, expect the edges of the image to vary slightly. The watermark is only for internet display and will not be on your art. There is a slight surface texture which results in small highlights when photographed. If you need help to envison how it will look a free digital mockup is available so you can see exactly how it will look in your space before adding it to your collection. Contact Ivana for this service.
Currently no. 1/20 is available for you to enjoy.
