La Délicieuse Mousse
This single-edition lithograph from a woodcut, depicting an imagined breakfast table with a bowl of “La Délicieuse Mousse” at its center, comes from the Paris atelier of the graphic artist, Julia Chausson.
The inspiration for Julia’s picture grew out of a conversation we had about the potential uses of moss, which includes eating it. When I told Julia about how in times past people in Nordic countries used the lichen popularly known as “Icelandic moss” to make porridge or flatbread, she got the idea to create a domestic scene that blended the elements of outside and inside. After several drafts and experimentation with different colors, her original vision eventually became the one you see here: a cobalt-saturated view merging interior and exterior, offset by a bowl of bright green moss.
Before you try making your own “delicious moss,” you might like to know that Icelandic moss has zero nutritional value, nor much taste—as I can attest from some experimental baking. But it does bring an unexpected bit of forest whimsy to the table.
I came across Julia when strolling down rue St. Michel in Paris. That’s where I spotted a book she had illustrated on display in the window of the bookstore and publisher, Libraries des Femmes. The book in question happen to be my favorite writer: the singular Clarice Lispecter. Julia’s whimsical woodcuts somehow heightened the absurdist elements of Lispecter’s short stories. I asked the proprietor if she knew anything about the illustrator. “She lives in Paris,” she said, and pointed me to her website. Her breezy reply, made it seem as if I could so easily meet her, since she, after all, lived in town.
And, as my very good fortune would have it, Julia responded enthusiastically to my email, asking if she might like to meet and discuss participating in a project about moss.
The museum quality framing features a dark-stained walnut and a beveled edge window mat, which you can read about here.
This single-edition lithograph from a woodcut, depicting an imagined breakfast table with a bowl of “La Délicieuse Mousse” at its center, comes from the Paris atelier of the graphic artist, Julia Chausson.
The inspiration for Julia’s picture grew out of a conversation we had about the potential uses of moss, which includes eating it. When I told Julia about how in times past people in Nordic countries used the lichen popularly known as “Icelandic moss” to make porridge or flatbread, she got the idea to create a domestic scene that blended the elements of outside and inside. After several drafts and experimentation with different colors, her original vision eventually became the one you see here: a cobalt-saturated view merging interior and exterior, offset by a bowl of bright green moss.
Before you try making your own “delicious moss,” you might like to know that Icelandic moss has zero nutritional value, nor much taste—as I can attest from some experimental baking. But it does bring an unexpected bit of forest whimsy to the table.
I came across Julia when strolling down rue St. Michel in Paris. That’s where I spotted a book she had illustrated on display in the window of the bookstore and publisher, Libraries des Femmes. The book in question happen to be my favorite writer: the singular Clarice Lispecter. Julia’s whimsical woodcuts somehow heightened the absurdist elements of Lispecter’s short stories. I asked the proprietor if she knew anything about the illustrator. “She lives in Paris,” she said, and pointed me to her website. Her breezy reply, made it seem as if I could so easily meet her, since she, after all, lived in town.
And, as my very good fortune would have it, Julia responded enthusiastically to my email, asking if she might like to meet and discuss participating in a project about moss.
The museum quality framing features a dark-stained walnut and a beveled edge window mat, which you can read about here.
This single-edition lithograph from a woodcut, depicting an imagined breakfast table with a bowl of “La Délicieuse Mousse” at its center, comes from the Paris atelier of the graphic artist, Julia Chausson.
The inspiration for Julia’s picture grew out of a conversation we had about the potential uses of moss, which includes eating it. When I told Julia about how in times past people in Nordic countries used the lichen popularly known as “Icelandic moss” to make porridge or flatbread, she got the idea to create a domestic scene that blended the elements of outside and inside. After several drafts and experimentation with different colors, her original vision eventually became the one you see here: a cobalt-saturated view merging interior and exterior, offset by a bowl of bright green moss.
Before you try making your own “delicious moss,” you might like to know that Icelandic moss has zero nutritional value, nor much taste—as I can attest from some experimental baking. But it does bring an unexpected bit of forest whimsy to the table.
I came across Julia when strolling down rue St. Michel in Paris. That’s where I spotted a book she had illustrated on display in the window of the bookstore and publisher, Libraries des Femmes. The book in question happen to be my favorite writer: the singular Clarice Lispecter. Julia’s whimsical woodcuts somehow heightened the absurdist elements of Lispecter’s short stories. I asked the proprietor if she knew anything about the illustrator. “She lives in Paris,” she said, and pointed me to her website. Her breezy reply, made it seem as if I could so easily meet her, since she, after all, lived in town.
And, as my very good fortune would have it, Julia responded enthusiastically to my email, asking if she might like to meet and discuss participating in a project about moss.
The museum quality framing features a dark-stained walnut and a beveled edge window mat, which you can read about here.