What's Cooking?
Creative downtime. Oh, and please don't call me a 'foodie'.
Hello again!
Peckish? Although the KIOSK doesn't officially do food, I could probably rustle you up a snack. Let's see what I've got back here.
A few times in this newsletter I’ve talked about how useful I’ve found it to engage in pursuits outside of my ‘profession’. I’ve found that this helps me directly, with things that share similarities with illustration, such as photography. But I also like the indirect ones, like playing petanque or cycling, both of which make me a healthier, happier and more balanced individual and definitely feed back into my work in unforeseen ways.
One of my interests that kind of falls right between those two camps, is cooking. I only relatively recently admitted to myself that I love cooking, and I've been trying to put my finger on my hesitancy to own up to this fact before, and why I do actually like it so much?
To answer the latter first, I basically like that it's a little piece of creative problem solving, as a break from the type I do as an illustrator. It has different rewards, and energy, and it involves using my hands in a different way too. There’s also a strong aesthetic and craft to it, but there are very few repercussions to getting any of it wrong. Kind of like doing a crossword. Which I appreciate sounds quite dry and technical, but that’s not how it feels to me when I'm in the kitchen.
Somehow this little task I can solve, really calms me down. It gives me time to think over the day, and to potter. Time is one of the important elements too. I had, until relatively recently, prided myself in the efficiency of getting something nutritious and delicious on the table in a relatively short space of time. A skill born of my student and travelling days. But while that’s a useful skill to have, I think it was over lockdown that I finally realised that I could spend more time doing this thing that I like, not less.
The food I make is not flashy, but I do try to take the time to do it in a way that is satisfying to me. I saw this clip of Bill Nighy explaining how to make beans on toast the other day which kind of speaks to this. It’s the specificity I like. I also just quite like Bill Nighy, so his thoughts on most things are quite enjoyable to me.
I guess it feeds into a general philosophy (clearly too grandiose a term) I have of trying to do simple things well. I think cooking is an easy place to start with this this kind of thing, as washing the dishes in such a manner is a greater challenge, although fear not, I employ it there too. I know a lot of you will be rolling your eyes at the witterings of a ‘zen bellend', and that's fair enough. I'm not perfect, I get as frustrated as the next person, but cooking seems to help.
I realised the other day that the reason I don't particularly enjoy using recipe books is because it feels like I'm being robbed of that small bit of creative problem solving I enjoy. And obviously don't even get me started on those phone adverts where someone photographs their fridge contents and it AI's up a meal for them…but I'm trying to not be too judgemental, I guess for some people food is nothing but an annoying chore, and I won’t presume to know what you life is like.
Anyway, by using recipes I don't get to ‘invent'. To bring things back to drawing (I'm an illustrator, remember?), following a recipe feels like the equivalent of tracing somebody else's artwork, so it can only really turn out the same (at best), or lesser. And however inferior my own creations are, they are at least, mine. But perhaps we're veering in the direction of my ego on that? Or, eggo.
My other hesitancy with recipes and cookbooks, relates to my fear of being labelled a certain way. The truth of it is, I’m basically scared that someone might mistake me for being…’a foodie'. Yes, it was horrible even just writing the word. You know what I mean though, right? I don’t want to be confused with someone who uses the term ‘mouth feel’ unironically.
Now, obviously I'm being a bit ridiculous, but we all have our hang-ups. However, it’s not just that, as I also feel slightly fraudulent, because people who like food, really like food. I have about ten Bob Dylan records and I’ve read his autobiography, but I still hesitate to call myself a fan, because you know there are some real fans out there, and I would fold under questioning if asked how to make some rudimentary ‘foodie’ staples, let alone the most basic of Bob facts.
I also rankle at being labelled as anything at all to be honest, so this bit is more of a note to self, as I realise that nobody else cares what I'm doing in my kitchen. But I think we all carry these little things around with us. ‘I don't what to be seen as THAT'. And that’s never particularly helpful. So, in short, I have been letting myself enjoy cooking a bit more in recent times, and I think that's probably okay.
Increasingly I find my creative/professional life inseparable to all the other areas anyway, as it's all facets of me, and none could really exist in isolation. In fact, it's only too apparent when the balance is off. When the late great photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson was talking to John Berger, he apparently remarked;
‘People ask me about my new projects. What shall I say to them? To make love tonight. To do another drawing this afternoon. To be surprised!’
So what’s my new project? Probably some poached eggs on toast, if I'm honest.
Ice Cold in Monocle.
You know how meticulously I plan these newsletters, so you're probably wondering if I have any recent food adjacent commissions to share with you? You bet. I illustrated this article on which ice type should go in what drink for Monocle's winter newspaper, Alpino. Thought you might like a swig.
Okay, I leave you to it now. I’ve been a bit under the weather this week, so apologies if it’s not my best work, but it’s a low-key chat at a kiosk hatch, so don’t worry about it too much. Go find yourself some eggs.
Hope you’re doing good in the less exciting months and I’ll catch you next time.
Owen D. Pomery
Your illustrations are really beautiful and inspiring, thank you!
Got to this a bit late but it’s a lovely piece. A lot of your thoughts there really resonate with me. And the drawings of food are absolutely lovely.