I was introduced to Wayne Thiebaud (pronounced “T-Bo”) by my husband, whose painting style has been inspired by Thiebaud’s (and Richard Diebenkorn’s and Philip Guston’s and others’). Like Thiebaud, my husband grew up in the Southwest, spent a lot of time on the West Coast, and has a really special way of treating white, textured paint on canvas—I suspect that a sensitive observation of that unique, somewhat cold Bay Area light has a large part in their respective development as painters. Thiebaud often used sweet foods as subject matter—but not in the commercial way that his Pop Art contemporaries did. His paintings evoke the flavors of their subject matter in a way that tricks you into thinking the pigment itself must be luscious and tasty. In his words, he was interested in…
“…what happens when the relationship between paint and subject matter comes as close as I can get it - white, gooey, shiny sticky oil paint spread out on top of a painted cake to ‘become’ frosting. It is playing with reality - making an illusion which grows out of an exploration of the propensities of materials.”
The colorful candies in the above work, Three Machines (1971)—made me want to create a fruity, tangy, creamy treat. Expect to see more Thiebaud-inspired creations here in the future; his painting Pies (1961) is a serious contender for a new Faye Makes Food pairing.
Ingredients
- 1 cup greek yogurt
- 10 oz strawberries (about 2 cups / save a few sliced strawberries to decorate with)
- 3 tbsp of honey (you can also try maple syrup, agave nectar, or 1/4 cup sugar if you prefer)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Process
- Blend all the ingredients, except for the sliced strawberries.
- Place a couple sliced strawberries into each popsicle holder so that they show on the edges, then pour in the yogurt blend to top them off. Leave a little room (about 1/8” inch) for expansion. Freeze overnight. When ready to eat, run the popsicle holders under some warm water for a few seconds to loosen them up. Enjoy!
