Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Fairytale Narratives

FairytaleFairytale1Fairytale4
When Fact and Fable Collide
48"x48" oil on masonite panel, Fall 2014

______Grocery shopping and driving have so many connections they probably met on eHarmony and dated a few times. When you're shopping for your canned foods, baked goods, and raw fruits and veggies, you want to push your cart at a constant speed, yield at intersections, and drive on the proper side of the isle, which could essentially be considered two-lanes sized for two carts to pass side by side, sans yellow stripe. You also don't want to shop under the influence, or the grocery shop cops will swoop down from the tops of shelves, place little yellow wheel clamps on your cart, and force you to use a shopping basket for the rest of your food-buying excursion.

______That being said, don't even try to free the lobsters from their glass prison as you saunter by the ground meat. The grocery store cops will scoff and not be amused. Though the beady eyes of the lobsters glint preciously and plead, "SOS!" it's best to turn away and recall how their brains are but a bundle of nerves comparable to those of a cockroach.

LimeLime2Lime1
Whisking Sugar Lumps 
48"x24" oil on masonite panel, Fall 2014

______Of course, while grocery shopping, you're always going to run into those grocery shop drivers. You know the ones. 

______The ones that take up a whole isle, probably rationalizing that it's an opportune time to tweet about how the Honey Bunches of Oats were moved two cereal brands over, and the struggle was so incredibly real, gosh dangit! And now the world has to know, or at least their twelve followers do, even though nine of them are spam accounts and one is a goat pun account that last updated two years ago.

______Then there are the ones who put their cart in front of the bagged spinach leaves you so desire, only to wander all the way over to another vegetable, leaving their cart, purse, and screaming child for you to frown at until their slow, soul crushing return. 

______Then there's the old couple that slowly surveys each piece of lettuce as if they are picking out a wedding gown. "Oh no," the boisterous little wife says, shaking her head and raising her frail hands in defense, shaking them like wheat crops being struck by Western wind. "These leaves are far too wilted. We need something sturdier, but not too crisp and white as those, nay!" The quiet husband nods in agreement. He knows by now not to argue with his marshmallow haired wife whose skin sags like the floppy lips of a dog. 

CottonCotton2
The Organisms Are Introduced to Cotton Candy
48"x24" oils on masonite panel, Fall 2014

______The robo-zoomer is what I could classify myself as: my movements are intentional and swift as I dexterously zoom from foodstuff A to foodstuff B, like a pirate sniffing gold on the seas. I have a robot-like stare that resembles that calculates the quickest path to my next target, considering the obstacles that are humans and cart road-blocks. I go in. I go out. I occasionally stop to sniff the packaged roses that sit conveniently by the chocolate-covered almonds.

______There's the gazer. They glaze their slitted eyes over the selection hundreds of times like a lecherous man surveying patrons at a gas station even though he or she shops there every week and that same product hasn't moved an inch. It's in the same spot. Really. Your canned mushrooms haven't grown wings and flown to another isle.

______The post-workout chick. She's got her ponytail streaming through a cap, her snazzy printed leggings hugging her perfect gluteus maximus, and her neon Nikes keeping up with her quick pace as she moves the cart with one hand, cradles a small child in the other, and still manages to pin her Otterbox-cased iPhone 6 to her ear and carry a conversation. This girl is going places.

______What kind of shoppers do you notice?

16 comments:

Dominika | Into the Bloom said...

Thank you so much for your lovely comment! I like an occasional drink or two, but I've never actually been drunk and I'm most certainly not the kind of girl that goes partying every weekend. I love the kind of parties where only my bed, snacks and Netflix are invited.

As for the whole grocery shopping thing, I thought I was the only one who compares it to driving. I don't have a driving license, so sometimes I grab a cart and start thinking 'okay, let's see, what kind of a driver would I be?' as I try to get to the next alley without hitting other carts standing in the way. One of the shopper types that I noticed are people who shove their cart in your butt as you're standing in the checkout line- it can happen once accidentally, but when they do it a couple of times in a row, it gets super annoying!

By the way, I followed you on Bloglovin and I can't wait to read more posts! x

http://thedashingdiaries.com

Life's a shoe said...

this is gorgeous work!

lifeisashoe

Jen Hsieh said...

I'm almost 100% positive I've been every single one of these shoppers at least once or twice in the past month alone and I'm not ashamed because I AM QUEEN OF THE SUPERMARKETS AND I DO WHAT I WANT. Also, because groceries are serious business as what goes into my belly matters greatly to me because delicious things are important.

Also, I appreciate the titles you give your art. They make your art infinitely greater, if that's even possible.

Unknown said...

I'm anti shopping carts, so I am a shopper with only a basket and a scowl at all the effing carts blocking my way. Ha! Love these colourful art work Ali x

Rachel said...

We always had a system--Angel would maneuver the cart, and I would dash around the store at top speed,throwing stuff in the cart whenever I passed him, and we'd be in and out in record time. I sped so fast I regret to say I didn't notice other shoppers all that much...I'm not really a grocery store fan...here grocery stores are more interesting because the food is more mysterious and everyone stares at me like I'm a celebrity grocery shopping.... (which I am...)

Unknown said...

Beautiful art
Jolahogg.blogspot.ie

Kristian said...

I tend to use a basket, myself :)

Gorgeous abstract art.

The Dragonfruit said...

Each art piece really absorbed me! It only strengthens my urge to see these pieces in person. Photos can only do so much, you know? Sometimes, you need to physically be there to see and comprehend what you're looking at.

Anyway, Ali, you need to write a book. Just a random book that's filled with your thoughts and quirky, fantastic analogies. Haha, this grocery shopping post is fantastic and had me laughing out loud on the old couple comparison. SO TRUE! Poor old husband...he's been beaten by time and his wife's stubbornness xD

I'd be a mix of the robot shopper and post-workout chick. Haha, that's usually when I go grocery shopping!

The Dragonfruit Diaries
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The Braided Bandit said...

These are so beautiful, I love that you are posting more art! The first one has to be my favorite, such a warm tropical feeling to me!
xoxo!
Hannah

Lily Fang said...

Ah, these have to be some of my favorite works of yours, Ali. For one, the color scheme in "When Fact and Fable Collide" is flawless. There's a perfect balance of warm and cool colors. And for all of them, they appear to be of mixed mediums when they're all oil--deceiving in the best way! The best part is that these are interpretive, though. Each one evokes a different feeling. For example, "The Organisms are Introduced to Cotton Candy" makes me feel calm with a dark undertone. For some reason, it reminds me of the deep, dark, and mysterious ocean.

As for grocery shoppers, I'm totally the old woman inspecting the lettuce. It literally takes me half an hour to decide on one item.

Keep up the fab work, dear Ali!

LyddieGal said...

I mostly just notice the ones who need to talk to me. To strike up conversations about why the yogurt they want isn't on sale this week and then tell me their life story. Good times.

E said...

Today I noticed the soccer mom in front of me buying no less than 5 magnum bottles of chardonnay and 1 vitamin water. I wondered, "party planning? shopping for the month(s)? or not-so-closet alcoholic?" We'll never know, but fun to wonder.

I could easily get lost in your swirly, dreamy paintings...

Keit said...

Hahahahaha, sooo true! I want go on a murderous spree every time I go grocery shopping, seriously!
Don't forget the old granny who just wants someone to talk to and would follow you around, calculating out loud how much has the bread price gone up and asking you what you're gonna cook with those chicken legs you just bought!
I think I'm the gazer btw....I gaze at things and wonder... :D

Katie Aman said...

Oh my gosh YES hahahah. I could picture each of these in my mind and I have encountered every one at some point or another. This was hilarious. I probably see the last one most often-super tight work out clothes are prevalent at our local grocery store, haha. And the ART! I absolutely love it. It has so much depth to it and the colors are magical. Hope you had a great week Ali!

Jo said...

Ali, Why you little twerp... Why did you make me laugh like a hysterical hyena at my screen while curious onlookers stare on. This grocery store description simply got me chortling like mad. With writing like this, you are really going places gal!

Jo
Jo's Jumbled Jardinière

Francesca said...

Hahaha I love your analogies. I go grocery shopping all the time with my dad so I can really relate to all of these! Your artwork is amazing as always, you're truly very talented! Gorgeous!

Also, I'm sorry I haven't been around in a long time! I'm back now though and couldn't be more excited!

Francesca
www.vintagelillies.com