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Artist Mollie Douthit--On Food, Paint, Memory And Connection

Artist Mollie Douthit, pictured with small paintings on display for Open Studios at Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT, November, 2018.
Artist Mollie Douthit, pictured with small paintings on display for Open Studios at Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT, November, 2018.

“This my opportunity to  only talk about those colors, and then somehow, the lusciousness of the frosting, the cakiness of the cake the smoothness of the plastic in that refrigerator--all somehow mingle themselves into that, and  that’s exciting to me.”

On our show this week, we revist a conversation with artist  Mollie Douthit, about her painting practice involving food, kitchen spaces and food’s power to connect us--with the past, and with the people we love. I spoke with her after her artist's talk at  Vermont Studios Center in Johnson, Vermont.

Food can make us feel closer to our families, but it can also stir up some deep divisions.

After all, food is tied to culture and identity. Some of us leave home and strike out on new culinary paths, and develop new food preferences, restrictions or even  principles about what we will and will not eat.

A place where we may have once come together--the family table--can become fragmented and tense.

Our guest Mollie Douthitt, a painter, returned to her family home after living abroad for years. Many things had changed, including Mollie’s diet. But she’s found ways to continue to connect with her family over food, even if they aren’t always eating the same thing.

Listen to our interview with Mollie Douthit on this episode of Earth Eats.

Kayte Young discovered her passion for growing, cooking, foraging and preserving fresh food when she moved to Bloomington in 2007. With a background in construction, architecture, nutrition education and writing, she brings curiosity and a love of storytelling to a show about all things edible. Kayte raises bees, a small family and a yard full of food in Bloomington’s McDoel Gardens neighborhood.