A hurricane was coming. Shabbat was about to start. A beautiful bunch of peaches were piled inside a stainless steel pot my mother had set aside to make space as she prepared food for our traditional family dinner on Friday night.

I loved their streaked, warm tones.

The scene, captured that improvised rush of real households. I didn’t let anyone eat them until later on, at a calmer time, I could capture that delicate cool shade that marked their fuzzy skins.

The green curtain was inspired by a Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres portrait I had recently bought with money I had made from selling a portrait. The grapes were purely fictitious, inspired by the juicy ripeness of all those gorgeous grapes 17th still life painter, Frans Snyders brought to life.