Shriveled Citrus à la Cézanne

Dad’s theory is that leaving oranges and lemons in the fridge until they wither up into hard lumpy balls is beneficial for your fridge’s ecosystem. He posits that these desiccated objects keep mold away. I’m not sure if this is true because I never let anything lie in the fridge long enough to get moldy, except for cheese, and the cheese gets moldy whether there are shriveled up oranges or not… So… maybe this is not a collection you want to invest your time in curating. On the other hand, you shouldn’t be dismayed with  yourself if you find a dehydrated lemon lurking in the far reaches of your fridge - these citruses are perfectly harmless and friendly, too! And they take a lot of patience to cultivate. In a fit of righteous cleanliness, I rashly threw our previous lot out years ago and in consequence didn’t have any when I needed them. The ones in this painting have been drying out since the end of May and they are still quite soft and round.

I was perhaps just as pleased with the painting process as I was with arranging the cloth and oranges to resemble a painting of Cézanne’s.