Breaking Bread- Story Behind the Art

Hey friend, I want to share with you “Breaking Bread“, a piece of work I recently completed. I’m happy to say it’s been juried into the exhibit – Harmony – at Broadway Galleries in Alexandria, VA. Please check my exhibitions page for more details about this exhibit. Now, let’s take a look at the piece and the story behind it.

I’m from a line of strong women who provided me with important examples for my own life. My maternal grandma was a small business owner. She owned a bakery for most of her life.

Grandma raised my mother and her 8 siblings from the revenues she earned from her bakery. As a result, growing up, I spent a lot of my time – summers, and weekends in the bakery. Let me tell you all about it.

I developed a love for bread simply by hanging around my grandma’s bakery. The phrase “Breaking bread” has biblical origins. It refers to making connections with people, building community, and fellowshipping with one another. Ironically, for my family, that’s exactly how we experience bread.

Our Family’s Love for Bread

Our love for bread is one of the things that connects us together as a family. Whether it was making breads, baking or eating it, bread had a way of making us gather together. When we were eating bread together in my Grandma’s house, we never sliced it with a knife. We just broke the loaf of bread and passed it around.

Bread was that thing we rallied around. We’ll eat bread with savory dishes as well as with sweet ones. As a child, I loved drinking tea with bread and butter. I’ll dunk my bread in my tea to enjoy it. And as an adult, that hasn’t changed much. I still enjoy my tea with breads and other baked goods. The only thing that has changed is that I now know it’s probably not healthy to eat as much bread every day.

However, I still love the smell of freshly baked bread. And I’ve got a nose for it. I can smell bread baking in the far distance before I’m close enough to identify exactly where. Given my history with bread, I’m sure it’ll come as no surprise to you that bread is a comfort food to me.

What it means to Break Bread

As a result, this piece “Breaking Bread” is a reminder of family bonds. “Breaking Bread” is my little token of joy, comfort and harmony. It’s not simply about food. It’s the memories this food evokes. I’m sure you’ve got such tokens in your life as well. Little trinkets, some dishes, a piece of jewelry that brings you comfort, reminds you of some meaningful connections with the people you love.

So, that’s what this piece – “Breaking Bread” is about. It’s about connections, loving relationships, and gathering together. It’s part of a new series I’m working on called the “Joy of Living“.

Warmest Regards,

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Also published on Medium.