March 2016
Often you set out to do one thing and then, in the process of making, something unforeseen is revealed. I was preparing to make soap using lemons from Russell’s lemon tree and wanted to document all the parts of the project on video. To help highlight the specialness of the source, I asked Russell to let me interview him about the care that goes into growing lemons in Brooklyn. As one question led to another, I began to tap into a greater story that I had been witnessing for years. As spring awakens, please take a look at this short narrative about nurturing a subtropical, fruit-bearing plant, family history, and painting.