A tisket, a tasket, what's in the basket?

 

I didn't want an empty basket so it was time to choose something. Fruit seemed to be a good choice but which one?

My first thought was baobab fruit, an African superfruit. Though I have seen lots of baobab trees I do not have a good reference for its fruit.

But, I do have good photos of sausage trees I saw and could use its fruit. With a little bit of research I find that once roasted the sausage tree fruit is good to eat but in its raw form it is toxic to humans. I scratched that idea as I didn't want her holding a basket of poisonous fruit! 

What about mangoes? I've had some delicious mangoes in Kenya. But, when were mango trees introduced to Kenya? If it was in the 1960s or so, I'd be adding a modern element which I didn't want. Once again, research. Mango trees are presumed to have been introduced to Kenya in the 10th century. Great, ancient enough for me.

 

Now, to get some reference of mangoes. (My favorite dried mangoes from Trader Joe's would not work.) I headed to the grocery store for mangoes. Kenya has six popular mango varieties and I could turn any of my local variety in to one of them.

 

So many decisions go in to a painting. It is details, like what to put in a basket, which make trying new things interesting.