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	Creative Carrot is a private gallery of artwork devoted to carrots although occasionally Creative Carrot paintings can be seen at selective festivals and galleries in the Greater Toronto Area and Durham Region. Latest Updates: Show Season over for 2011. Stay tuned for next year!. Why paint carrots? Carrots are a lot like humans: they come in many shapes and sizes and colours. They can be straight and narrow, chubby and twisted, round and babyish. They provide great variety for still life painting. From a still life perspective, they provide endless diversity for colour, shape and style. As an international symbol of vegetarianism, carrots also inspire us to reach for the optimal diet not only for own health, but to sustain the planet and improve the quality of life for all creatures. What's in a name? Carrot . . . came into English from the Middle French carotte, which in turn came from Late Latin carota, which came from the Greek [karoton]. The original root is believed to be ker- (meaning “horn”). What can carrots do for you? Nutritional Information for 100 grams of Carrot: Calories 43 Total Total Fat 0 g Saturated Fat 0 g Cholesterol 0 g Sodium 35 mg Carbohydrate 10 g Dietary Fibre 3 gTotal Protein 1 g Vitamin A  28129 IU Vitamin C 9 mg Calcium 27 mg Iron 1 mg Some History. . . The Carrot is a member of a group of biennial or perennial herbs and a native of Europe and south western Asia. The wild ancestors of the common carrot are likely to have come from Afghanistan, which remains the centre of diversity of D. carota (wild carrot). Most carrots are characterized by aromatic foliage and an umbrella-type of flattened flower cluster. The common garden carrot (Daucus carota sativa) is a root crop, derived from some variety of the wild carrot (Queen Anne’s Lace). In antiquity several types of carrot were grown as medicinal herbs, and in Europe carrots have long been grown for use in soups and stews. The custom of eating carrots raw as a salad has become widespread in the 20th century. Carrots are a rich source of carotene (vitamin A). A few members of the Umbelliferae family produce lethal poison. Apparently, it was one of these, the poison hemlock, that Socrates was compelled to take. The 12th c. Arab agriculturist, Ibn al-Awwam describes both red and yellow carrots; both colours are mentioned in an 11th century manuscript. Orange carrots became popular in the western world in the 17th Century after Dutch agriculturists developed the orange variety by cross breeding nautral mutants with other varieties. Much more about carrots . . . For a more complete and colourful history of the carrot, see the attached article [Stolarczyk and Janick, Chronica Horticulturae, (Vol. 51, No. 2; June 2011). For more information about carrots from all over the world, please visit the "Carrot Museum". Carrots at the Fall 2011 Art Show: September 16-18 The Fall Art Show for the Oshawa Art Association was a success with 8 carrot paintings finding new homes in local households. The "diversity" paintings, those which focus on the different colours, shapes and sizes of the carrots, were most popular [top and middle section paintings - left]. Paintings portraying the shorter, multi-rooted carrots in all colours also attracted attention. A few art buyers were seeking them for collages in newly renovated kitchens or for "staging" of homes for quick sale. Whether browsing or buying, visitors to the show viewed the carrots with a smile. Everyone had a similar reaction, even the children. With so much turmoil in the world, from new technologies to conflicts, it was refleshing to see something so elementary bringing happiness to people. Carrots to the rescue! June-July 2011: A carrot painting wins a spot in a juried art show at Oshawa's prestigeous Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, Ontario. Artist, Sally G, poses for a moment in the RM Gallery with the winning carrots. Creative Carrot Copyright 2010. Contact info@creativecarrot.ca for more information regarding permission to use images or text from these pages.