STILL LIFE PAINTINGS

STILL-LIFE PAINTINGS
I just completed this painting after two or three weeks of working on it. The Sitar, a musical instrument from India, was the inspiration for the painting. Then the other objects took their places as I worked at developing a hormonious collection, one that felt like it worked design wise. Seems like the musical objects are leading me on this exploratory quest.
Loving this subject, using the Lute and its wonderful shape. The objects here seem to function well as a group. Sometimes in the middle of the night I can't fall asleep, as I imagine them singing together. Or sometimes in developing the painting, I couldn't sleep, as I continued trying to find all the components and find a way to put them all together compositionally.
Still finding satisfaction in painting vintage objects, experimenting with the complexity of composition and color. The above piece contains the most diversity of the paintings in this series that I have finished. I know I am not done yet, but soon my interests will return to portraiture and collage. In this week, which is a teaching break for me, I have managed to come down with bronchitis...my usual response to the weather moving into Fall. That has been an impediment for me, but I will soon be back in the groove.

"Ohio Pottery and Antique Copper"

Amish country inspired me to paint the following two watercolors. Immersion in Ohio Antiques and my mental trip to Arts and Crafts, as well as Art Deco, brought me to a surprising place in my mind and in my art that I hadn't focused on in the past.

"The Samovar Presides"
After a dry spell, unable to paint for two and a half months, a trip to Amish country provided a relaxed break in routine during which I took time to explore Glass, Pottery, and things of the past. This Modern thinking artist found interest and beauty in art forms that have excelled in Ohio, because the elements found there in nature were essential for those art forms.


"Fresh Cut Flowers"


This painting was triggered by a photo I had taken in either Chicago or San Fancisco of a neighborhood flower shop we passed. In front of it were so many cellophane sleeves of sunflowers, beautifully inviting in their golden hues. Of course, I have now rearranged them, and have added some pottery pieces I own and love. The choices were based on items of some colors where I felt their presence would intensify the floral colors. If it were my flower shop I'm sure I would have items like these in the window to complete the display.

"Le Matin"
watercolor      22"h x 30"w

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Enjoy the freshness of the morning, amidst a Jardiniere filled with roses, coffee cups with cream, and the loveliness of the new day beginning in the still of this moment.

"The Visitation"

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The simplicity of this completed painting belies the intensity of labor involved in creating it. I love the freshness of the clean composition. Its graceful curvilinear shapes placed themselves for me, as I worked with the objects. I feel like I held my breath most of the time when I worked on it, hoping not to upset the perfection of how I felt it was developing.

   "Still-life in the Studio"      watercolor    22"x 30"

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A recently completed painting inspired by the beautiful objects themselves, and the combination of them as I saw  how they influenced each other. Painting the deep green bottle and the copper can are two real pleasures for me, because of the challenge they represent, and my delight in the results.

"Sparrow Visits the Tuscan Market"

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In this painting I am using the Poppy image, representative of Italy's fields of poppies, as a backdrop for the array of colorful items  in the street market in Italy. It's a pictorial device I am experimenting with to create a somewhat different still life scenario.

"Funky Tea"     watercolor 22"x 30"

Here it's the interplay of the selected patterns and colors that generate excitement. The particular objects update still-life into 21st Century imagery.

 

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"In a Tuscan Market"

 












An outdoor market I encountered on my painting trip to Italy filled my thoughts with beautiful objects, unexpected, and so picturesque. The colorful and unique wares I saw displayed there, got me going on this painting.

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 " In a Market in Tuscany" watercolor 22"x 30" 

Items from my painting trip to Italy brought new items into my painting vocabulary.wares painted here.

 

"Street Market in Tuscany"

My trip to Italy was the impetus for this painting, and several others, as I recalled my excitement in coming upon different types of wares in the open markets, and, of course, bringing some home with me.

"Market in Florence"

















A Myriad of objects revealed themselves to me, as I traveled from city to city, filling my vision to capacity, and then feeling anxious to move on, to absorb new sights, smells, memories.

            "Glads and Rosebuds"      watercolor  22"x 30"30"

"Pastel Day Lilies"   watercolor    22"x30"

 

The patterns and colors of these objects inspired the grouping as a setup for this still-life painting. I painted much of it in demonstrating watercolor painting at the Michigan State Fair a few years ago.