My words to JT signalled that summer was over, and I was relishing the start of fall painting season: "If you notice there's just one mandarin orange on the grocery bill, it's because I need a small orange object."All summer, I'd been mentally planning my kick-off painting. It started when a clean-up project unearthed a very old cherished patterned skirt. On this background, I imagined various objects of the same colours as the skirt -- with the trick being to play off flat patterns with 3-D objects.
As the last two years' work will show, I most commonly choose a vertical set-up for my still lifes. To tone down the busyness of the many coloured shapes, I decided on a horizontal layout since horizontals tend towards calmness and stability.
Almost as soon as I assembled things, a small bell sounded in my consciousness. The summer camp dinner bell? No...a little reminder of the lesson I learned recently in attempting a light-hearted trompe l'oeil . The kind of precision required to bring off my pattern/object plan would just not be my thing. Nonetheless, I decided to press on with the fabric and objects -- and found that my first study loudly said, "BORING."
Resolving to work a little more loosely, I rearranged the fabric and shifted my viewpoint.
A quick line study confirmed something a little more lively.
The outcome is "Reaching Out" (copyright 2011) -- with many shapes and angles reaching out beyond my original concept. (I know, I know: I give the impression of being calm and stable myself, but in truth, I like to see a little more action). The final version is below, and you can view its evolution here.
Acknowledgments: The lovely little pottery bowl in the foreground was created by my friend D, who is in no way responsible for how it looks here!
