Fairfield Porter clearly liked all the same artists as I like — Bonnard, Matisse and Vuillard. It was fun happening upon this bright image that uses the same theme that I am also presently exploring: the still life in an interior before a window. Seeing this painting made me feel like I was getting a thumbs up from a great artist of my parents’ generation.
On the studio floor putting the one canvas atop the other helps me visualize how the bouquet would look in its vase and also anticipates how much space this arrangement will take up in the painting for which these are studies.
They come out bigger than I expected. So I’m not sure what I’ll do about that, whether I use this motif anyway or maybe make it a little smaller. The vase is a little farther away than other objects on the table. I am unsure how much smaller that would make it appear. Will have to wing it, perhaps.
Anyway, I thought this arrangement turned out interesting.
I painted this still life in the first studio that I ever had outside my house. The room had very dim interior light and huge ceilings. The vault of air above my head was enchanting. The room was badly lit and people coming by to say hello often asked me why I was sitting in the dark. But my still life and the canvas were lit well enough. I loved the diffuse light of that quirky place.
The painting became the DNA for several pictures. Over the years I’ve made versions of the idea. They all bear some resemblance to their parent and yet each one has its own identity too.
I painted these flowers ages ago. I got them from my parent’s backyard and assembled them quickly in a plastic storage container and painted them against a blue cloth. I was emulating a style of some artists I knew who all went to the same school. It intrigues me to see it now. I like the painting, but the sensation is like seeing a picture of yourself wearing glasses from some other era. Looking at the painting now I see lots of common feeling with the way I paint flowers today and tons of difference too.
I’ve got to learn how to use tags on Instagram. This above does not fit with this below.
My apologies to the ladies at #pinturahighlights! Seriously, I need to check the tags out first. Happily for them, the picture featuring a highlight of my painting has gotten totally lost in the crush of hair highlights photography.
But if you want to visit my instagram page — notwithstanding my strange tags — please do. You can find it here:
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