In this painting, the vibrant spirit of yellow beckoned me to employ it as the theme for an arrangement of glowing, sunny delight. A radiant composition echoes the sunflowers, center of interest and hub of an invisible wheel on which pears, book, and sweet treats mark the spokes.
It’s possibly a similar reason that I enjoy painting still life so much. The arranging of objects in light and shadow, stepping back, looking at pattern, moving something a little back or forward, then stepping back to compare once more, is the ritual that summons the Muse, putting me into the spirit of creation long before I pick up a brush.
Landscape paintings translate especially well to a petite format. Once the painting is entered, one’s sense of size diminishes while experiencing the relative parts of the composition. It’s as if one shrinks to inhabit the space.
Light and Glass are exquisite playmates. Sometimes bending, sometimes bouncing, light penetrates glass and splashes color like liquid.
Picasso and Degas, could they be any more different? Yet, the exhibit at the Clark Museum, Picasso looks at Degas, revealed that Degas influenced the younger artist in many ways.