Scent of fall

20180919-playful-pear — Scent of fall (6″ x 8″ oil on gessoed wood cradle)

What can I say? It’s fall and so it’s time to be inspired by all the fruit that is ripe and delicious right now. Pears have such a beautiful form and playing with colour within that shape was a pleasure.

I love how Tom’s poem combines all the senses in curious ways – just right to celebrate the overwhelming sensory input of the season. (The painting’s title is taken from the poem.)

Flagrant tapestry of light
disposed upon a simple plate
gives great pleasure to the sight
beguiling those who stand and wait
for just a taste of beauty’s touch
or perfume’s lovely sound. So much
is taken, still yet more abides,
and to us now on art’s spring tides
come simple feasts for senses all
served up with synethetic flair
that melds the mind with plate and pairs
sweet voice with the scents of fall:
a smorgasbord of pure delight
to lift our fancy in its flight.

(Tom says: Note Tennyson reference in “much is taken, much abides”.)

Apple three ways

I was recently playing around with some impressionist painting techniques. I used as a starting point a fun youtube video by Ann Feldman. She illustrates six techniques so I picked and blended and generally had fun with it. It was good to reinforce some lessons I don’t always think about while I’m painting …or maybe it was more that I was being deliberate and more intentional about how I used the techniques. In any case, a fun and educational afternoon!

Tom found inspiration in the painting for another of his amazing and fresh poems!

Apple is as apple does:
the eye of the beholder
adds a wisp of artist-love
and brings to life a bolder

vision of what might be real
behind perception’s veil
seeing deeply what we feel
as mere awareness fails

to grasp the essence of the world
in all its mystery hidden
delving down as we are hurled
past barriers forbidden

into the aspects, affine, strange
that move upon the surface
hinting at a deeper range
revealing higher purpose.

Apples on a pedestal …oil painting

20180405-more-apples — Apples on a pedestal (9″ x 12″)

More apples. This time there was more space to breathe around the subject and the footed bowl and background became an important part of the composition. The colours and pattern of the background looked good in my minds eye and were a pleasure to paint. The piece came together really smoothly.

Tom’s poem approaches the subject from another viewpoint compared to the previous apple poem …another kind of knowledge. Once again it seems just right for the painting!

Upon a pedestal ensconced
above a blue tabula rasa
just waiting for some renaissance
artiste, who from forbidden Lhasa,
high in Himalayan climes,
has walked the paths and learned the rhymes
of gurus old and lamas young
until she knows what’s wrought or wrung
from patterns cast upon the wall
of Plato’s cave are hardly all
that we can know when truth is sung:
for the artist sees the deep
where hidden knowledge lurks and leaps.

Joy’s apples …oil painting

20180329-Joys-apples — Joy’s apples (6″x6″)

Sometimes, the paint and the brush and the moment all come together …a joyful afternoon of painting!

Tom’s poem takes an interesting turn – a meditation on the role of apples in the enlightenment? I love it!

These golden apples in the sun
fallen from the rooted branch
by the force of Newton spun
into a tale, an avalanche
of strange insight to the world
while through vasty depths we’re hurled
by gravity, momentum too
lifted up by mighty thews
of mystery: the apple’s fall
set in motion worlds and more
dancing ‘cross the spinning floor
led by giants, standing tall.
An apple drops in autumn light
and banishes the endless night.

three cherries and two lemons …oil paintings

20180208-three-cherries — three cherries (6″ x 6″)

There is something so appealing about painting fruit! They have clear volumes, interesting textures and beautiful colours!

20180209-two-lemons — two lemons (6″ x 8″)

I am currently taking an online painting course …well it’s more than just a painting course. There’s so much to keep one inspired and creating I can’t recommend the courses enough! The two above paintings were created from photos that were included in the course materials. It’s time for me to do more of my own still life setups …just waiting for some nice sunshine for the lighting. In the meantime, these were so much fun to paint! Thank you Timeless Tuscany!

Here is Tom’s humorous poetic take on the idea of still life painting!

Lemons, cherries, on a cloth
resting for the artist’s eye
where by picnickers they’re tossed
to catch a painter on the sly
and lure them into to contemplation
of how to make the saturation
of the colours right and true:
of red that’s red and blue that’s blue.
Still they lie and still they are
placed in textured composition
vying for the best position
looking good from near and far.
Beauty’s mystery revealed
by all that’s opened, all that’s sealed.

last plums …oil painting

Maybe not the very last of the season but with just a few in the box, it seemed like a good title. Juicy and sweet, they have to be eaten carefully …or with abandon, letting the juice run down your chin and arms!

The glowing purple-red of the plums contrasts with the dull green cardboard box.

Wishing you abundance this harvest season.

three plums in a bowl …oil painting

More of the season’s bounty – delicious “prune plums”. Ever since I learned that prune is the French for plum, this name has seemed curiously redundant. 🙂 I believe these are the type of plums that are dried into prunes hence the logic of the name in English but they were delicious fresh!

As usual, this was painted alla prima (in one quick session). The background green-ish yellow colour was chosen as complimentary to the plums.

Find joy in the simple things and may the day bring you contentment!

Green Tea Doodles

take some time for tea and check out my doodles

still life