Window Sash Still Life

It was the glowing translucence of this little scene that got me excited about drawing it. I really liked how everything was magically transformed by the strong sunlight coming through the window. Even the shadows seemed to have life.

As I worked on this still life, I was also constantly aware of the delicacy of most of the objects' contact with the window sash. Though the shells at either end have some weight, they balance on just a tiny point of their surface. The empty crab shell appears to be on tiptoe. The quince blossoms give the lightest touch with their stems, while their petals yield softly, and appear to meld with the shadows. In contrast, the worn old bottle sits solidly with its wide base, but the flowers rest there ever so gently.

(18 x 6", colored pencil on pastelbord)

Works in Progress: Tomatoes and Old Paint, and A Windowsill Scene

I'm taking a break from working on this little 5 by 7 inch piece. For its size, it seems to be taking way too long to finish, but I guess I brought it upon myself when I chose that ancient chair with the interestingly flaking paint as the backdrop for a pair of plump tomatoes. It really is almost done, but I just needed to let it be for a while.

So, to save my sanity, I've begun work on another still life. This one is 6 by 18 inches. It's still rough, but I'm liking it!

Both of these are colored pencil on Pastelbord.

Antique Apples and Mended Bowl

This recently completed still life is yet another gathering of things that I love to look at, but had never been brought together until I started trying out different combinations for a new drawing. The boldly designed vintage tablecloth was not among the pile of textiles I had set aside to accompany these beautifully bumpy and spotted Calville Blanc D'Hiver apples. The old bowl, with its worn gold stripes, and a crack mended with a brass staple, had always charmed me, but I had never filled it with fruit.

Searching for a naturally lit place to set up my still life, I was drawn to the sunny porch, where this tablecloth was already covering the table onto which I unloaded the apples from a bag. They looked interesting together, but I decided I needed a container of some sort. These antique variety apples are really large, so off I went to find a bowl big enough to hold a bunch of them. I had always meant to include the mended bowl in a drawing, and it just happened to be the perfect size for these huge apples.

(Antique Apples and Mended Bowl, 12x12", colored pencil on Pastelbord)

Tomato Bull's-Eye

I posted this as a work in progress a while back, and since that time, it has been sold, finished, varnished, framed and delivered... in that order. It's truly a wonderful thing to sell a piece before it's completed! 

I chose the title, Tomato Bull's-Eye, for two reasons. The first is the composition, with the stacked plates' concentric circles reminiscent of a target, the crisscrossed shadows and fine blue lines of the top plate reminding me of crosshairs. The second is the tomato itself, a beautiful Italian heirloom variety, called 'Cuore di Bue', which means 'Bull's Heart'. It was that reference to a bull that pulled it all together. I do enjoy coming up with titles!

(12x12", colored pencil on Pastelbord)