I’ve been running in a million scattered directions lately trying to figure out where my next series will come from. I’m not finished forever with Altered Landscapes, but I do want something different for a while.
One of my favorite genres of painting has always been still life. Cezanne is the master as far as I’m concerned. This is why:
It’s a funny genre (if that’s the right word) because it’s essentially static. The composition is what’s important and of course the painter. I can’t paint. Seriously, I can’t. I’ve tried. I’ve taken classes. It’s an embarrassment. The professors can’t critique me because there’s nothing to critique.
But – I can and do use photography as my art form. So why not construct and photograph still lives? This is a far greater challenge than I imagined – and I didn’t think it would be easy! I’ve done three so far. Two have been posted previously but I’ll put them on this post just for the heck of it.
In today’s, I got smart and painted the background. I’ll just keep painting over and over this canvas – it’ll be fun. I used a collage of mine in this still life. The collage was recently exhibited in a juried show and won a prize, so I’m getting some more mileage out of it. Here’s the show poster.
Finally, today’s still life, in which Metropolitan makes an appearance. Is it coincidence that “pear” appears in “appearance?”
And here’s the first two. I’m liking the challenge of this still life business.
Essays
Finally, if anyone has kids who need help writing essays, I’ve posted a few eHow articles on this. They might help. (I’m a former 7th-grade language arts teacher). The first link is for How to Make Your Essays Better. Here’s one for a five-paragraph essay and a persuasive essay.
That’s all folks! Happy Art Every Day Month for November 18.
