If you clicked
on this you may be wondering what that means or at least like
more information. I have always liked doing figurative work. I
like painting people. I never really liked still-life. I always
found still-life paintings looked like someone tried very hard
to arrange them in a way that did not look arranged. But it was
arranged. No one is painting the real truth. The bag of apples
sitting on the table with one apple just slightly coming out of
the semi-clear plastic vegetable bag that comes on the big rolls
at the grocery store with the green print at the bottom. You know,
the one they tell you not to put over a kids head. Anyway...that
would be a natural arrangement but who is going to paint that?
Maybe some one should sit in front of the refrigerator with the
door open and paint...that's natural but not very pretty. I was
looking for a way to paint a still-life that would be beautiful,
interesting, well painted and most importantly......fun!
I
had an interest in Animation when I was a young art student and
read many books on acting. My favorite is called "On Acting"
by Sanford Meisner. I decided to think of my still-life objects
as actors on the stage rather than just fruit on a table. I look
for the character, and the personality of an object and often
exaggerate it slightly. In that regard every still-life I make
is actually a portrait of the objects painted because to me they
are real and alive. On the other hand, my portraits are also done
from life and while I struggle to get motion and life into a still-life,
the model in a portrait is trying to hold still. So for me, from
a certain point of view every still-life is a portrait, every
portrait is a still-life. After I decided that each painting would
be about personality I decided it should be fun! The quote is
from the book On Acting. I think it is a great way to
think about a painting. Nothing is random....."Every little
moment has a meaning all it's own".
Each
Still-life, with the exception of the Mask paintings, is a happy
story about the characters involved. Even if you can't see it,
it can be felt. They are happy little characters........see them
in person, feel for yourself, and bring a little fun into your
home!
