“Circular Arrangements” 9″x 12″ oil on panel

Perspective has an effect on many things both literally and figuratively speaking.  

As I venture further into my exploration of the still life, the idea of perspective is coming into question and helping me understand how limited my view can be both as an artist and human being.  There are many vantage points from which to look at something and I’m not sure there’s an absolute truth in any one perspective.  I think my perspective is always influenced by my personal experience both past and present. Therefore, it’s not really possible for me to have the  “full” picture on anything. 

With that concept in mind, I decided to stay with this still life arrangement and find new ways to look at it, desiring a “fuller” picture.  I consciously shifted my location within my studio to gain a new perspective on the  subjects without changing their arrangement.  In the series of paintings that have emerged, there is a continuity along with change. New challenges arose in my process even though the objects stayed the same.  How I approached the paintings also  remained consistent in terms of  focusing on the relationship of color and form within the picture plane.  

Historically speaking, some of the first still-life paintings on record are flat and primitive. Linear perspective didn’t emerge until the Renaissance when artists began to discover ways to create the illusion of space on a flat surface. In later years Cezanne who is well known for his still life paintings altered his use of perspective bringing more attention to form.