Holding Each Other, perhaps an unusual name for a still life painting. It just came to me so I thought I’d risk using it.  In contemplating the title a lot started to be revealed and it just felt more and more appropriate.

While I didn’t expect to be so focused on the still life as a genre to work within these past months it’s one that I’m feeling more and more drawn to for many reasons.  I suppose I keenly identify with the idea of a “still life” and perhaps find that a compelling synergy.

Leaving the objects as they are and creating multiple paintings from one arrangement has been part of my process during this time.  I’ve been curious about perspectives and changing other aspects of a composition rather than the objects themselves or their placement in relation to each other.

In this piece, I think it was the 3rd version using this set-up, the shapes became a strong point and although the pitcher, bowls and fruit were important, the cast shadows and folds in the fabric background seemed to become more relevant forms.  There was apart of me that wanted to strip away the detail, which there was plenty of in the background fabric and on the pitcher.  As the painting came to completion it had a stillness about it even with the bold shapes of color and dominant line.   I likened it to a stained glass window where the cut glass pieces are held together by lead and how the lead itself adds to the composition becoming an equal part to the overall beauty of the finished window.  

As a result of this process, I’ve been reflecting on the many ways in which life is held together.  I don’t always understand it or think it makes sense but I can find some acceptance in that and see the beauty of it all.  Seeing the shadows in this painting become integral elements to the composition as equal forms is not so different than looking at my own personal shadows as integral to discovering my assets.  In some way they hold each other and have the capacity to create something far more beautiful if I can embrace them in their entirety and see them as of equal value. 

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