“The Artful Vase” 8″ x 6″ oil on canvas – $100

It’s fun on occasion to keep it simple in terms of painting.  Sometimes that begins with the actual arrangement when it comes to a still life set up.  Letting go of laboring over what to include and how to create relationships with the objects often takes time.  With that said however, this was a rather spontaneous painting inspired by the handmade vase.  It felt like it was just waiting there for me to notice and paint.  

The vase itself, is one of my favorites, in part because it’s one my daughter made some years ago.  I love the triangular shape and how she used texture on the surface.  The glaze is difficult to describe.  It’s almost a combination of periwinkle blue with hints of lavender and turquoise.   The pink and orange hues are subtle elements within the glaze that you don’t notice without a close look.  Often it’s those parts that I’m most drawn to with regard to color.  I like to emphasize the less noticeable aspects of things to see what happens. 

The flowers were from my hydrangea plant.  It always tends to bloom in the blue to light blue range as my soil is more acidic.  There is something about the hydrangea plumes and their presence in this small vase that provided a nice blend of harmony and disharmony that worked for me.