Fruit Bowl with Water Jar

 

Fruit Bowl with Water Jar

8" x 8" oil on board

Inquire by email

My first painting since March.There are some practical reasons: we took on a complete kitchen renovation, and my studio (the corner of Sarah's office where I keep my supplies) was filled with boxes. I'm a full time special education teacher who runs an after school club.  My kids have sports nearly every single day. etc, etc, etc,. 

I don't know what you would call the other reasons - existential maybe? The instagram burnout is still fresh. I felt like I was painting for the wrong reasons. I also started to feel really selfish for spending so much time painting when so many other people (my wife included) don't have that time.  I felt like I needed to devote more of myself to my kids, which I have. Life just feels like spinning plates sometimes, and I needed to let a few drop.  

But, now that the kitchen is done, I've been feeling the urge. I've also hung a few of my paintings in the the new kitchen and that's made me think about which paintings I actually like and why I like them. I like paintings that are mysterious and abstract and far from perfect representations.  There are so many plates I can drop and need to drop. 

Cup of Tea, Etc.

 

Cup of Tea, Etc. 

8" x 8" oil on board

Inquire by email

I just wanted to paint and as usual, I couldn't find anything I wanted to paint. Luckily, Sarah had received a gift box from a work vendor with these exact items. At first, however, I painted only the cup, which I quickly realized was boring and not big enough to fill the board. The little gold stirring spoon was next - still too small for the board, so I threw in the leather-bound journal. The foreground was still too empty, so I added the pen, which was the most difficult item to paint. Then it seemed weird to have a mug and journal with no tea, so I brewed some tea and painted it in. Finally, I wondered if people would know that it was tea, so to clear that up, I added the tag from the tea bag. The tag also turned out to be a good indictor of the direction of light. A time-lapse video would have been interesting and a wonderful demonstration of how NOT to paint...

Here's the original, super-boring painting with just the cup and the spoon: