Why Still Life?
"Vintage", oil on panel
I learned to paint mainly for one reason – so I could paint the roses in my garden.
Many years ago I had acquired a beautiful teacup featuring a painting of a rose by Belgian botanist/painter Pierre-Joseph Redoute. I fell in love with his watercolor renderings of roses and other flowers, painted in the classic 1800’s botanical style. At the same time, I had just planted my first-ever rose garden, so I wanted to paint my own roses “Redoute style.” I took a watercolor class, bought some books and started learning how to paint.
My focus on painting flowers - and only flowers - was so narrow that when it came to the lessons on mixing colors, I completely ignored the section on mixing black, thinking that since flowers are not black, I would never need that color on my palette – ever. I also never bought a tube of black watercolor paint for the same reason.
I got to work painting my roses in watercolor and soon I entered one of my botanical rose paintings into an art show. The painting sold, and from that point on I was hooked. I went on to paint other things eventually, although my favorite subject has definitely remained flowers. And since still life frequently includes flowers, it naturally became my favorite genre.
A couple of my early watercolor botanicals
But there are many more reasons I prefer still life. Unlike other genres, still life gives me total control over my subject. I can choose exactly what to put in the painting, so I get to use objects that are intriguing or meaningful to me. I can arrange the objects exactly as I see fit, and light the subject exactly as I want to (can’t do that in a landscape). Still life also allows me to work alone in my studio, which, being an introvert, I prefer (don’t have to make small-talk with a model).
I have enjoyed painting in other genres over the years. I’ve painted some figures, tried a portrait or two, and I do enjoy painting landscapes whenever I can. But still life is my passion. A good still life painting can turn a collection of the most mundane, everyday objects into a fascinating study of color, line, shape, texture and light. The arrangement of random items into a pleasing abstract composition is really an art in itself, and I love the challenge of trying to master that skill. The artist Charles Hawthorne famously said, “Anything under the sun is beautiful if you have the vision – it is the seeing of the thing that makes it so.”
I still love to paint my roses and other pretty things from my garden, but I strive to improve my ability to see “beauty in the ordinary” and to paint in such a way that the viewer can see that beauty as well. I think that is the goal of every artist – whatever their chosen genre.
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