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MEDIUM: Acrylic on Gesso Board
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SIZE: 18" x 24"
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STATUS: In the Artist's Personal Collection
"This is the third artwork I have done of a this vase of tulips spanning 55 years! The first was done as a tiny crayon drawing on newsprint paper in 1962 (see below), when I was 7 years old. When my mother found this among her collection of items from my childhood and sent it to me in the 1990's, I decided it would be fun to re-do as a watercolor (my medium of choice at the time), 35 years after the crayon drawing. That resulted in "Now and Then" (shown below right) which I painted in 1997. Fast forward 2 more decades to 2017, when I tackled the subject once again, this time as this acrylic painting.
I purposely increased the complexity of my still life this time, with many more items, a variety of textures and surfaces, and lighting intended to add more three-dimensionality. I intended to frame the painting in an antique oak frame, so I set up my still life on the top of an oak cabinet, with a pine panelled wall behind. I wanted to include lace again, this time selecting white linen with a tatted lace edge. I arranged the doily to fall with folds and overlaps, while also letting it receed to the background on the left - making depicting the lace trim more complicated. The antique lamp challenged me with its reflective brass base and opaque glass top. The vase of tulips remains my point of interest, but I set it off-center for a more intriguing arrangement. The blossom on the doily and those upright in the vase were painted with strong, clean colors, with blue tones added in the shadowed areas of the foliage and blossoms. Just for fun, I included a little reference to the past by including a photo of myself at age 7, in an oval decorative frame. Overall, the lighting came from various directions, but primarily from above, lit by the bulb in the lamp.
This series of three paintings now hangs in my home, celebrating my progress as an artist! The pretty Hull vase is displayed with them too.
