I set up this still life with lovely flowers in my favorite twisted purple glass vase, a lavender candle, a book, my journal, and a CD and my favorite tea cup. I went into Mr. Twitters, a local shop that is a fabulous plant nursery, antique shop, and gift shop. I saw this iridescent tea cup as part of a brass candle holder and fell in love with it. The shop owner graciously took it apart and sold me the tea cup at a really low price. It is lavender/blue on the outside and orangy-gold on the inside. I painted it for myself, which I rarely do.
The last few paintings I have done have been from other people's photos. I like painting from photos because you can do things that make it a better image, more fun, more imaginative. I have great respect for really artistic photographers. They can capture things in a professional and artistic way which most of us can't. The truth is that many of the photos we take that have meaning or tell a story are pretty crumby images, but they still are important and special. Each painting I do from a photo teaches me something more about how to do it better. Painting from life is always good, but painting from photos is also inspiring to me, and I am able to do more and practice my craft because of the availability of photos. I agree that it is good to take your own photos to paint from, but I have found that many of the commissions I have done needed a reference photo I could not take. This has pushed me to actually embrace photos for the tools they can be.
SOLD
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