This painting was done in my studio as a quick, loosely handled, small demonstration on basic mixing and application of watercolor. It was given for the benefit of a couple of friends who were beginning to work in watercolor and were interested in learning about suggesting different surfaces – transparent, opaque, reflective, and materials – fabric, painted wood, glazed ceramic, colored glass, etc.
The subject is ordinary, a still-life with multiple lighting sources cast over common objects within a room setting, done with layered and mostly transparent washes of color. It isn’t a painting that I would attempt to enter into an exhibit or competition, especially as there are parts that I find unresolved or needing adjustments, but all the same, it is one I like and wish I had taken more time to carry the painting to a higher level of completion.
My friends had expressed misgivings about the prospect of failure – the possibility and dissatisfaction of working without achieving a desired or “successful end product,” and I felt that it was important to address their concerns. The main goal of making the painting was to share that it isn’t necessary or practical that all works should be approached as if they are intended to become “masterpieces,” and that it was often more helpful and important to be willing to simply explore an idea or subject, and to paint and draw with an openness to discovery.