Award of Excellence

February 06, 2009

Award of Excellence

I didn't plan this...but what better way to start and art related blog, than with a fine "Award of Excellence"! I've been wanting to start a blog for a while, and this was just the push I needed!

"There is Always One..." was given this award for our upcoming show in March.
'Our' refers to the Arrowsmith Chapter of the Federation of Canadian Artists. It's going to be a beautiful show and I'm totally pleased (understatement!) with the award.

A little bit about "There is Always One..." (Coloured Pencil on Paper. 13" x 13")

When I looked at the pile of fruit I had bought at the grocery store, I was struck by the fact that only 2 pieces actually had leaves on them. I thought it rather sad, that we don't get to see how beautiful the fruit look on the trees...and my mind rambled on, rather philosophically, about that for a while. However when the time came to set up a still life to photograph, one fruit (peach) had lost it's leaf...and I thought...only one...yeah, there is always one...somehow that reminded me of myself, but that is another matter!

I set the still life up in the bright noon day sun, experimenting with different colours under the plate, moving around with the camera, and arranging and re-arranging the fruit, until I finally and after several trips in to the computer to take a look at the digital images, was happy with what I saw.

A peach in the sweet spot. The only peach, the only yellow orange, the only leaf. Boy does it ever get attention! Ha!

A triangle of red nectarines, including the peach in the triangle, there's no missing that one! And then the arrow shape of the plums, same thing...try follow that one without seeing my peach ;-)

All I needed now was an interesting background to support my little 'game'. My Mother-in-Law gave me this cake plate many years ago and it is still a favourite of mine. Though some of the edges have been damaged and points broken off over the years, I just love this plate! The glass, being older, has that delightful green colour cast to it, that, together with the white background and the colours of the fruit, created an endless variety of colours in the shadow areas. It was a wonderful journey of discovery as I tried to capture some of it's complexity on my paper. The swirls from the shadows cast by the plate added wonderful movement to the whole, and all I had to do was make sure I capture enough shadow in just one area, that breaks past the edges of my plate, to off-set some of that drama surrounding the peach.

Apart from some very faint shadows in some areas, the background remains the stark white of the paper, which is unusual for me.

As a matter of interest: here is another piece where I used this plate :

"The Red Pear" (Coloured Pencil on paper) aren't those swirling patterns just SUPER!?!

My good friend Norma Paul got an "Honourable Mention" award for her acrylic painting of orchids, submitted to the same show. I'll add the image for that as soon as I get it from Norma!

Once the show is up in the gallery (March 2nd) I will add a link to our chapter website, where you will be able to see all the pieces hanging in the show.