Repurposed

8 in. x 8 in. oil on canvas

I often spend an hour or more setting up and photographing a still life, but this one happened fast. Searching for something paint-able outdoors, I dropped by the local picker’s market minutes before closing time. Found and carried this pitcher to the only small area with late afternoon sun. The succulent in it was boring, so I found a better one and shot that in the same light. The oil can just happened to be in the background, but when I assembled the photo at home, I decided I liked it. My only regret is that I couldn't paint from life, because a photo never quite captures all the color.

Since the beginning of the year, most of my sporadic paintings have been very...laborious. (I was going to say "tedious," but that is too negative.) Still, I am striving to return to the slightly looser paint application I was beginning to"get" last November.