still life

everyday still life

This feels like a good companion to a post I created during my last 365 project nearly two years ago: art of everyday life.

Nothing is more intimate (and more overlooked) than the objects we handle every day. These stalwarts exude a simple beauty, weathering the rituals of our days and bearing the marks of our journeys.

blog060915_still-life-with-bowls-&-plates157/365: still life with plates & bowls

something old, something new

Since all I’ve posted lately are invitations to my art fairs, I thought I’d share a little something pretty for your Friday pleasure. It’s a new picture made from something I shot some time ago and it will be one of my first vintage-framed prints (available tomorrow).

small gold silkssilk flower still life

09.09.13 doggie in the window

I grew up singing ‘How much is that doggie in the window?” and wanting to buy every one I saw.  I’m not sure that puppies in windows even exist these days – a good thing, no doubt. But I can’t wait to find the one with just the right waggly tail.

And I do hope that dog is for sale.

blog090913_ceramic dogs252/365: ceramic dogs

08.02.13 old masters

I have certain pictures, like this one, that I think of as “old master” style. They are painterly still lifes set again rich, inky black backgrounds, with a certain quality of light that recall the 17th-century Dutch masters. Paintings inspire so much of my photography.

blog080213_silkflowers214/365: silk flowers

06.28.13 banana split

I have never eaten a banana split. I always thought it seemed like a good way to ruin a perfectly good ice cream sundae. Too many ingredients.

I do, however, delight in highly specialized dishes, especially when they mimic the form of the food they’re meant to serve.

blog062813_bananasplitbowls179:365: banana split bowls

05.31.13 inspiration

One of the highlights of our trip to Omaha in April was discovering artist Vera Mercer. We stopped at The Boiler Room, a very cool restaurant in the Market District; I was instantly awed by the wall-sized still lifes. When I asked about the artwork, the manager encouraged me to take a full collection of the restaurant’s business cards, each one featuring a different Mercer photograph (the source of this collage).

Everything about the experience was inspiring – from the architecture and design of the subterranean bar to the delicious food and wine and the spellbinding art. All I can say is, seeing those photographs felt significant.

blog053113_veramercerinspiration151/365: vera mercer photo collage

05.29.13 still sweet

Back to the sweet life with a full afternoon shooting Bistro Meringues in the studio. I did a lot of close-ups, product photos for the website. But I couldn’t resist creating this ode to bygone elegance: a still life set in my grandmother’s gravy boat.

blog052913_meringue still life149/365: still life with meringues