Week 3 - 365 Day Challenge

Day 15 - Time

 Decided to devote another week to still life photography. As Georgia O'Keeffe said about flowers "they are free models." And a long way from my usual out and about focus if you will. But I have a lot to learn about still life composition, selection and post processing. And the 365 day challenge is for me a self-imposed learning experience; an advanced class I have had to pay nothing to do. That is good because January is expensive for artists. It is when all your dues are due, and when opportunities to apply for exhibits seem to abound. And income is like negligible. But we have time on our hands. I like Day 15 because of the use of selective focus and two means of time.

Day 16 - Hats

While I spent time arranging Day 15 I found the hats on Day 16 hanging in a barn on the wall. A very simplistic composition rich in textures and shadow from the overhead lights.

Day 17

The arrangement of objects in Day 17 was an effort to recreate the feel of the still life paintings of the old masters like Rembrandt. In photographing this assemblage I discovered voids - the black space on the left of the photograph. Other photos I took of this I tried to keep the beige mat board background totally across the composition, but they lacked the mystery of this one with the ghostly image within the black.

Day 18 - Menage a Trois 

Back to simple with my ceramic hare, my favorite orb and a candle stick. Playing with textures and to have those stand out I reduced the saturation to not quite black and white.

Day 19 - Rags ready for rug

Balls of cut and pulled t-shirt knit ready to begin a crocheted rag rug was an accident really. I was taking the photograph for edification on the process for a Facebook post and loved the colors so played with it in post processing.

Day 20 - lovely bunch of shells

During my days in North Carolina I became a seashell addict. Not so much the shells as the beach combing to acquire the shells. I was frequently the first person on the beach at dawn following the receding tide. And when I first began to decorate my home I had just bought I found this basket I loved which seemed perfect for part of my shell collection which had been stored in boxes during my marriage. It is a still life that tells a story to me of my liberation. I tossed in the orb for contrast and focus.

Day 21 - end of days

I was cleaning up and cleaning out and this basket was literally falling apart. I empty the miscellaneous items that had been in it and walked it to the pile of cast offs in the studio. Then on a later trip I saw the late afternoon light streaming through its weave and tossed in the garlic and pomegranate. This was proof to me that I am beginning at last to see the light and textures and colors that make up a good still life even when I am not looking. Two weeks has not been wasted.