Apples on a Calla Lily Cloth

"Apples on a Calla Lily Cloth" -- oil on canvas 24x24" -- Margie Guyot

 

Having just finished another painting with this vintage tablecloth, I had a hankering to yet another one.  But what to pair with it?  I'd found this wonderful glass bowl a couple months ago at a resale shop, but what to put in it?  I live in the hinterlands.  It's not just a 10 minute drive to a grocery store or flower shop.  I kind of wanted to find something -- some kind of flower or fruit that would jive with the colors.

 

Then I found these honeycrisp apples in my fridge.  OK, it's a bit of a stretch, but they do have slightly pinkish tones, here and there.    Well, sort of!  Considering the colors of the tablecloth, maybe there isn't much in nature than would match all that well.

 

We always read about painters and their struggles.  Up here, it's always a struggle to try to paint a still life with a strong sense of "sunlight and shadow".  Cold air flowing over relatively warm Lake Michigan results in mostly cloudy days and snow flurries.  A gimpse of sun is a surprise.  People will actually call each other up on the phone, saying, "Wow -- would ya look at that sun!"  

 

Sometimes it's almost sad to finish a painting.  They're just so addictive!  SO much more fun than washing floors!  It's like doing a puzzle where you have to make all the pieces.  You can forget politics and religion.  Just zone out in your own little world.  For me, painting is a teeter-totter game between panic and control.  If you can control your panic (Yikes! How do I paint THAT?) and take your time (and wipe out what's not working), you can come up with a pretty good painting.  Oh, in case you're wondering, I buy Viva paper towels by the case.