Notes From The Studio | September 2024
/The creative process is ever-evolving and is reflected in the work we create. In this post, I want to give you a closer look into the art I'm making and the steps I take before I dip my brush into the paint.
This month, I'm exploring the artist Rachel Ruysch, a luminous figure in the Dutch Golden Age, celebrated as one of the most exceptional still-life painters of her time. I'm taking inspiration from her works, overflowing with meticulous detail. She possessed a rare ability to transform what could have been mere scientific studies of flora into poetic, lifelike compositions.
As I set out to find a way to translate what I had learned about the subjects that influenced her work and the work itself, I decided to photograph a series of floral and fruit still-life compositions, adding in a couple of beautiful butterflies as a nod to the artist's fascination with flora and insects.
After spending time on the large floral still life, I wanted to explore a more simplified still-life composition. I used crumpled brown waxy paper, fruit, flowers, and violets dug from a neighbor's garden set on the sidewalk marked in large letters, FREE.
Shopping for flowers and fruit at a small farmer's market two blocks from my studio resulted in beautiful, locally grown flowers and fruit. Taking a page from Ruysch, I carefully studied my subjects before arranging them into a still life to photograph. It makes me wonder—will the things I admire in Ruysch's work and creative process, along with creating a still life in the style of her paintings, influence my art?
