Blue Still Life

Blue Still Life, oil on canvas, 16”x20”, © 2024 D. Yael Bernhard

This painting grew out of a project I did with my homeschooling art students several months ago. We’re focused on drawing and painting – and curiously, these 10- and 11-year-olds love still lifes. Wonderful! I draped one of my shawls over a table and set up some cups and a bowl, a blue glass bottle, some Jerusalem artichoke flowers, a red onion, and a squash. Working in acrylics on 9”x12” canvases, we completed our paintings in two sessions. The boys were pleased, and I was proud of their work.

But I saw potential to take this subject further. I had inadvertently created an arrangement dominated by blue, from pale and muted to deep ultramarine. Other than white, the only other color was the yellow-orange of the flowers and the stripes on the shawl. I left it set up, and returned to it days later.

By then the flowers had wilted and the veggies were cooked and eaten. I wanted a simpler composition anyway, with the structured geometry of the dishes offset by only one flowing object – the shawl – and the many shades of blue offset by only one other color. I found a larger canvas, took out my oil paints, and set to work.

This painting was a delicious opportunity to indulge in gradients. There’s nothing like oil paint for blending colors and modeling curves. Such lovely shapes to articulate! I was in heaven.

The background was a bit challenging. I wanted a featureless background, but this one didn’t look finished until I suggested some curtains – just enough to cushion the central subject matter.

It’s amazing how these these mundane objects come alive! That’s the beauty of still lifes. Though the painting measures only 16”x20”, the objects are significantly larger than life, rendering them more imposing and voluptuous. I found myself entranced by their ordinary beauty, and the harmony created by their juxtapositions.

Another confluence of time, space, and circumstance captured in an image.

Like most of my art in this newsletter, Blue Still Life is for sale. Please contact me for more information if you’re interested.

A good week to all!

D. Yael Bernhard

https://dyaelbernhard.com

Have you seen my other Substack, The Art of Health? In addition to being a visual artist, I’m also a certified integrative health & nutrition coach with a lifelong passion for natural food cooking and herbal medicine. Now in its second year, this illustrated newsletter explores cutting-edge concepts of nutrition. I strive to make relevant information clear and accessible, and to anchor essential health concepts in unique images. Check it out, and if you like it, please subscribe and help spread the word. Your support keeps my work going!