Blog

The Still Life Lexicon began as a project.  I thought that I needed a little structure to overcome that kinetic energy some call artists block.  I've recognized it as acedia.  Painting in a series is my version of the daily painting project, structural motivation.  And it works.  It seems that any structure or goal is sufficient to get an artist into the studio and productive.  Before long the creative force rises up in the midst of all of this and takes over, driving the work.  This is inspiration, the archaic definition of which is “to breathe life into something.”

That is exactly what happened with the Still Life Lexicon.  Originally I had planned on creating a still life icon for each letter of the alphabet.  I had finished just a few when roses pushed their way into my painting agenda and took over.  First I included just one, that led to another and  another, then a digression to do a study of a David Austin Roses from the garden.  Flowers have that spark of anima mundi, a life force that is so compelling, they cannot be ignored.  It is, as Dylan Thomas so eloquently wrote, "The force that through the green fuse drives the flower."   Thanks to the Still Life Lexicon I am painting flowers with new inspiration, some interesting ideas for paintings that I can’t wait to begin.