Quince Carré

Can you tell how much fun this was to paint? A box, chock full, over the rim, with goodies. Disarray contained. I love the corner on the right, the shadow and the wall. Actually the whole of the walls.I imagine a promenade. (Back in the hood again). But we won't go there. It's about the paint today. These cakes and treats, sticking to them as an experiment, is netting bonuses I never dreamed.We won't talk about my current diet of apples and tea ( I think someone moved the zipper on last winter's pants). And we won't talk about all the lovely words from new friends and collectors out there. Which are such a wonderful thing. What I want to talk about is the benefit of focus. I often wondered how Cezanne could paint so many Mont St. Victoire's. Or the dutch all those bouquets. Wayne Thiebaud did a lot of cakes, Jim Dine a lot of robes. What Hopper did with diners, and isolated houses, well O'Keefe did with Taos. They were after form and light, perhaps the time of day. In some cases how one thing could be painted many ways, look it's geometry, or color. There is a basic group of elements, variables if you will, that artists have to make our case, to say what we set out to say. When the focus is narrowed, made particular, what I find is a dance through that repertoire that hones the skill set and forces me to expand it. So when I am presented with another tart or cake or dessert,I think of Morandi whose paintings are so sublime. He made them anodynes. It is possible by limiting to actually be more creative. I marvel at this little piece well after it's painted. It is a box full of luscious fruit , a contrast between restraint and overflow. And many overlays of symbolism. It is a little tart, some flour and some fruit. But the repertoire and what I saw, that's what I brought to the table. Now you, you get to play, your eyes can dance along or make up your own stories. Focus is a very good thing, And a tart an access point.