Quartet of Pitchers on a Green Note.

Unfortunately, the richness of the darks and the glazing is lost a bit in these web images.

This one was an interesting challenge.  I specifically chose a tight color scheme and found the further I went along just how many greens can be in a simple green pitcher!

I actually like the earliest sketch stages almost as well as the finished product.  But there is something about the hard 'objectness' of a piece of pottery that begs to be treated with strong hard edges and details that bring out the character of each pot.

The more I work, the more interested I am in the shadows...there is just so much illumination and color shifting that happens as light invades the dark areas.












I think its probably time to explain why I am so drawn these top view looking down images.  Years ago, a colleague and good friend set a large book right on my work table--on top of what I was working on.  All he said was "I think you need to see this."  It was Andy Goldsworthy's first book, Hand to Eye.  Its hard to describe the immediate and deep impact his work had on my way of seeing.  One particular image is never far from my mind...

 

I still find the black void/hole infinitely fascinating after all those years

that I used it as my desktop wall paper as an

ironic statement as to the black hole-ness of the computer!