Purple Cabbage II

Purple Cabbage II

18x24 Oil Painting

The purple cabbage contains beautiful nuances in luminosity that prove to be a real challenge to capture. The cabbage is an everyday object that is always viewed below eyelevel never presented at eyelevel and seen for their amazing colors and depth. As I worked on my thesis I was fascinated to read Looking at the Overlooked- Four Essays on Still Life Painting by Norman Bryson. I learned that there actually is a study on the type of still life painting I do -rhopography. Rhopography is the study of still life painting of insignificant or unimportant objects presented as important. I had been doing this all my life and didn't know there was a name for it! Thanks for viewing my blog. If you are interested in purchasing this painting please contact me. Prints are available at fineartamerica.com  http://fineartamerica.com/art/all/donna+page/all

Cabbage and a Sunny Day

Cabbage and a Sunny Day

36x36 Mixed Media

I have always loved the concept used in the still life genre of rhopography meaning still life's of unimportant objects presented at a level of importance or at eye level. With this still life of the cabbage the viewer is invited to view the lowly cabbage larger than life and exhibited at a height which appreciates all the lush detail, color and shape that rarely magnified upon. Georgia O'Keefe often talked about expressing the spiritual essence of the animals or plants she portrayed. I enjoy presenting that same idea in my work. Thanks for viewing my blog! If you are interested in purchasing this painting please contact me. Prints of this painting are available at Fineartamerica.com , http://fineartamerica.com/art/all/donna+page/all,

Ephemeral Life

Ephemeral Life

36x36 Mixed Media

This painting is another in my  master's' thesis work which explored the still life genre of rhopography which is considered still life's that explore insignificant or still life's whose subjects present items considered not of historical importance. My work focused on the lowly cabbage as historically important yet not readily recognized as thus. Or to put another way, the significance or things insignificant. I chose this because I felt it related to events in my own life.
 In this painting Ephemeral Life, I found that the dead parched cabbage though cast off and overlooked, is actually quite beautiful and metaphorical in it's representation of a life gone by. The subtle colors within the earthtone palette were very intriguing to me. All the soft pinks, purples and greens within the parched leaves I felt were colors not realized by a casual passerby. I wanted to call notice to beauty within what might otherwise be considered an uninteresting parched pile of foliage. Thanks for viewing my blog. If you are interested in purchasing this painting please contact the artist. Prints are available at fineartamerica.com