Bosc, Bartlett and D'Anjou: A Sweet Trio

                                        An original acrylic painting, on heavy-weight illustration board
                                        6x8", unframed
                                        $200.00, - (plus $8.00, pack and ship)

     Mid to late December is the traditional season of gift giving in our culture, the time
when everyone puzzles about what kind of gifts to buy for friends and family members.
Children and youngsters always have plenty of suggestions as to what they want,
of course, but deciding what to give the older people on the list, can be more of a
problem.  Two thousand years ago, the Magi were, no doubt, worthy of their
reputations as generous and wise men, but we need a different kind of wisdom these
days.  Frankincense and myrrh are not a part of most people's daily requirements, and
after we pass into our later years, even gold loses its luster and takes on more of a
trinket status.
     So, what do you give the solitary old souls whose lives long ago passed through
the ages of everything from toys and games, to school supplies, to sports equipment,
to fancy dress-clothes, to work tools and kitchen appliances, and have now reached
the age where they are looking back and wondering what it was all about?
 
     Since it is a good bet that they already have more, warm sweaters and socks
than they will ever use, the answer to the question often comes in the form of festive
baskets or boxes of fresh fruit.  After all, everyone has to eat, and some juicy,
delicious fruit does make the process more enjoyable.

     And as for the recipients of such sweet abundance, what do you do if you
suddenly have more fresh fruit on hand than you can quickly consume?  Well,
for the artists among them, the answer often comes with the decision to paint it.
Fruit does make a steady, reliable subject for paintings; it always holds still, it
doesn't require rest breaks, and it never charges a modeling fee.  And as a
bonus, fruit is expressive of life itself, with the wide variety of skin textures and
colors as it ripens, and then eventually as it starts to fade, losing its glow and
beginning to shrivel.

     So, I will probably be doing more still-life paintings with fruit soon.  And in
the meantime, I have more examples that I can post in the blog, such as this one,
in which the central, bartlett pear has reached the very peak of ripe perfection.

                                                        (click on image to enlarge)

     This little acrylic painting is a fairly traditional still life, with the somber lighting and
colors that the old Dutch masters favored.  The composition is also a simple, traditional,
triangular or pyramidal construction, with the stems of the fruit providing little, structural
elements, for a circular eye movement around the painting.


     Giclee fine-art prints of this painting are available.