I owe the idea of this reflections series to artist Thomas Seguros. Several years ago, I painted with Thomas in a workshop in upstate New York. We were discussing his beautiful still life paintings, and how he had reinvented the classical still life composition. Thomas limited his subjects to a very small number of beautifully formed jars and vases, arranged differently for individual paintings.
Thomas dispensed with the classic elevated view of the still life, and the classic draped background and draped table top. Instead, he painted his still life subjects at direct eye level, while minimizing any view of a background. Most imaginatively, he painted the subjects as if placed on a glass or reflective surface, thus replacing the classic table top drape with a marvelous reflection of his simple objects. The result, with his great painting skill, is magical.
We had a discussion of whether it might be possible to treat landscape subjects similarly: as simple still life shapes, painted at eye level with minimal background, and as if the landscape shapes were placed on glass or other reflective surface.
My reflection series was born!
Starting with small paintings, the size, type and degree of reflection continues to evolve, as I explore various approaches to a "reflected landscape" as still life.
For title and painting information, move your cursor over the desired painting below.
Reflections Series:
