Month: October 2025

Bowl and apricot

October 26, 2025

I had what I believe Shakespeare might have called a bugger of a week. The details would bore you, believe me they would. I had enough time at easel to belt out this small still life on a loose canvas sheet.

I am no expert at photography, so I have no idea how I snapped two versions of the same picture that look so different. In the darker one the bowl looks more accurate, and in the bright one the apricot is nearer the mark. So, dear viewer, please squint and imagine the lighter apricot in the darker bowl.

Or …

Still life on top of the microwave oven

October 11, 2025

The microwave was, as usual, covered in stuff. I thought it looked still-lifeish, and set myself the challenge: what would it look like if I simply painted what was there, without re-arranging it? So here is an utterly unposed still life. It has authenticity if nothing else.

I suppose if I had to give it a title it would be something like: still life with compost bin, ancient orchid, teapot, lime and weird cruety-sort-of jug.

Daylight saving

October 5, 2025

There is an hour I will not get back. Well, actually, I suppose I will get it back when we move the clocks back again.

An alla prima still life done in one go with no underdrawing. All felt a bit daring. A bowl, a tablespoon, apples, a silver cup and the mystery element: some Australian native seeds, one of which I do not recognise at all.