EBSQart.com Spotlight on Still Life Interview with Torrie Smiley

The photo taken from across the room

Later with photo software, zoom and crop

Zoom and crop again

The featured Gallery at EBSQart.com this month is Still Life. I was asked to do an interview for their blog. Here is the interview, you can also see the interview on their EBSQ: Art Meets Blog.

What do I find compelling about Still Life is such a hard question to answer! I had to really think about it and what I discovered, to my amazement, is I love still life paintings. So many times when I set up to paint just for fun, it is still life. Landscapes and portraits seem like work.

When visiting galleries, I always gravitate toward the still life paintings. The different compositions-the setup, lighting, the everday objects The differences in technique can make the same still life look so different. I love detailed realistic still life and at the same time enjoy loose impressionistic still life paintings.

I often find myself looking at everyday objects the way the light is hitting it, the random placement, and immediately I think "that's a painting". I was eating at a restaurant in Ohio not long ago and from across the room I saw their water table set up, the light was hitting it in such a way, it was beautiful. I immediately grabbed my camera and discretely took several photos.

I guess what I am randomly trying to say is, I never set out to be a still life painter, my brain just led me that way.

This was then end of the interview. I have included the photos from the restaurant that day in Ohio. There is the original photo, the cropped versions of what could be two different paintings. See what you think....who knows when I will get around to painting it.

Have a wonderful day, I am off to actually cook dinner (lemon chicken with carrots)....those of you who know me are laughing right now.

Check back again soon,

Torrie