No Apologies

As I post this completed “potted plant” painting — my first attempt at a still life — I want to apologize, but I can’t. Or I won’t. Or whatever. If you read yesterday’s post about my new “Do’s and Don’t’s” (and I still don’t know how “don’t’s” should be spelled) you’ll know that I have to get past the point where I’m constantly apologizing or making excuses for my art.

So, here it is. My painting of an imaginary potted plant on a window sill.

Not much to look at, right? It’s a scraggly-looking green plant in a slightly lopsided pot, and while I probably should apologize for it, I’m not going to. In fact, I’m going to honestly admit that I’m amazed by this painting. Each time I walk past it, it catches my attention. I stop, look at it again, and shake my head in wonderment.

Why? Because it does what it’s supposed to do. It shows a pot, and yes, you can tell that it’s a rounded pot. And it shows that the light is casting a shadow. Maybe not a very good shadow, but that’s beside the point.

This painting — simple though it is — is a big success for me because it does what it’s supposed to do. It captures the sense of a three-dimensional object. It captures the sense of light and shadow, and for those reasons alone, this little potted plant keeps catching my attention almost as if it were real. It is proof that the elements of art can be used to create successful illusions, and that’s exactly what this art lesson was all about. This little painting has taken me from theory to application, from idea to execution.

It amazes me. Not just that elements of art can be used in this way, but that I am capable of using them. And so my simple little painting of a potted plant is one that I will always cherish. And I won’t apologize for that!