A tribute to Chardin'

I study the paintings of Jean Baptiste' Chardin, a 17th century French painter, to see what makes them tick. I own modern reproductions of many of the props he used, as well as a few original items.

Copper,clay,and apples

It's no easy thing to set up a still life, and you are forever changing the positions of the items until you feel you have a pleasing composition.

Sunshine in my cellar

I've been forced to paint indoors for a while, so I've been getting sunflowers from Ecuador to set up still life subjects.  I have a growing collection of props, some of which I've found in estate and garage sales.

In the pasture

This 19th century farm once had hundreds of acres under till. The early morning sun washes out the red, and is more easily seen in the shadows. At one time, farmers made their own paint for the barns, made up of milk, rusted bits of metal (there is never any shortage of scrap steel around a farm, as I've found from using a metal detector on my former vineyard), and lime. I've used real milk paint before, and will sour rapidly if not used at once.  Not pleasant to smell!

Autumn at the vineyard

The part of Ohio that I live in is home to thousands of acres of vineyard and nurseries. Just beyond the tree line are row after row of grapes under harvest. When I started painting, the smell of grape juice was overpowering, and is pleasant  for about a half hour, and then then you get the sensation of having drank ten gallons of Welches Grape Juice. Painted last October.
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Still life, no wind

Since the wind chill here is about -20 f, I'm staying in to paint something different, although I've painted in sub-zero temperatures many times. I've got lots of props to paint, so I'm putting them to good use.
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After the refit

I decided to change the format of this painting from a "folk art"representation to a more realistic version. I researched this topic heavily and learned much about sailing these dreadnoughts of their time.  Sails were made of hemp ( in America, colonists were required to grow it ), so sails were not made of white cotton. Performing the duty of an able seaman or officer was a highly skilled profession, of which is so complex I can't do it justice here, and being an art blog, it isn't necessary.