AdeleArtBlog

The Still Life Genre Subject matter used in the still life genre has not changed much over the course of the last 400 odd years. Ordinary, inane animate and inanimate objects hold forth in this the lowliest of painting genres and yet artists continue to be fascinated by it. During the Northern Renaissance when still life was pretty much established for the first time as a genre in art, the subject matter predominantly of natural objects, with flowers especially being painted with infinite care and expertise by artists such as Rachel Ruysch.                                                  Rachel Ruysch, (c.1700) Still Life with Flowers. [oil on canvas] Shells, fruit, foods, slaughtered game (fowl and hare), fish and wine were often depicted as palatable subjects along with inanimate objects such as pipes, books, goblets, plates, pewter and silver vessels. Along with these often found in the Vanitas still lives were skulls, bones, bibles, books, candlesticks and hour-glasses al

For this assignment I chose objects that bring me joy. They are all objects that have a deep meaning to me as they are for the most part the ones I take with me as I live around the world. At the back is a frame with a picture of myself and my grown children, in front of it a small porcelain cup which I got here in China and I love to drink tea out of. to the left a small New Testament and a Cross which make up my identity and to the right my small sketchbook that travels with me. The flowers are symbolic for the joy that nature brings me as I seek it out wherever I go. Lastly the small mandarin is a symbol of being nurtured by all these things. I used a 4B Graphite Pencil, a black Oil Pastel, Black Ink applied with a chopstick and Willow Charcoal to make marks. I enjoyed the drawing and I hope that the joy that these objects bring me came through. I had to have a few go s at combining the various materials and realised that  the ink had to be put down first as it would not stick