Tulip Study
oil on panel
10" x 8"
"A painting requires a little mystery, some vagueness, some fantasy. When you always make your meaning perfectly plain you end up boring people."
Edgar Degas
This study of an old paint can with some cut tulips in it was a demo for the class I'm teaching Saturday mornings. The primary question I am trying to get the painters with me to ask is, 'What is the poetry of the painting / what is this painting really about / what am I in love with?' The next would then follow, 'What do I need to make this happen?' Of course that second question takes in all the decisions about the elements of the painting , as dictated by the answer to the first question. Perhaps a better question would be, 'How little do you need to make the poetry happen?' I think you might be able to tell, I love that old, shiny paint can. If you look closely it is pretty simply presented and yet all else is there to help come alive. Nothing more than a little mystery, some vagueness, and some fantasy.
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