The story behind..."Alegría"

"Alegría" 16x16 oil on deep cradled wood panel. Available through Scott Milo Gallery

 This piece was painted towards the end of the series of winter still life paintings earmarked for Scott Milo Gallery in March. Towards the end of the series is of course a time of mental fatigue. The struggle at this time reminds me of when a person is trying to get in better physical shape. The effort is harder, you feel you have nothing left, but if you can just push yourself a bit more, that's where the improvement really happens. Even just a bit more effort results in a lot more progress. 

I'm enjoying this little piece right now. 16"x16," is currently a smaller size for me, since the focus has been on gallery shows. I am working on expressing a chosen color palette which helps promote the emotional message of the subject. The actual colors of the fabric were different than they appeared in the painting, and I wouldn't normally choose pink. But it seemed to fit, in this case. And sometimes once you see a thing, it takes on its own personality. I just get a bit of joy out of this one.

As a former designer it's interesting to look at current trends. Did you know that Pantone is a company that publishes color trend predictions several times a year? Typically the trends begin in Europe and slowly make their way westward. Here on the West Coast our design culture may not be reflecting the trends until a year or two after they begin. In the same way that I don't look up symbolism for objects in my still life until after the painting is complete, I don't consult color trends for choices in my palette beforehand. But after I'm done with a piece like this one, where I wonder, "Huh...that's sure different from what I thought it would be..." I'll take a look around and see where that influence might have come from. It's just kind of fun to think about. Right now I'm looking at the Fall 2017 trends just published and am seeing "Ballet Slipper," "Butterum," "Navy Peony," "Tawny Port," and 17-4402." Whoa, Crazy!

I wonder if other artists are interested in the color trends of our culture and how much do other artists choose to bring that influence in while they're working. :) Feel free to chime in with a comment below. :) Thanks!