I wonder how many apples I have painted?  These small Gala’s fitted just perfectly into the beautifully crafted basket which I have to point out, is pretty tricky to paint.  The interweaving willows made me think of the Islamic patterns that I had copied in Morocco.  To add a sense of the basket’s form turning into darker space of the background simply added an extra complexity – and strings of paint colours on my palette.  But all this is eclipsed by the simplicity of the apples and particularly by the almost sculptural grace with which the single apple holds its leaves.  For me there is a feeling of it sitting in perfect space on the warmly coloured wooden board, basking in the glory of being painted.  

Oil on canvas  2015  30.5 x 36cm 12 x 14in

Shadow boxes are used for controlling light and creating a dark space.   When this small box was sent with an order of paints I put it on my shelf of still life candidates, I liked it.  As you see the basket fits it exactly. Apples are a highly popular subject for still life painters and the linen cloth gives an abstract reminder of something square – the box opening – but collapsed, folded.  There is an initial drawing and this little painting.  Framed in deep red it can work as a colourful brick, slotting into the most surprising places.  Or because of the shape of the frame it can stand on a flat surface as many of the small paintings can.

Oil on panel  2020  23 x 30cm  9 x 12in

Still lives often tell stories and here is part of this painting’s story.  It is based on the favourite theme – Blue and White.  The small delft vase came from the Midhurst Antiques Market with a fascinating article on Delft Wear tucked inside  It tells us that most Delft designs are characteristic scenes of Dutch life and landscape often taken from old factory pattern books made at the Royal Makkum Factory who have been producing tiles since 1650.  The white opaque tin glaze acts as a background for the blue decoration.  It became so popular that factories sprung up in England and are still going strong. The plate however I bought in Florence and was told that it is Chinese and was certainly made for export to Europe.  This is part of a story of this still life which was on my easel when someone saw something they liked very much.   They bought it before it was finished.  And now have it in their house where it is in just the right place and so its provenance grows.

Oil on linen  2015  45 x 65cm  18 x 26in

Oil on panel

2022 43 x 43cm  17 x 17in