Pears and bowls

The only thing we can control in life is how we deal with the circumstances we find ourselves in. Life is a battle, we can't control what happens to us, only what we do with them.

The beginning of 2022, I began painting still life in oil. Previously, I had painted more abstractly.

I guess the difficulty around my mom’s ten year battle living with Alzheimer’s pushed me emotionally more and more into a smaller private space.  Observing what is around me immediately in the room brought comfort.   My mom passed peacefully earlier this year 2022.

Still life painting instilled a feeling of being right here, right now and although everything isn’t ok, this painting on the easel feels ok.  Lack of ability is something one has to deal with and skill needs time to develop to be able to make beautiful images of one's surroundings.  I dream of one day painting a corner of my room or a simple chair beautifully.   Years ago, my husband gave me a small sculpture of a pear, and I began painting it over and over again.  In the months that have followed, bowls and a few more pears have entered the composition.