Fishes or Brushes

Fishes or Brushes   oil/canvas   14 x 11 x .5

 After one has been drawing and painting for a while, the notion of transparency arises....the background seen behind the object, the shape of the object, the material of which the object is made and yes, the lighting as well.  All of these factors came together for me as I painted this set up at the art center where I teach, right down the overhead fluorescent lighting tubes.  I have always found the distortions intriguing...a simple-yet-complex idea.  Paint the confusion.  Paint what you see not what you know.

And while I have been tempted to buy some gold fish for the sake of painting them, the responsibility seems daunting and I am content to house art supplies therein.