Harvest Chair

Harvest Chair   watercolor   20 x 13

combines all of my seemingly necessary elements to portray both the beauty and the mystery of the approach of autumn and, subsequently, winter.  I feel the change of seasons in every bone, the rhythms of which are so necessary to my well-being.  The items:  my antique turquoise green chair, chippy with old paint and covered in decals; a vine wreath formed from our own vines and, of course, pumpkins, whose shape, color and flavor so appeal to me.  The problematic crux in such a work is to suggest the encroaching darkness by eliminating the lighter, fun-filled colors of a summer work.  I was desirous of an entwining dark and light pattern that seems almost unachievable.

I am somewhat satisfied.

Simple...yet complex...

Simple Chair with Detail   oil/canvas   60 x 20 x 1.5

is how I would describe this chair that I love so much.  It was purchased many years ago (actually another as well) at an antiques store in Ravenna.  Who knows why something catches one's eye and becomes the object of affection?  It has so many of the qualities that I enjoy:  layered and chippy paint, a simple design and complex floral patterns decoupaged on top.  Attempts to "antique" it are apparent, yet actually fall short these days, as age and wear have actually "antiqued" it.  It is rarely used to sit on.  More like to stand on to water plants and to reach top-shelf items.  Maybe to install a new curtain rod.  At any rate, it fits into my love of the polar opposites:  simple...yet complex.  It really is more valuable than this tribute.  It delights my eye.