Monday, February 18, 2013

Italian Heritage

Hi Everyone,
SOLD "Italian Heritage" 11" x 14" original watercolor on 260lb Arches by Carrie Waller
Here is my finished painting.  I had a lot of fun with this commissioned piece.  I have never had so many components in a still life and never painted any of these elements before except for the green bottle.  It was a great challenge and I feel ready to tackle more veggies:)  Maybe I should make this into a series, I say that about almost every painting.  But wouldn't it be fun to travel around the world through food.  What is in the kitchen of someone in Greece, Spain, Germany, England, Thailand, Korea, Japan, China, etc.  Wouldn't that be fun.  I'll add it to my ever expansive list of painting ideas!

This piece was commissioned by my favorite 3rd grade teacher.  We reconnected through facebook after 28 years.  I moved around a lot as a kid so I was thrilled we found each other.  The still life is comprised of pieces from her heritage and things she saw in the kitchen when she was growing up.  She mailed me the olive oil can to include in the piece because it is from Sicily where her family originates.  We talked about other elements to include, she wanted the Italian trinity (carrots, celery and garlic) included.  She said there was always olive oil and fennel in the kitchen when she was a kid.  I added in the olives. She also loved the green bottles I painted and asked if I could include some green glass.  And of course I did all of my photo references with dramatic natural sunlight, which proved difficult during these gray winter days.  All in all I just love the lively colors in this piece even though it's mostly greens, there was just such a variety.  And the graphic punch from that olive oil can really sets everything off. 

Carrie

15 comments:

  1. breathtakingly beautiful. You are truly a master of your craft.

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  2. wonderful! it has such meaning too which you know i love

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  3. Congratulations Carrie....this is a wonderful piece...well designed and held together by color!
    bob snider
    www.bobsniderwatercolors.com

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  4. Oh Carrie this is wonderful, and delicious

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  5. This painting is absolutely breathtaking. I love the idea of doing the kitchens around the world! If anyone can do that series it certainly is you, with your creativity and talent!!

    I loved to hear about how each of the components of the painting was chosen, making it meaningful to you and the collector, and also giving meaning to us the reader!!

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  6. You work just gets better and better!

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  7. Bonjour chère amie,
    Mon week-end chargé a fait que j'ai manqué votre interview... Je viens de me rattraper !... c'est tellement un agréable moment que de vous lire et d'admirer les oeuvres talentueuses d'un artiste.
    Merci pour ce partage.

    Aujourd'hui, c'est un éblouissement que de m'attarder sur votre dernière oeuvre achevée. Une pure merveille !
    Je reste là, bouche bée. je suis certaine qu'elle va en fasciner plus d'une !!...
    Bravo !
    Gros bisous

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  8. Carrie, you did a superb job of this still life!!! What a wonderful story about re-connecting with your old teacher.

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  9. I love this Carrie! I like the story... and I use these ingredients all the time...I love Italian and Spanish food! Wonderful painting!!

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  10. Well I'd happily send you a jar of Marmite to paint if you like, lol!
    Wow - this is astounding! I was looking over the painting, trying to decide which is the best part... First I thought how amazingly oily those wonderful Olives look... No, wait - that Garlic looks so real - Oh, but that lettering... ooh, those bottles - that veg.... Nope - I can't decide because it's ALL just incredible! Every single element! :0)

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  11. Absolutely stunning, Carrie! I just noticed you use 260 lb Arches watercolor paper. I didn't even know they made such things. What do you like about it? How does it compare with the 140 lb paper?

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  12. Love, love, love. I think my favorite is the green bottle, which isn't even the star. It's just quietly, beautifully in the background. So well done, Carrie!

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  13. Really nice arrangement, I love the oil can. It's cool when art can tell a story if you look at it long enough.

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