Thank you - so interesting! Coincidentally recently I've been returning to still life painting myself as I find myself returning to oils, experimenting and questioning the facility I have always had for painting 'realistically' and perhaps less expressively. I love that Norman Bryson quote - Stubborn life! I think too of Marcel Proust's words in A La Recherche du Temps Perdu, 'La vie profonde des natures mortes' , as he looks in after lunch at the dining room of his Balbec hotel (the second volume, the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower) - "the deep life of Still Lifes".
I love that, Taishin. Dogen was much on my mind during the writing of the book and Watts always is as well), but as it happens those thoughts on still life were written way before I came to Zen. Zen before Zen.
Preston is a wonderful painter: thank you for the introduction. I used to be quite dismissive of still lifes but with age comes slowing down and paying attention. My friend Susan Gathercole paints gorgeous, joyful still lifes and she, more than anyone, has taught me to just look without asking for a story, or drama. I still (!) prefer figures and events in pictures and words, but maybe I am grown up enough now to sit with a still life as you suggest. I will try!
Thank you - so interesting! Coincidentally recently I've been returning to still life painting myself as I find myself returning to oils, experimenting and questioning the facility I have always had for painting 'realistically' and perhaps less expressively. I love that Norman Bryson quote - Stubborn life! I think too of Marcel Proust's words in A La Recherche du Temps Perdu, 'La vie profonde des natures mortes' , as he looks in after lunch at the dining room of his Balbec hotel (the second volume, the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower) - "the deep life of Still Lifes".
Oh, so nice to think of Proust here, thank you. The deep life of still lifes! You make me want to do some painting.
Wow—those paintings! Thanks for sharing Preston’s work. And your reflection on still life painting and inanimate objects.
Thank you, Sue!
And for anyone who happens to be reading this, Sue has a beautiful new book of stories coming out in early September called A New Day.
https://www.suemell.com/
As I read some of the Notes, I was reminded of Dogen’s description of awakening: Letting myriad dharmas come forward to realize you.
Then, I was reminded of Watts’s observation that we are an aperture through which the universe experiences itself.
Thank you for the post.
I love that, Taishin. Dogen was much on my mind during the writing of the book and Watts always is as well), but as it happens those thoughts on still life were written way before I came to Zen. Zen before Zen.
This was so beautiful
Thank you, Nakshatra!
Preston looks to me like she painted herself as an object, just like her fascinating flowers. Thanks for a lovely piece.
Yes, I think she protested too much when she said she wasn’t a flower.
Really stunning work, thanks for sharing Sal. I've always had a soft spot for still lifes.
Me too!
Preston is a wonderful painter: thank you for the introduction. I used to be quite dismissive of still lifes but with age comes slowing down and paying attention. My friend Susan Gathercole paints gorgeous, joyful still lifes and she, more than anyone, has taught me to just look without asking for a story, or drama. I still (!) prefer figures and events in pictures and words, but maybe I am grown up enough now to sit with a still life as you suggest. I will try!
Let me know how it goes. I think there can be lots of drama in a still life too.