soul and purpose

"Through my paintings I hope to communicate a personal enthusiasm and respect for the natural world, thus encourage in others an active stewardship of same." -- JEANNE ILLENYE

large classical fruit floral still life painting dutch masters basket abundance

Abundance
24x20 inches / oil on canvas
NFS
It was only a few brief years ago that I was intensely studying the methods of the Dutch masters, as exhibited here in this painting of my own imagination.  These larger, complex compositions executed with intense detail took months to complete.  I still adore these paintings not only for their beauty, but also because I dedicated so much of my life to each one, as opposed to my "Little Gems" for example, which at most take a few days to complete so I only seem to visit with them very briefly.  However, I truly grew with these elaborate paintings which required such intense visualization and heavy reliance upon memory of my subjects, that I feel they are a part of me . . . or I am a part of them.  I didn't actually have the luxury of a still life in front of me at that time so my tutorials were harder learned.  Yet those self taught lessons have sunk in deeply as a result and everything I've done subsequently contains this underlying foundation. These paintings are where I really strove to hone my technical skills.  It all began when I fell in love with a particular masterpiece (will show at future post) and naively mentioned to a friend how I wondered if I could actually paint like that.  Her surprisingly off-handed response, "Sure you can," is what prompted the challenge, and it was the best step I could've taken with my art.  Now, as I'm changing direction, or more accurately, as my sensitivities are piqued in other aspects and a directional change is slowly becoming more evident in the newest work on my easels, I'm turning a glimpse backward to see my progress.  The joy of having a career like this is that it will forever entertain my eyes, my hand, my mind and my heart as I strive to improve my work while serving as a vessel to interpret and capture nature's transient beauty.
 
 

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I was published in Visual Language Magazine

BLESSED

Blessed are those who see beautiful things in humble places where others see nothing.
Anonymous

names of colors A-Z