Windowsill Works 3

Here are a three of my small morning studies that I call Windowsill Works since a lot of them were set up on the sill of my western studio window. Most of the series were done around an hour after sunup, or perhaps a bit earlier. A few were done at different times of day, like the three paintings of a half-full bottle, below. Originally, these were separate works and not an intentional series but not long ago I exhibited them as a triptych in a very unusual venue.

This triptych is actually three views of the same bottle, done at three different times of day. Each

Morning, Noon & Evening, 2011

panel is 6x8, and all three are mounted on a support measuring 11.5x26. Titled "Morning, Noon, Evening," this piece toured for a month in a group show that was installed on a Des Moines city bus. I know it sounds odd, but a couple of summers ago two local artists pitched a grant idea for a traveling exhibition to be installed on public transportation as a way to reach people who might not ever look at original art. They got their grant and invited other local artists to participate with them. The show included small sculptures, my paintings, and another artist's drawings and toured during the same period as the local arts festival, in June. The curators, working with the local transit authority, installed all of the work on a single bus that traveled various routes during the month or so that the exhibition lasted. This photograph is a bit light in the center, where warm reflected light alters both the background red and the central panel, so this small snapshot is only a fair representation of the actual work.

The idea of doing a painting of the same motif at varying times of day--under varied natural lighting--still appeals and makes me want to do more of this sort of study. Also, the varied light meant different reflection and refraction of the bottle's contents and surface, which is an interesting study as well. (I think Monet was onto something, obviously.) So perhaps another ongoing series might be in order.

And here's a snap of the paintings in their exhibition box, on board the city bus, taken by one of the curators. The curators themselves designed and built the boxes for both paintings and sculptures, and paid each artist a small stipend.








Previously in this series:
Windowsill Works
Windowsill Works 2