Still Life with Shell Fragments

Shell Fragments Still Life
Shell Fragments Still Life

This is a work in progress. I started with some shell fragments that I found in the Bahamas. They were sitting in a vase for a long time, and it occurred to me that there might be something visually interesting about the shells, individually. So I dumped them out and these four shells were the most compelling of the lot. I like the idea of taking an object or group of objects and then just painting it again and again, like Giorgio Morandi.

Of course there’s no actual painting going on here. I photographed the shells on a neutral background, and then worked them up in procreate, using the smear tool, trying to make them look more painterly, less photo-ish. For someone who used to use actual oils and acrylics, this feels like cheating. I start these projects thinking that maybe someday I will use actual paint, when there aren’t 4 year olds running around getting into everything. In the meantime, this is my creative outlet.

Here’s another little gallery of simple objects, photographed, then waterlogue’d. It’s a quickie form of art. It’s what I have time for during my busy day. And it keeps the idea alive in my mind that someday there will be painting again.


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