Still life is relatively new to the art world, coming into its own with the Dutch and Flemish painters of the 17th century. Prior to that, still life objects were only props in paintings of people, never enjoyed for their own sake.
In painting My Favorite Things, I sought to create, within each painting, a separate time and space for the objects of a favorite ritual: writing a note to a friend, sewing a cherished project, preparing for a night on the town, or sitting down to a book and a cup of hot tea.
Like the contemporary artist Andrew Wyeth, I often associate an object in a still life painting with an individual. So for me, each of these paintings is not only a universe unto itself, but the universe of someone I have known, as the titles suggest: a seamstress, a beautiful woman, a book lover, and a good friend. |
