Abbey Ryan 9-21-09
September 21st, 2009
“Still Life With Homegrown Basil and Tomatoes” 4″x6″ Oil on Panel
Abbey Ryan is one of a very select few “daily painters” that consistently stuns me with her work. I am not usually drawn to paintings that have this level of detail but I find that Abbey’s work has a poetic aspect to it that draws me in. Another compelling aspect to her work is the consistency of her productivity and her amazing ability to paint on such a small scale. As you will see below, her work is also priced where most collector’s could add several of her paintings to their collections.
What I like about “Still Life With Homegrown Basil and Tomatoes”
- #1 Sense of Light - The modeling of form makes you feel like you could reach out and grab one of these tomatoes. There is no doubt what direction the light is coming from and the warmth of the light source is evident but not overdone. As I have mentioned before, this feel of light comes from careful observation and skillful interpretation of what nature has set before the artist.
- #2 Poetry - I never really know how to explain this in words but it is certainly a part of this painting. I don’t normally find a poetic feel in still life paintings but that feeling is evident in the majority of Abbey’s work. This most likely comes from having a good idea of what compositions communicates to our emotional side.
- #3 Color of the highlights - O.K. this is one of my pet peeves. The highlights on objects have color. They are almost never white. It’s evident that Abbey understands this. I really like this little painting.
Look and Enjoy!
- Abbey’s blog
- Bid on this painting!
- Abbey also has an interesting blog entry on “becoming a daily painter”. It gives some good information on the start of the PAD movement several years back.
