Spouts

I told myself I had to finish at least one painting this weekend. I choose the elephant and watering can because it seemed the mostly likely to get done, and I hoped the energy sparked from actually completing something might carry over into the rest of my work. I'd argue it's not quite finished, but the end is in sight, which is encouraging, not the least because I have several other painting ideas I would like to be able to start.

That this painting is being difficult is my own fault. It is considerably more difficult to paint a still life with a white background than a darker one, and I created such a simple set up, that it became quite vital for the painting to be interesting as a painting as well as an image. But I really liked the two trunks, or spouts, of the objects, facing each other, and the negative spaces highlighted by the white background seemed like too much fun not to paint. Looking at the photograph now I'm realizing I'll have to repaint the elephant's feet again, as they still don't seem to rest on the table top. I guess I'm back to the studio.