Basket of Peaches on Blue

There's just something about a basket of fresh peaches that gets me every time.  I want to pick one up and take a deep breath to smell it.  If you see beautiful peaches in the grocery store, go ahead... sniff one.  If you don't smell a thing, put it right back where you found it. If the vendor at the farmers' market has peaches, go ahead... smell them. Then hand him your money and let him put them into your reusable cloth bag. 😉

This isn't the first time I've painted a basket of peaches.  My inspiration is "Basket of Peaches" done by Joseph Decker in 1885. It is my favorite painting in Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.  His may be worth a million dollars more than mine, but I love them both.


Original Oil Painting on 11"x 14" Wrapped Canvas
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:) Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

This is me... inviting you to Northwest Arkansas... (again)

Spend a day at  Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.






"Basket of Peaches" 
Joseph Decker 
1885
This is my favorite, favorite, favorite... I just imagine... not long after the Civil War he painted this.  I love it... so simple... so elegant

Like I said in the last post, we spent our spring break enjoying what our own area had to offer.  So, let me give you a personal "tour" or our wonderful art museum.

"Kindred Spirits"

Asher Brown Durand

1849

They say this is the most expensive piece in the whole museum.  Alice Walton purchased it for $35,000,000.00... Wow.

Well, it is quite beautiful.

"Rosie the Riveter"

Norman Rockwell

1943

I pretty much love everything he paints... He paints stories. (Interesting fact: He used only red, white, and blue in this particular one.)

"The Backwoods of America"

Jasper Francis Cropsey

1958

Ron's favorite.

"Summertime"

Mary Cassatt

1894

I love the subject matter of her work, mothers and children doing typical things.

"Airborne"
Andrew Wyeth
1996

Fabulous perspective... just the whole idea of feathers blowing toward the viewer... Love this one!

"Enassamishhinjijweian"

Tom Uttech

2009

How about that for a name! There are literally hundreds to birds and insects and animals in this huge painting, and there's one little owl near the bottom left corner looking straight at you.  You must look for him!

You have to eat lunch at ELEVEN, the restaurant there. It's inside that odd shaped section. (Well, honestly, every structure is oddly shaped, but that's just another part of the experience.)






"Atala and Choctus"
Randolph Rogers
1854

This marble sculpture is absolutely memorizing in detail... just... amazing.

"Standing Explosion (Red)"

Roy Lichtenstein

1966

This modern sculpture is... red and pointy...
(...Hey, trying to think of postive adjectives here...)




"Man on a Bench"
Duane Hanson
1977

Ok, if there's such a thing as "too realistic," this is the example.  It's so hard not to reach across the rope and tap it on the shoulder to see if he's alright.

"Night Zag Wall"

Louise Nevelson

1969

The art teacher at my school is doing this with my fourth graders.  They're each bringing in a box lid and some small old toys that they'll glue on.  Then they'll spray paint them and put them together to look something like this one.
I think it's kind of cool.



And a few pieces from a visiting show

"The Old Mill"
Vincent van Gogh
1868

Nice...

"Convergence"

Jackson Pollock

1952

Ok... interesting... colorful...

"Green Patio Door"

Georgia O'Keefe

1955

Really, Georgia?  All those gorgeous flowers you can do, and this is what you bring?

"100 Cans"

Andy Warhol

1962

So, they say art is in the eye of the beholder... so go ahead... behold!

We love our Crystal Bridges.

Just Peachy

Do they look good enough to eat?

They are... they were!

I hope this is the first in series of peachy still lifes.  

I've written about and often painted about our family garden.  Gardening is one thing my family knows and lives in the summer.  And, this year has provided a bountiful harvest that just keeps coming. 

Spring came early with no late freeze, so every branch on the peach trees was loaded.  What fun to fill a 5 gallon bucket of gorgeous, perfect peaches within 10 minutes!  
(FYI - that's my dad.)

Next comes the washing... sorry, but organic isn't a word that can be used to describe our garden... we have to wash off the same stuff that keeps the bugs off and the worms out.
Then comes the peeling, sprinkling with Fruit Fresh, and freezing.  Peel... peel... cut... cut... take a bite... peel... peel... cut... cut... take a bite...

Oh, but there was another step this year.  Set up some still life pictures to capture these peaches!  I'm fortunate to live in Northwest Arkansas were we have the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.  Of all the famous, beautiful, huge, priceless paintings there, my favorite is one called "Basket of Peaches" done by Joseph Decker in 1885.  It's fairly small and not showy.  The first time I saw it, I knew I wanted to do my own basket of peaches.  I like to imagine that not long after the Civil War, Mr. Decker saw the knocked over basket, stopped whatever important job he was doing and captured that simple image.  I realize that his is worth about a million dollars more than mine... but I love them both!

"Basket of Peaches"

Thomas Decker 1885

Visit a lovely, yummy Etsy treasury (collection of related art pieces and vintage items) celebrating Peach Harvest.

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Beach Bliss

What does this image say to you?

On first glance... it's a big, fat man lying on the beach.  Yep, that pretty much sums it up... right?

Oh, just loosen up a little bit and look again...  Anybody and everybody can enjoy the beach... No fancy umbrellas or chaise lounges... A less-than-magazine-perfect body... Last year's blue trunks... Favorite ball cap over the face...The picture doesn't show it, but you know the sun is shining, the temperature is warm, and the water is cool... job and responsibilities a hundred miles away...

... complete relaxation... if only for a little while... peace... bliss... beach bliss...

This painting is special to me for a couple of reasons.  One is that I loved how my own thoughts about it evolved as I worked on it.  I went from that first-glance thought to the really liking what this guy symbolizes.  The lady who asked me to paint this for her explained why she loved it, and it made complete sense.  You see, this painting is not an original.  She already had a similar work that she'd found years ago at some flea market or craft fair.  But, that piece was destroyed along with her beach house in a hurricane several years ago.  She had a photo of the wall where it used to hang.  I hope this replacement reproduction gives her family the same feeling that the guy on the canvas has!

Another reason that this painting is special to me is that it is my 200th painting!  That's quite a milestone! 200 paintings since that first attempt called Summer Trees that I did on February 22, 2007.  What a lot I've learned about color and shapes and shadows and lights and texture and composition and well... just art in general in these five years!

I am so thankful to my friend and art mentor for showing me how to see things differently then faithfully guiding me through the learning processes every Monday night for 3 years.

To celebrate painting #200, I took my parents to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art today.  We are so fortunate to have this amazing place just 30 minutes away from us!  I'd been with my husband a couple of times and with my 4th grade students before, but it was quite a different treat to take my 86 year old parents.  It's more than just looking at art... it's an event... an adventure... an amazing experience.  If you ever get the chance, go!  It's free!  It's beautiful!

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