Describing Light

I use strong direct summer light in most of my work.  In the painting of the pears on the books, I'm reminded of a night scene, with the objects in moonlight, even though the scene took place at mid-day. 

I use objects to describe light, rather than using light to describe objects.  I'm not interested in hyper-realism - excessive detail doesn't interest me.  I like the way the two anjou pears have quite different colouration.  The one on the right is starting to age and has brown spots, which for me, echoed what's happening with the books.  The books make a plinth with the pears as the sculptures on the top.  It looks like a monument against the night sky, and at first viewing, I imagine that there is some visual confusion/uncertainty regarding what the books might be resting on. 

I'm continuing to use ragged, impasto brushstrokes to describe the books.  I'm also using more unblended marks, and just leaving them.  Even the background is not even, but varied in tone and with visible scumbling, though this might be difficult to see in a photograph. 

It was important that I was able to experience Velazquez in New York the last couple of years.  His work has influenced me, encouraged me to use a more active overall brushstroke.  I was struck by how Velazquez uses a feathery, almost sketchy brushstroke in his work.  This gives it a flickering quality which represents light and the optical effect on surfaces that I seek. 

The nest represents a place of refuge at "the top of the pile."  The books echo a tree shape - and of course are literally composed of or are the product of trees.  Again, I love the earth colours which pick up the colours of the leather.  I tried to represent the filigree of the bindings with light brushstrokes in yellow ochre and flake white. 

In both paintings, the books represent the weight of knowledge and history, while the light, delicate nest with its fragile eggs suggest a different rhythm or scale of time.  The pears, a cultivated fruit, represent another scale of time as they begin to deteriorate quickly next to the books which pre-date them by 200 years, and will probably outlast me.