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My atelier year

In September 2020 I enrolled in the Still-Life Atelier at Gage Academy of Art, taught by Gary Faigin — painter, teacher, author, Seattle Times art critic, and the Academy’s co-founder. It ran a full year, online, through the pandemic.

A garage converted to a painting studio: an easel, cardboard boxes stacked to block daylight, a green ping-pong table — The garage on Highland Drive. An easel, a ping-pong table, and cardboard boxes stacked up to cut the daylight.

Still life in reds: stacked plastic cups, bottles and the debris of a party on a dark ground — The Picnic (2020) — oil on 18×24 canvas. Week one, and the assignment everyone gets: bread, cheese, a knife, a bottle, a glass, a piece of fabric. Mine came out as the morning after.

Two model sailing ships flanking a blue bottle and a lime, on a blue-green ground — Gimlet (2020) — oil on 18×24 canvas. Two ships and a bottle, adrift. I repainted the background three times and never quite finished it.

Still life of an apple and a green fruit, each wearing a wristwatch — Apple Watch (2020) — acrylic on 9×12 panel.

Painting of a red tomato against a dark green ground — Tomato or apple? (2021) — an exercise in pre-mixed color strings.

Painting of a red onion casting a blue shadow — Red Onion (2021).

Painting of a folded wooden French easel, straps draping, against a sage wall — French easel (2021) — acrylic on 12×16 panel. The box a painting practice folds up into. Private collection.

Painting of a wok on a gas hob — Wok (2021) — acrylic on 12×16 panel, paired with Wok Fight, a 2-D animation. Gifted to a private collection.

Charcoal drawing of a pair of worn boots — Charcoal value study.