Pat Fiorello - Art Elevates Life

Art & Inspiration from professional artist and instructor Pat Fiorello. Pat is known for her romantic landscape, garden and floral paintings in oil and watercolor. Her paintings often depict beautiful places like Italy and France. Pat teaches painting workshops in the U.S., Caribbean and Europe. She is passionate about inspiring others to include art in their life. Whether creating it or simply appreciating and enjoying it, there are so many ways that art elevates life!

Friday, February 6, 2015

Berried Treasure

Berried Treasure
6 x 12 Oil Painting
by Pat Fiorello



If you have been following along, this year I am experimenting with making my paintings a little looser. I bought these strawberries to do a study, trying to forget they are strawberries and just relate to them as "color-shapes" from which to design a painting.  Below is a photo of my original set up, followed by an earlier stage in the painting process where I simply reported the approximate colors, shapes, values. It is pretty uninspired. The above painting, "Berried Treasure" is the result of pushing the mundane into something hopefully a bit more interesting, suggesting some more berries a bit more abstractly in the upper right. losing some edges, varying the color intensities a bit.

I have to admit I struggled with this one. I think the finished piece is more interesting than the earlier phase below and I did learn some things I can apply to the next painting (always looking for the lesson in each painting).

I know people say subject doesn't really matter in painting and on one level I understand that. You are just paintings an abstract arrangement of values, colors, shapes edges etc..   However for me, subject does matter in terms of my excitement and energy for what I am painting. When I paint flowers or a beautiful sun-filled landscape I am excited, engaged and can't wait to get started painting.   I am energized by the beauty I see and want to capture and share my response. With subjects like these strawberries, or the pear I did earlier this year, I  notice I am less connected and excited about what I am painting so less involved . Perhaps at that point the painting becomes more of an intellectual exercise than felt from the heart and I think that comes thru in the finished work. I recall one time in a still life class the teacher brought in a rubber lobster. I sat there thinking of all the beautiful things in the world, why am I painting a fake lobster? ( At least it doesn't move, but I probably wouldn't want to paint a real lobster either).

So for now at least, I think I will stick with the subjects that I feel passion for and hope to convey that heartfelt joy and energy onto my canvases.

The still life set up
Work in Progress



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1 comment:

  1. CAROL HOPPER -- A PAINTER'S JOURNALFebruary 7, 2015 at 10:19 AM

    You are so right to paint that which inspires you. The word "inspire" actually means "to breathe into" which totally relates to you being energized. I am going to be writing my next newsletter about INSPIRATION so I particularly love what you have to say. I don't paint still life either...no inspiration for that.

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