Bowl of Cherries
Turning a Phrase Into a Portrait
Bowl of Cherries is an 18x24 oil painting on canvas board with black frame.
This piece began as a personal challenge inspired by a fellow artist’s remark about other artists who painted bowls of cherries. It occurred to me that cherries were a fruit I hadn’t yet tackled. Since cherry season was underway, all I needed was the appropriate bowl.
That ended up being a silver pedestal bowl that I’d been hauling around for years but never actually used. The bowl’s history has sentimental value for me because it was won in a dog show back in 1969 by our family’s miniature schnauzer, Ginger. For years afterwards, my mother kept the bowl gleaming and polished in her china cabinet. I think it might have seen occasional use as a nut or candy dish. After inheriting it, I wasn’t as diligent about its upkeep but when I thought of it for my still life, I got out the polish, restored it to brilliance and it took center stage.
The painting harbors more color than meets the eye. As you can see from my painting palette at the time, there were various shades of yellow, orange and greens used in the cherry stems, and light blues and purples that showed up in the reflected highlights of the bowl. All of them work together to breathe life into the seemingly limited color scheme.